FindArticles

FindArticles was a website which provided access to articles previously published in over 3,000 magazines, journals, and other sources. The site offered free and paid content through the HighBeam Research database. In 2008, FindArticles accessed over 11 million resource articles, going back to 1998.

The site was founded in 2000 as a partnership between LookSmart, which authored the search technology, and the Gale Group, which provided the articles. The two companies had first partnered to provide content in August of that year, and FindArticles.com soon resulted. As it grew, FindArticles moved away from an all-free model driven by advertising to a mixture of free and paid content.

The site remained a part of LookSmart throughout the various changes in that company until it was sold to CNET Networks for $20.5 million on November 8, 2007, as part of a larger sell-off of LookSmart properties. Looksmart's need to offload non-critical assets in the wake of poor corporate performance, along with CNET's commensurate desire to expand its library of offerings, motivated the deal.FindArticles' SEO value—i.e., the frequency with which its articles appear as search engine results—likely factored into the final purchase price.