Purch Acquires AnandTech, Dominates Tech Expert and Enthusiast Market
Leading content and commerce company adds respected mobile, computing, and IT reviews site to its brand portfolio
NEW YORK, NY (December 17, 2014) – Purch today announced the acquisition of AnandTech.com, a leader in mobile, computing and IT analysis and reviews. Purch’s industry-leading combination of high-quality content and integrated commerce experiences makes complex buying decisions easy for more than 100 million consumers and professionals monthly. With the acquisition of AnandTech, Purch furthers its mission to simplify purchase decisions for in-market tech consumers by adding one of the most popular computer components, hardware, and mobile reviews sites to a brand portfolio that already includes category heavyweight, Tom’s Hardware.
AnandTech has been at the forefront of the technological evolution, providing groundbreaking reviews and trend coverage of cutting-edge mobile and computing products since Anand Shimpi, one of the tech industry’s most authoritative and respected figures, founded it in 1997 at age 14.
“AnandTech has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years, but we were nearing what’s possible as an independent company,” said Ryan Smith, editor-in-chief, AnandTech. “The challenge has always been that there are very few players in the publishing space these days who value deep, high-quality content. We wanted a partner that understood our values, had a sound business model to ensure AnandTech’s legacy would continue for years to come, and would allow us to grow and expand our readership without compromising the quality that made us who were are today. Purch provides all of these things. I am beyond excited about what we’ll be able to do with their support.”
“The addition of AnandTech to a brand portfolio that includes Tom’s Hardware, Tom’s Guide, and Top Ten Reviews unquestionably establishes Purch as the dominant provider of in-depth, quality technology content, serving technology buyers who want to ensure the value of their potential investments,” said Greg Mason, CEO, Purch. “Technology manufacturers, too, can be assured that their messages will reach any serious buyer. The two editorial teams represent the finest, most expert group of content talent in the technology space. ”
“AnandTech represents much of my life’s work over the past 18 years,” said Anand Shimpi, founder, AnandTech. “I am happy to see it end up with a partner committed to taking good care of the brand and its readers. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Purch offers brands and advertisers unmatched reach to tens of millions of discerning in-market tech consumers and professionals each month. These tech “enthusiasts” look to the kind of detailed research, benchmark testing, and advice from category experts during their buying process for which Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech are known. Readers trust that advice because it is backed by nearly two decades of testing every mobile and PC component imaginable, and is supported by unprecedented input and guidance from the biggest, passionate community of like-minded enthusiasts.
Purch’s acquisition of AnandTech is the company’s most recent move in a series of strategic acquisitions and partnerships aimed at furthering its mission to ease complex buying decisions for shoppers and deliver branding and performance results to advertisers. In 2013, the company acquired the renowned “Tom’s” brand of tech media sites and, earlier this year, purchased BuyerZone, the leading online marketplace for SMB buyers and sellers. Purch’s ability to trigger buying decisions in an array of product categories is evidenced by the more than 7,000 marketers and sellers that come to Purch to connect with ready-to-buy consumers. Each year, Purch’s content-commerce combination drives more than one billion dollars in commerce transactions.
In addition to the acquisition, Purch is now the number one technology publisher in the U.S., [1] with a global readership of more than 100 million monthly unique visitors.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
To find out more about Purch, visit www.purch.com or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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About Purch
Purch is a portfolio of digital brands and services that helps make complex buying decisions easy for 100 million consumers monthly. Its respected sites such as Top Ten Reviews, Tom’s Guide, Tom’s Hardware, and Live Science natively integrate commerce and content in more than 1000 product categories so consumers can make better choices before, during, and after an important purchase.
The company helps marketers achieve their branding and performance objectives in a high-quality, brand-safe context. Its sites connect in-market shoppers with more than 7,000 marketers and sellers, driving industry-leading conversion rates and $1 billion in commerce transactions annually.
Purch is a high-growth, privately held company with more than 350 employees and offices across the U.S. and Europe.
For more information on Purch, visit www.purch.com or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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[1] Source: comScore U.S. Media Metrix, Tech-News category ranking by unique visitors, PC audience, September 2014
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Railgun - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
There's a reason I don't go to TW anymore...Railgun - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
TH that is.AndrewJacksonZA - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
First things first: Is there enough cash for an edit button please? Now, down to serious business:Both Tom's and Anandtech are my favourite two hardware news sites. I like their differences, and I read most news articles on both sites.
This sentence, "AnandTech and Tom’s Hardware remain editorially independent, and though no longer competitors, the goal is to learn from one another," is cause for some mild concern. Please don't unify, I like your differences.
The fact that Purch now owns:
all the "Tom's" brand sites
Anandtech,
Top Ten Reviews,
LiveScience,
Space.com,
BuyerZone,
And a few others that I'm sure I'm missing gives it, in my eyes, INCREDIBLE power to sway people's opinions about things. I have re-enabled Adblock Plus on Tom's and Anandtech until my suspicions go away, which will probably be just after lunch when I'm going to go have some McDonald's. (Hey, what can I say? Food makes most things better. :-)
Achaios - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
I have been reading Anandtech since the Core 2 QX9650/Intel X48 era (2007). Anandtech really set the standard at that time in the PC Enthusiast World. Who can forget the following epic articles:-http://www.anandtech.com/show/3381 This is Anandtech warning Enthusiasts to beware of too high VTT and CPU PLL voltages.
-http://www.anandtech.com/show/2427/4 This was one of the most influential articles in the word of PC Enthusiasts/Overclockers. In it, Anandtech explains in detail the TRD concept (Northbridge Latency) and how to achieve the best possible performance out of your X48 board.
Anandtech really, really was THE authority in PC overclocking.
Lately, the only article I saw that came close to the very high Anandtech quality standard was this:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-...
I have noted a decline in articles focusing specifically on overclocking and PC enthusiasts. It is wrong IMHO to neglect the PC enthusiast/Overclocker segment of your fanbase. PC related articles lately seem more like a presentation of products rather than in-depth analysis. It is the "in-depth analysis" and the "uncovering of overclocking secrets" that brought substantial fame to Anandtech.
My two cents anyway. I'd say the same things to Anand himself.
AndrewJacksonZA - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
First things first: Is there enough cash for an edit button please? Now, down to serious business:Both Tom's and Anandtech are my favourite two hardware news sites. I like their differences, and I read most news articles on both sites.
This sentence, "AnandTech and Tom’s Hardware remain editorially independent, and though no longer competitors, the goal is to learn from one another," is cause for some mild concern. Please don't unify, I like your differences.
The fact that Purch now owns:
all the "Tom's" brand sites
Anandtech,
Top Ten Reviews,
LiveScience,
Space.com,
BuyerZone,
And a few others that I'm sure I'm missing gives it, in my eyes, INCREDIBLE power to sway people's opinions about things. I have re-enabled Adblock Plus on Tom's and Anandtech until my suspicions go away, which will probably be just after lunch when I'm going to go have some McDonald's. (Hey, what can I say? Food makes most things better. :-)
TheSlamma - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
You consider McDonalds to be "food" your credibility is totally goneAndrewJacksonZA - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
@TheSlamma :-)Mark_gb - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
Years ago, I would hit Tom's Hardware site 3 to 5 times a day, and often find new articles, news stories and other things I was interested in. I read through every single article soaking up the info being presented.Then, it because obvious that something had changed. I didn't know what. But going to Tom's more than once a day for almost anything because rather useless. There were far fewer news stories, and reviews suddenly only appeared at midnight or whenever some NDA expired. And getting more than 1 story/article/review a day released almost never happens.
About 8 weeks ago, I posted on Toms that their forcing ads onto the bottom news pages despite my running AdBlocker was something I would not put up with. I later discovered a way to turn those off. Now I have to assume this is coming to Anandtech as well.
So to now read that the same people that bought Tom's are going to be running Anandtech hurts.
I assume that this means that now I am pretty much losing most of the info I have gotten over the years from this site.just as I did on Toms site. I find this very disappointing.
I guess the old adage applies... Follow the money. Thats all it is ever about... The money.
creed3020 - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
Well well, the other shoe drops....Anand leaving for something as big as Apply meant that this site needed to get out from underneath him and now we have the results of that.
I will admit that I read TH but the quality is low compared to AT and the quantity certainly does not make up for it. I am strongly sitting on the fence now to remove both from my favorites and move on.
What I don't understand people saying "hope this acheives their goals". The goal of this site is to attract viewers to top editorial talent, top quality, and top articles to drive data driven decisions in terms of commerce, or on the other hand to attract viewers who have a deep interest in understanding tech and are the 'go-to techie' in their circles and are held in a position of trust. AT is in a position of trust in our circles, as the readers the sale of the site is an invitation to the abuse of that position of trust. Only time will tell if steps are taken through that door but this plan of "more ad = more revenue = bigger = better" will QUICKLY FAIL and the _readers_ will leave.
Thanks for all the hard work over the years, I truly hope you prove the nay-sayers wrong and this pillar can stand strong.
JBVertexx - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
I stopped reading TH because the ads became out of control. Go take a look at that site - it's impossible to read. I'm very disappointed that AT is now owned be TH. I view competition as a good thing, and now there is less in this space.Oh well, time to move on.