About.com CEO Throws Cold Water on Sale Rumors

Rumors persist that the New York Times plans to put its About.com unit on the block, but About CEO Cella Irvine doesn’t sound like she’s down with that plan. Here’s what she told MediaPost earlier this week:

As you know, we don’t comment on rumors concerning potential acquisitions or divestitures. What I can tell you is that one of the pillars of the Times Company’s strategy is to increase the percentage of revenues coming from its digital businesses. About is a very important part of this. Last year, we contributed more than $100 million in revenues, which was about a third of the Times Company’s total digital revenues. And this year we’ve had very strong growth. We have very attractive margins. In short, we’re doing well, and are part of the Times Company’s future.

OK, so she didn’t precisely say it’s not for sale. However, it does seem hard to picture the NYT walking away from $100 million in online revenue and also, in the process, giving up a large portion of its online footprint. According to comScore, About.com ranks number 13 on its list of the largest Web properties in the U.S. — and in this business, scale matters.

Selling About would mark a significant retreat from the Web by the NYT, and on the advertising side would likely make the company’s overall inventory less attractive. That’s because despite the Internet’s targeting capabilities, advertisers still like to buy in bulk, mostly because it’s easier. If the NYT does end up selling About, it will be one of the best indicators there is of how truly desperate the company is.