Mashable, a blog created by Pete Cashmore in 2005 and turned into a digital media company, has been acquired by Ziff-Davis, itself a digital media company owned by cloud services company J2 Global, for a bargain price of $50 million. According to the company, the acquisition will result in the layoff of at least 50 employees. Future plans for Mashable are said to include a return to the tech world with an emphasis on the tech lifestyle.
Considering the fate of other so-called digital media companies, one wonders how long such a company can exist on click-bait headlines and relatively free aggregated content monetized by affiliate advertising links and keyword advertising. As long as venture capitalists are gambling on high-profile founders and their media companies, the bubble may sustain itself for a year or so until crushed by the likes of Google, Facebook, and other large-audience entities.