Hearst Magazine Has Acquired eCRUSH, Inc.

Hearst Magazines Digital Media announced today that they have officially acquired eCRUSH.com, Inc. eCRUSH is a social network for teens and adults. Through the acquisition, Hearst Magazines also gains other Internet properties, eSPIN and HighSchoolStyleBoard.

“We are thrilled to become a part of Hearst’s incredible network of teen brands and believe that it’s the perfect fit for the eCRUSH audience, as well as for our advertisers,” stated Amy Gibby, president of eCRUSH.com.

eCRUSH launched on February 14, 1999 (Valentine’s Day) and has matched 900,000 people through its 2,400,000 registered users. eSPIN is based on the popular Spin-the-Bottle game played by teenagers. The intention of eCRUSH is for the youth to flirt and make new friends online while respecting anonymity. eSPIN-the-Bottleâ„¢ has 1 million active users and is continuously growing.

HighSchoolStyleBoard is a photo-rating website targeted towards the youth as well. HighSchoolStyleBoard ranks users based on Best Smile, Best Hair, Most Goofy, Best Dressed, Most Emo, Most Preppy, Hottest Overall, etc. just like a high school yearbook.

Although financial details were not disclosed, I believe that it is north of $1.4 million since eCRUSH’s EBIT for 2006 was that amount. In February, Hearst is planning on launching three new teenager web companies and magazines including CosmoGIRL.com, Seventeen.com, and Teenmag.com.

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