• by Gavin O'Malley , January 2, 2009

In a bid to court younger audiences, Consumer Reports publisher Consumers Union agreed this week to acquire Gawker Media's irreverent consumer advocate blog, Consumerist.com. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal comes less than two months after Gawker Media founder and President Nick Denton put Consumerist on the market due to what he deemed a worsening ad market.

Advertising is of little concern to Consumers Union, which does not sell ads in Consumer Reports. Rather, the nonprofit organization will use the blog to lure a younger generation of readers to Consumer Reports' subscription publications, which cost $26 for the Web and print edition.

As a result, Consumerist's existing editorial team will still be free to report on consumer-facing brands as critically as they please, according to John Sateja, EVP of Consumers Union.

"When Consumers Union began during the Depression, it was very snarky for its time," said Sateja. "Consumerist continues that tradition for a new generation."

According to Sateja, Consumer Union was one of several entities that had expressed an interested in acquiring Consumerist.

Consumer Reports presently has about 3.3 million online subscribers. Consumerist, meanwhile, is now attracting close to 2 million unique visitors a month.

Consumerist will become part of a new division of Consumers Union, according to Sateja. "Like Consumer Reports, its mission is to create a fair, safe, and just marketplace," he said.

Earlier this year, in an effort to focus its direction, Gawker Media sold political gossip blog Wonkette, and the travel blog Gridskipper.