AOL officially adds gadget review site gdgt to the family

After some speculation it seems the rumours are true: AOL has added gadget review site gdgt to its list of online properties for an undisclosed amount.

The review site announced the acquisition via a blog post saying it “couldn’t be more excited”.

The post also further stated that “gdgt, its team, its technology, and perhaps most importantly its DNA, were a natural fit for AOL’s world-class lineup of tech sites.”

Under the leadership of Tim Armstrong, AOL has managed to net itself some nice online real estate. The company has focused heavily on blogs such as TechCrunch and Engadget and its biggest purchase to date is its acquisition of The Huffington Post for US$315-million.

“At AOL, gdgt will only continue to grow and evolve as the best premium destination for purchase intelligence, recommendations, user reviews, shopping data, and community-driven content about personal technology,” says gdgt co-founder Ryan Block. “gdgt’s product database (still arguably the best around, in my highly biased opinion), community (ditto), and core technologies will serve as a crucial foundation for all kinds of great new products and services we’ll be building in the coming months.”

The acquisition will see some role changes for Block and co-founder Peter Rojas. According to a TechCrunch report, Rojas will carry on running gdgt while taking on a new role as executive editor-at-large at Engadget. While Block, will reportedly take on the role of head of product for AOL Tech Media. These changes are similar to role changes that occurred when AOL bought HuffPO and made Arianna Huffington as AOL Content Chief. It will be interesting to see how Block’s new role affects AOL’s other tech blogs.

Block, in the acquisition blog post, assures users that nothing will change regarding data currently in gdgt’s user base.

“It should go without saying that we continue to completely respect your personal data and privacy, as we always have. For example, AOL has never asked us to hand data over any user for any untoward uses, so gdgt users’ email addresses aren’t going to wind up on some random mailing list after the dust settles. Makes sense, right? AOL isn’t acquiring gdgt to drive away our users. Nor would we let them.”

The site will also expand its events series and team up with Engadget on tour this year.

Image: gdgt