BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[CNET's Webshots deal not so flashy]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/26/cnets-webshots-deal-not-so-flashy/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/26/cnets-webshots-deal-not-so-flashy/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/26/cnets-webshots-deal-not-so-flashy/#commentsFiled under: ,

M&A can be tough -- especially in the tech world. After all, things can move pretty quickly.

And, unfortunately, this has been the case for CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET). That is, Thursday the company announced that it sold its Webshots property for $45 million to American Greetings.

Keep in mind that CNET paid $70 million for Webshots in August 2004.

Ouch.

No doubt, the online-photos category is fairly saturated. And, unfortunately, Webshots didn't keep up with Web 2.0 darlings like Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO)'s Flickr. Oh, and Facebook and MySpace are also getting into the game.

If you rewind back three years ago, CNET said it bought Webshots so as to diversify its Web platform. But, if anything, it's been mostly a distraction.

For example, in today's Q3 report, CNET announced a loss of $16.6 million.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

CNET's Webshots deal not so flashy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CNETFacebookinthenewsWebshotsFri, 26 Oct 2007 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CNET: The play is on the short side]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/07/31/cnet-the-play-is-on-the-short-side/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/07/31/cnet-the-play-is-on-the-short-side/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/07/31/cnet-the-play-is-on-the-short-side/#commentsFiled under: , ,

CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) is an online media company with a wide variety of offerings. The company's primary websites include CNET.com, Download.com, Webshots, TV.com, and GameSpot.com. Basically, CNET makes money from advertising, content licensing, paid subscriptions, etc. It reported a quarter last week that managed to disappoint Wall Street for several reasons, including missing consensus for most figures and cutting estimates.

While I certainly can understand the bullish arguments behind the stock, mostly the fact the company stands to benefit from a secular growth trend in online advertising in coming quarters, I think the stock is dead money. I believe many of CNET's offerings are very at-risk due to the growing saturation of blogs and larger competitors in the news-breaking and technology review businesses, Webshots has a dim future, and capex increases are a very possible reality in coming quarters in order to scale the business.

The growth in blogs over the last several years has certainly hurt CNET's reviewing and news-breaking segments, primarily CNET.com. For example, TechCrunch.com has become extremely popular for breaking exclusive technology news, a space once completely dominated by CNET. While the company is certainly trying to break into the blog space, I agree with Doug McIntyre's take about a month ago -- its doing too little, too late.

Continue reading CNET: The play is on the short side

CNET: The play is on the short side originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CNETCNET earningsCNET NetworksCnetEarningsCnetNetworksCPMsFacebookTechCrunch.comWebshotsTue, 31 Jul 2007 13:25:00 EST