by
Michael Arrington
on
December 4, 2006
Wikia will announce the acquisition of ArmchairGM sometime this week, according to a source close to the transaction. The company was bought for $2 million in cash and Wikia stock.
We briefly mentioned ArmchairGM in a post about a competitor a couple of months ago. The service, which was created by four guys in New York, is a sort of digg-wiki-sports hybrid thing. Apparently the technology is interesting and compatible with Wikia, and my guess this is partially a hire-by-acquisition type deal.
Our previous posts on Wikia are here.
Comments
Anyone know what happened to Marshall Kiripatrick? He is no longer listed - seems like his Rails article about his firends site exposed him… Michael?
hire-by-acquisition = acqu-hiring
yuck X( the website design is nauseating.
Michael, I’ve been reading your stuff and listening to you on Gilmore Gang for over a year. I find it difficult to read the information on the site due to the flashing adds. Don’t you think this is a bit over the top?
Powell,
Yes i do.
Changes coming.
I hate these flashing ads too.
2mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmillion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
# magher
December 4th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
yuck X( the website design is nauseating.
–
What exactly is so bad about it? I’ll admit there are some things they could to do enhance the design but to deem a website as “yuck” sounds like something a 10 year old would say. Unless the demographic for techcrunch is seeing a new wave of underage users these days.
It doesn’t matter all that much how a website looks.
For goodness sake, look at Craigs List!
These guys have a hold on a targeted niche and Wikia is smart to make a low cost acquisition.
It can only boost their ad revenue in the longterm, especially if they can enhance the site and continue to build the user base.
Good Success!
Vondre’
http://www.askfinancialquestions.com
Digg-opedia. Sweet. Are these enhancements going to be included in Wikipedia?
$2 million for a website that maybe 300 people seem to be using? Why don’t they just make their own Digg clone?
@shii
because time is money and these guy know how to develop with Mediawiki.
It’s looks like a great wiki, lots of poential. could be a good investment if they are getting the guys to start it to work for them.
Mh, while that’s a charming theory you’ve got - you can read about my departure from TC here http://www.crunchnotes.com/?p=313
Angela Beesley Vice-President, Community Relations and co-founder of Wikia has also been a volunteer editor at Wikipedia, and was on the board of its parent organisation, the Wikimedia Foundation.
http://www.sportiki.com is the biggest competitor
As someone in the sports content biz, I’m amazed at this price for the content. Even on the day of acquisition they really only had 15-25 page edits. Sportiki has only had 20 edits in last five days. A site I set up like wikipedia for niche baseball content (lots of history) has had 200 edits so far today.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/
I went to school with Rob Lefkowitz, one of the founders. I wish him only the best and congratulations on getting acquired!
very good
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