Big Media Embraces Web's Long Tail

It's déjà vu all over again, as big media companies rush to by just-developing Web properties, CNET's News.com writes in an analysis of recent purchases like CBS snapping up video blog Wallstrip and Discovery buying eco-blog TreeHugger. While the article tries to draw a straight line to some of the disastrous moves in the dot-com mania - the specter of AOL-Time Warner is trotted out - these acquisitions are in a much different market and at a far smaller scale. After all, Discovery paying up $10 million for TreeHugger isn't going to break the bank, nor is The New York Times absorbing the Freakonomics blog. It's more likely any big checks will be reserved for non-content plays, like ad networks. More ...