Welcome to About.com
Each month more than 20 million people visit About.com. Whether it be home repair and decorating ideas, recipes, movie trailers, or car buying tips, our Guides offer practical advice and solutions for every day life. Wherever you land on the new About.com, you'll find other content that is relevant to your interests. If you're looking for "How To" advice on planning to re-finish your deck, we'll also show you the tools you need to get the job done. If you've been to About before, we'll show you the latest updates, so you don't see the same thing twice. No matter where you are on About.com, or how you got here, you'll always find content that is relevant to your needs.
The Human Internet
About. com was founded in 1997 with a simple premise, that people are the best Guides to the Internet. We have built on that belief over the past seven years. Today, when you read an article on About.com, you are tapping into a powerful network of 475 Guides -- smart, passionate, accomplished people who are experts in their field. Our Guides have written books, appeared on national television and won many awards in their field. For instance, our Headaches Guide was recently recognized as a top patient advocate by the National Headache Foundation. Our Table Tennis Guide is a two-time Olympian and our Pediatrics Guide is a board certified Pediatrician & Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
About Guides live and work in over 20 countries and celebrate their interests in hundreds of topics. Guides are selected for their ability to provide the most interesting information for users, and for their passion for their subject and the Net. The selection process is rigorous -- only 10% of those that apply graduate to the live service. Below are some of the most important criteria by which they are chosen:
- High level of knowledge/passion for their topic
- Appropriate credentials
- Keen understanding of the Web "experience"
- Commitment to creating informative, actionable features
For more information on becoming an About Guide, click here.
About.com Today
According to Nielsen NetRatings, About.com is a top 15 Web property used by one out of every five people on the Internet. It holds a valued role in the lives of more than 20 million opinion leaders as a preferred source of original consumer information and advice. The success of About.com centers around our unique Guide System that features 23 content channels and promotes original content from more than 475 topical advisors or "Guides." The Guides are the heart and soul of the About.com experience, sharing their passions across 50,000+ topics and offering actionable information and advice that is always useful, practical and personally relevant. Our robust library almost one million pieces of original content represents one of the largest of its kind on the Web today.
About.com has unparalleled reach and an extensive viewership that connects to more women that iVillage.com, more men than ESPN.com and more teens than MTV.com. Together, the practical solutions offered on About.com generate millions of page views.
A Brief History of About.com and Primedia
About.Com was founded in 1997 (as The Mining Company) by Scott Kurnit and a dedicated group of entrepreneurs. It was re-named About.Com in 1999 to reflect its growing breadth of content, services and ease of use. In 2000, About, Inc. was acquired by PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM).
PRIMEDIA is the leading targeted media company in the United States. With 2003 revenues from continuing businesses of $1.3 billion, our properties deliver content via print as well as the Internet, live events and video and offer highly effective advertising and marketing solutions in some of the most sought after niche markets. PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Media includes more than 120 consumer magazines, their Web sites and About.com, and is the #1 special interest magazine publisher in the U.S. with well-known brands such as Motor Trend, Automobile, Creating Keepsakes, In-Fisherman, Power & Motoryacht, Hot Rod, Snowboarder, Stereophile and Surfer. PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides is the #1 publisher and distributor of free consumer guides, with Apartment Guide, Auto Guide and New Homes Guide. PRIMEDIA Business Information has leading positions in 20 market sectors such as Agribusiness, Communications, Entertainment, Marketing and Transportation. PRIMEDIA Education and Training includes Channel One and other educational and training products.
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