In a move to become a major player in online advertising, CBS has agreed to buy CNET networks for $1.8 billion in cash.
That’s an awful lot of money for a company that just weeks ago cried money troubles, laying-off hundreds of employees from their news departments nation-wide.
According to AdWeek, the deal would add to the company a series of highly trafficked Web properties, including the tech-focused News.com and ZDNet, gaming site GameSpot and music destination mp3.com. CBS said that combining those assets with its existing Internet properties, would put the company among the top 10 U.S. Web firms with 54 million monthly users.