WebProNews

Scripps Networks has purchased Recipezaar, a user- generated recipe community site with more than 230,000 recipes.

Scripps says the acquisition is part of  its strategy to move its online business beyond extensions of its TV networks to become multi-branded.

"We've been the dominant interactive player in the 'home' and 'food' categories for some time now. By focusing even more on the consumer and the online user experience - much in the way Recipezaar does - we believe we can broaden our reach and deepen our relationship with the consumer in these categories as well as other aspects of lifestyle," said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks.

"This is a great first step toward our plan to rapidly expand our revenue base from interactive media."

Recipezaar offers food fans an intuitive browsing tool, search capabilities, and personalized features including "My Cookbook", "My Grocery List" and recipe ratings and suggestions. The site was founded in 1999 by former Microsoft employees Gay Gilmore and Troy Hakala. Recipezaar had 2.3 million unique visitors in June.

Recipezaar will run as a stand-alone brand within Scripps Networks online properties and function separately from FoodNetwork.com.

"We started Recipezaar as a couple of geeks in Seattle who love to cook, and more importantly, love to eat. Because we are technologists, our goal was to make it a lot easier to search for and to share recipes, taking the hassle out of cooking," said Hakala.

"It will be exciting to see how our technology platform can enhance the user experience not only for FoodNetwork.com, but for visitors to all of the online sites at Scripps Networks. Likewise, we know that the programming and content that will be available to Recipezaar users will be greatly enhanced."