Salon.com Buys The Well

Web publisher Salon.com said Wednesday it has bought The Well, one of the oldest online communities, from the Rosewood Stone Group venture capital firm.

Salon.com, a privately held San Francisco company, did not reveal terms of the purchase.

"As a paid subscription business, The Well will provide Salon with new revenue sources, in addition to our advertising, e-commerce and syndication business," Salon president and publisher Michael O'Donnell said in a statement.

The Well, founded in 1985, has been regarded from the beginning as one of the few places to go on the Web for thoughtful chatting and discussion. The subscription-based site costs between $10 and $15 a month.

Salon, which said it intends to continue to operate The Well as a stand-alone community, did not disclose the site's membership totals. According to the company, Salon.com's sites average 1.2 million visitors and 13 million page views per month.

Among publicly traded online communities TheGlobe.com (TGLO) rose 4 3/4 to 59 1/2, Geocities (GCTY) fell 2 to 137 1/2, and Xoom.com (XMCM) fell 2 13/16 to 74 3/4 in recent trading.

Written By Darren Chervitz, CBS MarketWatch