IAC/InterActiveCorp the owner of Ask.com, LendingTree.com, Match.com, Hotels.com etc. announced today that it has purchased a 51% share of CollegeHumor.com’s parent company. An exact price has not been released but it is believed to be in the 8 figure range.

This is a good example of the added value recurring traffic has. CollegeHumor has built up a site where loyal readers come back again and they tell their friends. A large portion of their traffic is eBaumsworld-style movie clips and pics — certainly not unique. CollegeHumor has been able to build a presence and mindshare online, targeting a specific demographic and adding unique content (daily “blog” posts from multiple authors.)

My strategy for internet publishing has been to establish niche traffic streams and then build online communities around them. It is hard, it takes a long time, and you can make a lot more money sending the traffic elsewhere — and that is why established, profitable web sites are worth so much money the the big players (Fox Interactive Media/News Corp and IAC at this stage of the game.)