Web portal Go2Net Inc said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire metasearch service Dogpile LLC for $55m in cash and stock. Seattle-based Go2Net says the deal brings it a profitable business and one of the two most popular metasearch services on the internet – the other being its own MetaCrawler.
Go2Net plans to leverage Dogpile’s proprietary search technologies across its network, including its HyperMart and Virtual Avenue free business hosting services – which together claim a total of about 420,000 member businesses – and on the Haggle Online auction service. Dogpile.com claims to have logged 2.3 million unique visitors in June.
Terms of the deal call for Go2Net to hand over $40m in common stock and $15m in cash for all of Dogpile’s outstanding shares. The total purchase price may eventually increase, however, as a result of earn-outs if Dogpile meets certain performance goals over the next 18 months.
