When it comes to in-depth news about Facebook, there has been no better site than Inside Facebook. In fact, the flagship site of Inside Network became so successful alongside the meteoric rise of Facebook that they launched several other vertical sites to bet big on their brand of news and analysis. And that bet just paid off. Big time.
WebMediaBrands has acquired Inside Network for roughly $14 million, we’ve learned. The deal should be formally announced soon and is said to be a roughly half cash and stock deal. It’s a big win for Inside Network, which was founded by entrepreneur Justin Smith in April 2006, and has taken no outside investment.
The entire Inside Network team (which includes a former colleague of mine, Eric Eldon, who is editor and junior co-founder) will remain intact, we hear. And they will remain in their Palo Alto-based office.
It’s a smart deal for WebMediaBrands as Inside Network will provide WebMediaBrands with insight by way of their content, research, and rich data they pulled in from their App Data product, which tracks social applications.
Of course, those who have followed the situation surrounding Facebook coverage perhaps shouldn’t be too surprised by this deal. After all, Social Times (the company behind Inside Facebook rival site AllFacebook) was acquired by WebMediaBrands in December 2009. They also bought Charles Hudson’s 3rd Power LLC in late 2009. Hudson is the co-author of Inside Networks’ Inside Virtual Goods research reports.
We congratulate the Inside Network team of Susan Su, Kim-Mai Cutler, Josh Constine, AJ Glasser, and Smith, and Eldon on the deal. Now back to work, as we aim to crush you in the Facebook news category.