Demand Media, Inc., the content and social media company that operates brands including eHow and Cracked, has just seen its stock rise roughly 20% to $8.68 per share, the highest price since August. Last summer the company saw another surge in prices while discussing a $1.2 billion deal to go private with Thomas H. Lee and Partners, which never actually happened, though the company was still able to post a record 4th quarter in 2011. Stocks have now risen again upon reports from AllThingsD that the deal with Thomas H. Lee and Partners has dissolved.

Demand Media stocks peaked at $9.51, the highest since August 15th, and gained 9% in general so far on the year. The company went public in January 2011, selling 8.9 million shares at $17 a pop, and as of April 27th, has a market value of $608 million, and will deliver its Q1 earnings report on May 8th.

Demand Media has been expanding, and recently launched a new tech channel for its eHow brand, a top-20 internet domain in the U.S., and the entire Demand network brings in about 100 million unique users per month. And a focus on also monetizing Cracked and Livestrong.com has obviously worked. Demand Media has had some ups and downs in the last year after going public, one of which was the launch of Google’s Panda search update and it’s effect on eHow. Though, the changes haven’t seemed to have affected the Demand’s holdings on a major level.