FindArticles was a website which provided access to articles previously published in over 3,000 magazines, newspapers, journals, business reports and other sources.[1][2][3] The site offered free and paid content through the HighBeam Research database.[1] In 2007, FindArticles accessed over 11 million resource articles, going back to 1998.[4]
As it grew, FindArticles moved away from an all-free model driven by advertising[5][6] to a mixture of free and paid content.[7]
History
2000–2007: Founding and growth
FindArticles was founded in 2000[8] as a partnership between LookSmart, which authored the search technology, and the Gale Group, which provided the articles for a fee.[5][9][10]
By early-August 2000, the FindArticles database contained more than 862,000 articles and by September 2000, the database contained more than 1 million articles.[11]
In September 2004, HighBeam Research announced that it would make 1 million premium articles from its database accessible via FindArticles.[12] By May 2005, FindArticles contained more than 5 million articles in its database.[13]
In November 2006, FindArticles reported over 17.6 million unique visitors to their site.[14] In April 2007, LookSmart partnered with Blinkx to power FindArticles' video search results.[14]
2007–present: CNET purchase and CNET ownership
FindArticles remained a part of LookSmart throughout the various changes in that company until it was sold to CNET Networks for $20.5 million on November 9, 2007, as part of a larger sell-off of LookSmart properties.[4][7][15]
Looksmart's need to offload non-critical assets in the wake of poor corporate performance, along with CNET's commensurate desire to expand its library of offerings, motivated the deal.[4]FindArticles'SEO value—i.e., the frequency with which its articles appear as search engine results—likely factored into the final purchase price.[4][16]
FindArticles had been part of the BNET division of CNET Networks[2] and is currently owned by CBS Interactive.[8]
