Ziff Davis is buying CNET for just $100 million

Red Ventures is selling CNET to Ziff Davis, the digital media and internet company that owns other notable tech publications like Mashable, IGN, and Lifehacker. Ziff Davis’ chief executive, Vivek Shah, confirmed the acquisition to The New York Times on Tuesday.

Ironically, back in 2000, it was CNET Networks Inc. that paid $1.6 billion to acquire the then-tech-publishing-behemoth Ziff-Davis Inc. and its online services company, ZDNet. So much has happened in the last two decades in the form of divestments and realignments that today’s inverted purchase isn’t as ouroboric as it might seem. In 2020, Red Ventures acquired CNET along with a few other smaller properties for $500 million.

While an official figure hasn’t been announced, Ziff Davis reportedly paid “more than $100 million for CNET” according to the Times’ sources — a fraction of the $1.8 billion it was valued at when CBS acquired the company in 2008. In January, Axios reported that Red Ventures was shopping CNET around for a buyer.

CNET has struggled with its image of late. Investigations by The Verge and Futurism in 2023 found that the website was using generative AI to produce some of its articles. Turmoil and layoffs followed, but that hasn’t dissuaded Ziff Davis from the purchase. According to the Times, Shah wants CNET because it’s a “well-known industry brand” and still has an audience that’s large enough to be attractive to tech advertisers. “I have a very clear and optimistic view on content,” said Shah. The executive makes no mention of how AI might factor into CNET’s future publishing strategy.