I’ve just been forwarded an email which was sent from Weblogs Inc Co-Founder Brian Alvey to Weblogs Inc’s bloggers. It was sent to me by WIN blogger who wants to remain nameless. I won’t publish it in full here as its a private email – but here are the main highlights which shed light on the deal between WIN and AOL.
- AOL is acquiring Weblogs Inc
- WIN are selling to increase the resources that they couldn’t provide otherwise (offices, technology, people, infrastructure) as well as extra traffic.
- AOL are moving to an ad based model which fits with WIN.
- Nothing is changing – Brian, Jason and the same management will continue to run WIN as an independently operated AOL company
- WIN headlines will start appearing on AOL home page, netscape, AIM etc
- Bloggers will need to sign a new contract shortly
- The new contract will allow bloggers to own their own content for offline use
- The contract will contain other features yet to be announced that are favorable to bloggers
- Blogging will continue as per usual
- There is no increase in pay mentioned but allusions to more money in the network due to the deal
- There is mention of AOL getting into video content and WIN playing a part in this
Wow – looks like an exciting time for Weblogs Inc bloggers!
More on the deal from Reuters
Update: My source tells me that the reaction from WIN bloggers is for the most part very positive with the news that Jason staying on, increased payments and traffic causing some real excitement.
