Acquisitions and spinoffs

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Acquisitions and spinoffs In April 1998, Amazon bought the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).[citation needed] In August 1998, Amazon bought Cambridge, Massachusetts-based PlanetAll for 800,000 shares of Amazon stock.[citation needed] PlanetAll operated a web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. In the same deal, Amazon acquired Sunnyvale-based Junglee.com, an XML-based data mining startup for 1.6 million shares of Amazon stock. The two deals together were valued at about $280 million at the time.[citation needed] In June 1999, Amazon bought Alexa Internet, Accept.com, and Exchange.com in a set of stock deals worth approximately $645 million.[citation needed] In 2003, Amazon purchased the rival online music retailer CD Now.[citation needed] In 2004, Amazon purchased Joyo.com, a Chinese e-commerce website. It also debuted A9.com, a company focused on researching and building innovative technology.[citation needed] In March 2005, Amazon acquired BookSurge, a print on demand company, and Mobipocket.com, an eBook software company.[citation needed] In July 2005, Amazon purchased CreateSpace.com (formerly CustomFlix), a Scotts Valley, California-based distributor of on-demand DVDs.[39] Since the acquisition, CreateSpace has expanded its on-line services to include on-demand books and CDs, as well as video downloads. On July 30, 2007, the National Archives announced that it would make thousands of historic films available for purchase through CreateSpace.[40] In February 2006, Amazon acquired Shopbop, a Madison, Wisconsin-based retailer of designer clothing and accessories for women.[41] In May 2007, Amazon acquired dpreview.com, a London-based digital photography review website created by Phil Askey as his personal hobby website and Brilliance Audio, the largest independent publisher of audiobooks in the United States.[42] In January 2007 created Endless.com, a separate e-commerce brand focusing on shoes[43]. In January 2008, Amazon announced that it would acquire audiobook provider Audible.com for $300 million in cash.[citation needed] In June 2008, Amazon announced that it had acquired Fabric.com, an online fabric store.[44] In July 2008, Amazon's IMDb subsidiary purchased Box Office Mojo, a site that tracks movie sales in theatres.[45] In August 2008, Amazon announced it had an agreement to purchase Victoria, B.C. based AbeBooks, seller of new, used, out of print and rare books.[46] Later that month Amazon announced that it would acquire Seattle-based Shelfari, a book-based social network site, for an undisclosed sum.[47] As part of its acquisition of Abebooks Amazon also got an additional stake in Shelfari's competitor LibraryThing, which AbeBooks had previously purchased a 40 percent stake in, and whole ownership of Bookfinder.com, Gojaba.com, and listing-management service FillZ, all owned by AbeBooks at the time of acquisition. In October 2008 acquired Reflexive Entertainment[48], a casual video game development company. In July 2009 Amazon agreed to acquire Zappos[49], an online shoe and apparel retailer. The deal is expected to close in fall 2009.