Adotas » buzznet

Buzznet becomes Buzz Media, scores financing

Edward Barrera — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:40:49 +0000

ADOTAS — Buzznet, which operates pop culture niche sites, has changed its name and raised $12.5 million in financing.

The now-Buzz Media, which claims an audience of 40 million unique monthly users, runs sites that include Celebuzz, Buzznet, the Superficial, SocialiteLife, What Would Tyler Durden Do, Stereogum, Idolator, Just Jared and Absolute Punk.

In the latest round of financing, Focus Ventures joined existing investors, including Anthem Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures, also participated in the round.

“Buzz Media’s unique publishing approach has not only allowed it to build the leading pop culture brands on the web, it has also enabled the company to produce highly programmed campaigns within its portfolio of leading branded properties for advertisers to engage its large and influential audience,” Steve Bird, of Focus Ventures, said in a statement. “We believe that these types of highly targeted and content-rich experiences are a major part of the future of advertising on the web, and are pleased to lead this new round of funding.”

Buzz Media’s content comes from a combination of editors and user-generated submissions, from articles to photos, videos, games and contests. Buzznet’s funders hope that advertisers will see value in sites that publish a combination of in-house and user-submitted content targeted around narrow topic areas.

Layoff Round-Up: Google (10,000?!), Time, Salon, Buzznet, Sezmi

Kathleen — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:43:10 +0000

ADOTAS – Google may lay off up to 10,000 employees, according to a WebGuild report. The layoffs began in August and so far, hundreds have been let go. While the Internet titan is supposed to report layoffs publicly and with the SEC, WebGuild reports that Google has side-stepped the requirement by classifying 10,000 of its 30,000 employees as temps. However, many of the laid off workers have been with the company for five or more years, according to the publication.

Time Europe has slashed about 20 staffers, fueling rumors that Time Magazine will begin publishing one international edition instead of four. Salon laid off nine employees, Buzznet let go of 10 and Sezmi has slashed 20 positions.

Buzznet Embraces The Superficial

Kathleen — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:36:45 +0000

ADOTAS – Buzznet, a media company that aims to build the Web’s largest pop culture community, is bringing into its fold the popular entertainment site The Superficial. As part of the deal, Buzznet will take over ad sales responsibilities for the site.

“Our mission is to provide Web users and marketers with the best pop culture experience on the Web and part of satisfying that mission is providing the best voices and content on the topics that matter,” said Tyler Goldman, Buzznet chief executive officer. “As the granddaddy of entertainment sites, we leaped at the opportunity to add The Superficial to Celebuzz. Not only has the site captivated more users over a longer period of time than any other entertainment site of its kind, it has created enormous engagement for marketers who benefit from The Superficial’s audience, brand and influence.”

The Superficial joins Celebuzz.com, Buzznet’s recently launched entertainment community and the first social media site dedicated to all things celebrity. The Celebuzz community already includes Just Jared, Go Fug Yourself, the Socialite Life and many others.

Celebuzz, launched in June of this year, gets about 4.8 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S., according to comScore, making it the fourth-largest destination for celeb news and culture.