• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 5, 2008

CraveOnline, the AtomicOnline-owned men's lifestyle network, has acquired anime and manga social network MyAnimeList.

The deal cost Crave less than $1 million, according to Mike Dodge, SVP and general manager of AtomicOnline. "Our acquisitions typically range from $400,000 to $2 million," Dodge said. "This was on the lower end."

Founded in 2006, MyAnimeList was created for anime fans to catalog their collections, and share them with likeminded members. The site now claims some 80,000 members worldwide, 10,000 of whom sign into the site daily. According to Dodge, about 50% to 70% of MyAnimeList's community resides stateside.

Along with an active and engaged audience, MyAnimeList is free of the pirated content that has plagued much of the anime industry, according to Dodge. "The industry is going through challenges in terms of copyright issues, like the music industry," Dodge said. "MyAnime is a very clean site not based on stolen material, which obviously appeals to us and advertisers."

MyAnimeList's catalog presently includes over 4.4 million anime and 775,000 manga user-based entries. The site also gives members the ability to create their own club or join existing ones, start a blog, check anime compatibility rating with other members, receive email notifications on newly released episodes and read a variety of anime and manga reviews.

Now made up of 21 targeted sites, CraveOnline is attracting over 36 million unique visitors per month. Other sites include ComingSoon.net, Sherdog.com, ActionTrip.com, Superherohype.com and SpikedHumor.com. Recent brand advertisers have included include Kohl's, Intel, Scion, PlayStation, NBC, Harley Davidson, Hanes, Wrigley, Burger King, Axe and 20th Century Fox.

The company is based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Including Crave's network, parent company AtomicOnline owns and operates about 60 sites, and maintains affiliate partnerships with another 50.

"Across our major hubs, our acquisition strategy is the same," said Dodge. "We look for sites that are very strong, with engaged communities, to grow our presence in the broader branded ad sales market."

Most recently, in April, AtomicOnline bought theFashionSpot.com, a 70,000 member-strong online community for fashionistas, designers and style enthusiasts. The site joined Crave; SheKnows, with content on health, wellness, celebrities and gossip for women ages 25 and older; and teen hub TeenCrunch.com.