In 1991Ziff Davis Publishing Company brought together a small, diverse set of online forums and information services (most notably "PC MagNet") under the name "ZiffNet," which later evolved into ZDNet. Under the direction of Ziff-Davis Interactive president Michael Kolowich and vice president David Shnaider, the effort was the first online information service to be created by a major print publishing company.
Hosted initially on the CompuServe and Prodigyonline service provider as well as its own Interchange Online Network, ZiffNet eventually consolidated its services onto the World Wide Web and was renamed "ZDNet." Long time Ziff-Davis veteran Dan Rosensweig was named CEO. A tracking stock, ZDZ, was created to accompany the parent stock, ZD.
In October 2000, CNET Networks, Inc. acquired ZDNet for approximately US$1.6 billion.[1]Dan Rosensweig was named President of CNET Networks reporting to CEO Shelby Bonnie. He eventually left CNET and currently works as COO of Yahoo! under CEO Terry Semel.[2] ZDNet remains a core brand for CNET Networks today.
In 2001, Ziff Davis Media Inc. reached an agreement with CNET Networks Inc. and ZDNet to regain the URLs lost in the 2000 sale of Ziff Davis Inc, to Softbank Corp [1]. In the Summer of 2007, ZDNet moved beyond its historic focus on technology, and began expanding into covering political events, global warming, and the environment.
Online
The domain zdnet.com attracted at least 17 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey.[3]
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