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TechWeb = TechLoser

Bring on the empty portals

CMP Media is turn flagship IT site, TechWeb, into a shell for its offline publications.

The monster IT publisher said today that TechWeb would "migrate to align with the BTG's integrated media brands", resulting in 33 jobs "impacted".

CMP will create much of Techweb's content through its magazines - and the site itself will showcase articles from titles within its Business Technology Group, such as InformationWeek, Internet Week and Network Computing, on the Web.

"In retail and other areas of e-commerce, the notion of a pure-play Internet model has already given way to an integrated model - that's the whole clicks-and-bricks story," said BTG president Adam Marder. In other words, TechWeb ain't working, and CMP ain't fixing it.

News sites such as Byte.com are to be merged into the Business Technology Group's Software Development Media Group (so that's "Byte.com, a CMP BTG SGMG publication"?), and WebTools becomes part of the Internet & Mobile Group. Meanwhile, other sites "that don't tightly align with the BTG's business technology focus" - such as Winmag.com and Techshopper.com - "will likely be divested."

CMP's move to turn its main IT Website into a portal for offline brands is uncannily similar to last month's decision by Dutch publisher VNU, to downplay tragically unread VNUNet in favour of its own print rags. ®

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