Consumers Union Acquires The Consumerist

The Consumers Union, the US based independent, nonprofit testing and information service for consumers has acquired Gawker Media blog The Consumerist.

The Consumerist, a blog dedicated to exposing consumer scams and bad company practices went up for sale in November, as part of broadsweeping cuts Gawker Media’s Nick Denton announced in front of his prediction of a 40% decline in online advertising in 2009. Rumors in early December had the site being sold to The Deal.

The deal is a win for Consumerist readers, with the editorial team remaining in place, and a new owner that respects the job the team does, one that doesn’t win many friends in the corporate world. The only change will be in advertising, the site will now exclusively advertise products from The Consumers Union. The NY Times notes that Consumers Union is seeking to attract younger readers with the buy, with the hope of eventually selling them online or print subscriptions to Consumer Reports.

The Times also reports that Defamer is close to being to being sold.

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4. Consumers Turning to the Internet in This Challenging Economy
5. Denton shuts Defamer as stand alone site, now part of Gawker