Hi-Media snaps up Fotolog

Fotolog has joined the long list of photo-sharing social [cough] networking websites to be snapped up by a media company hungry for a slice of the Web 2.0 pie.

European interactive advertising agency Hi-Media Group has bought Fotolog for a combined stock and cash deal of $90m. The deal comes hot on the heels of News Corp's acquisition of Photobucket in May this year.

The New York-based photo-sharing site, which boasts it has doubled its member accounts to 10 million users this year, first launched in May 2002.

Hi-Media CEO Cyril Zimmermann said: "We think that social networks are one of the pillars of what the internet is and will be important in the years ahead, especially when underpinned by simple mechanisms."

Expressing an eagerness to make the site a tasty money spinner, Zimmermann added:

"We are also convinced that Hi-Media can benefit substantially from Fotolog's efforts to generate maximum revenues from its audience thanks to the advertising and micro-payment services that Hi-Media has developed over the past decade."

Fotolog said that the firm's fastest growing markets included Italy, Portugal and Spain as well as extending growth in Latin America.

It said it expected to see revenue of $2.3m for 2007. ®