Stiffies at S&P see major swallowing of blogs in the future

They reach large, loyal audiences, they're fairly cheap to run, and they can be lucrative. Media companies have their checkbooks ready. From Standard&Poor's Equity Research. From Standard&Poor's investing newsletter The OutlookFirst came social networks. Then virtual worlds. Now blogs are dazzling the eyes of major media publishers as the next takeover targets.Blogs--especially the big-name brands such as TechCrunch, Gawker, GigaOm, Boing Boing, and the Huffington Post--appear to have attractive business models. This is good news for traditional media companies that are being marginalized online and off, and are hoping to catch up to--and cash in on--a rapidly evolving Web 2.0 world. Over the years some blog owners like Nick Denton have stepped on talk about selling off their companies, but we all know the saying right? Money talks and if you're offer isn't sweet enough then fuck off! Who will lay on their back and spread em for the right price? The guys over at Sugar Inc already gave Jeff Zucker a taste. Blogs: The Next Takeover Target? [S&P]