NEW YORK - Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, planned to announce today that it has acquired Consumerist.com, a popular blog owned by Gawker Media.
Consumerist, which announced the sale on its website Tuesday, is one of several sites Gawker has sold this year, including the political gossip blog Wonkette and the travel site Gridskipper. The blog offers consumer tips, such as how to return products and how to confound a telemarketer, and covers shopper complaints such as excessive retail markups.
It will become part of a new division of Consumers Union, and the current editors will remain. No plans are underway to change the coverage or to begin charging for the site.
"We don't want to acquire the Consumerist and then squelch it in some way," said Kevin McKean, vice president and editorial director of Consumers Union.
Gawker Media President Nick Denton put Consumerist on sale in mid-November, the same day he announced that he was closing Valleywag, a site focused on technology in Silicon Valley. He said Tuesday he also was in talks to sell Defamer, a show-business gossip site, but he said he had no plans to sell other sites, which include the media sites Gawker and Jezebel.
Denton said the troublesome advertising market led to the sale of Consumerist. In November, he posted a prediction that online advertising -- which is how he supports his sites -- would decline sharply next year. "I think people have generally been too optimistic" about online ads, he said Tuesday.
In buying Consumerist, Consumers Union is seeking to attract younger readers. Consumer Reports does not accept advertising, and once the sale closes on Thursday, neither will Consumerist.
NEW YORK TIMES
