About.com will be bought by The New York Times for $410 million from publisher Primedia, in order to open new online advertising possibilities.
The company said it will expand the site's content and use it to market its products. About.com currently provides information over a broad range of topics; arts, electronics, finance, food, travel and many more.
Primedia bought About.com for $690 million in stock in late 2000, as it worked to meld its traditional publishing business with online media. But the publisher struggled to steer About.com through the Internet downturn and noted Thursday that the portal is "completely distinct" from its other Web sites.
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