Yahoo! Buys Web Content Mill Associated Content

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Yahoo!

Maybe Yahoo! is not taking aim at AOL’s ever-evolving business model, but their announcement on Tuesday that it would be purchasing freelance-driven news website Associated Content for $100 million, according to Business Insider, makes it look like a new content war is on the horizon for both companies.

Yahoo! had been seeking ways to expand its content offerings and Associated Content boasts of having 380,000 print and multimedia contributors available almost instantly to provide material all over the website. AOL, which spun off from Time Warner (TIME’s parent company) in late 2009, had already started to play the content compounding game with SEED, which invites contributors to blog, write and post on several theme-based websites under the AOL umbrella.

Although Associated Content’s offerings are typically U.S.-oriented both companies say that will now be expanded globally. Yahoo! officials say the acquisition is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2010.