Business News
Burda Acquires Lycos IQ
Monday 08. June 2009 - "Does it make a difference whether you heat water on the stove or in the microwave," is one of the questions posed in the category Physics. Under "Relationships", a person asks for tips on how to master a long-distance relationship. And IT specialists are asked to decide about the worst computer virus ever, so far.
The question-and-answer community Lycos IQ is taking Web search to a new level. Instead of entering a single word, users ask questions and receive full answers instead of unorganized, long lists of search results. The new approach also convinced Hubert Burda Media which acquired the knowledge community from Lycos Europe GmbH.
As of 16 June 2009, the Web 2.0 community is assigned to the Board section of Philipp Welte who plans to forge close ties between the offering and the publishing houses websites. “Lycos IQ provides us with an exciting technology and a very active community. We will complement the offering with the expertise of our editorial teams and develop the portal further,” says Welte.
The product, which was introduced on the German market in January 2006, builds on peoples competence and knowledge – the main reason why Burda regards the portal as a great addition to its editorial offering. Lycos IQ closes the gap between traditional search engines and resource-based offerings such as Wikipedia. The approximately 750,000 users – both registered members and guests – post about 2,000 questions a day. The most popular categories are Computer, Music, Food & Nutrition, Health and Motoring.
The acquisition of Lycos IQ is an element in Hubert Burda Medias Change program and part of the strategic assignment “Innovate”. Board Member Publishing Philipp Welte has initiated the process for the units Publishing, Marketing and Sales and established the three strategic dimensions “Concentrate, Integrate, Innovate”. The main goal is to guide the business division Publishing through the recession successfully and – despite the revenue crisis – to align it with the convergent future.