By Anastasia Tubanos, theWHIR.com
October 22, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Social media company iNET Interactive (www.inetinteractive.com), the media company that, among other properties, owns the popular web hosting community Web Hosting Talk (www.webhostingtalk.com), announced earlier this month that it has expanded its online reach with the acquisition of Web Hosting Talk Australia (www.webhostingtalk.com.au), considered Australia’s largest web hosting community.
According to the company’s most recent announcement, the move enables iNet to “reduce confusion in the marketplace around the Web Hosting Talk brand” and helps build a bridge between Web Hosting Talk and the region-specific Web Hosting Talk Australia.
“We are pleased that we were able to make Web Hosting Talk Australia part of the iNET Interactive network of online communities,” says Troy Augustine, president and CEO of iNET Interactive. “The acquisition reduces brand confusion in the marketplace, but it also adds a growing, well-moderated web hosting community to our network.”
As part of the iNet Interactive network, Web Hosting Talk Australia, which has more than 5,000 members, will be migrated onto iNet’s platform and share many of the same technology and design elements. However, it will maintain “its unique identity” while serving the web hosting industry in Australia and the South Pacific, says iNet. Gary Meadows, the lead moderator at Web Hosting Talk Australia, and his moderation team will continue in their current roles as well.
iNet Interactive has seen some significant growth the past few months and has been expanding its brand through a number of different acquisitions. In August, the company announced it had acquired Search Marketing Standard, the “largest and fastest growing print publication serving the search marketing industry.”
And in July, iNet reported its acquisition of the HostingCon conference and tradeshow from Interjuncture.
Augustine elaborated some more on iNet’s strategies and goals recently in an interview with WHIR TV at HostingCon 2008.
