About.com Grabs Net Deal Spotlight

Mergers-and-acquisition activity on the Internet is casting a spotlight on one of the Net's largest forgotten online properties: About.com.

The array of content sites, which owner Primedia (PRM Quote) is reportedly in the process of selling, is one of the most popular sites on the Internet, judging from the number of U.S. users who go to About.com at least once a month.

With online advertising growing rapidly after a turn-of-the-century collapse, media companies are trying to increase their exposure to Internet advertising by acquiring online properties. Dow Jones (DJ Quote), for example, recently bought MarketWatch, and The Washington Post (WPO Quote) went after Microsoft's (MSFT Quote) Slate.

There's no question that the advertisers are back. Bellwether Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) reported gross revenue of $1.1 billion for the fourth quarter, up from $664 million one year earlier. ...