The comparison shopping market has been a wild success for investors. Now Scripps a media holding company with a wide range of media properties plans to acquire Shopzilla.com for stunning $525 million.

"E. W. Scripps said that Shopzilla attracted 14 million visitors a month and expected to earn $30 million to $44 million in 2005.

"The technology powering Shopzilla's search mechanism is unmatched in the marketplace," said Kenneth Lowe, chief executive of E. W. Scripps. "We believe that long-term online comparison shopping will be a game of expanding market share within a growing marketplace."

Scripps offers Shopzilla greater access to capital as well as expertise in online brand building, Mr. Lowe said. E. W. Scripps, which is based in Cincinnati, owns the cable TV channels Home & Garden Television and the Food Network as well as local newspapers, broadcast televisions stations and the rights to comic strip characters like Dilbert.

"The merger of content and commerce is optimized under the Scripps/Shopzilla umbrella," said Shopzilla's chief executive, Chuck Davis. "Scripps is a wonderful content provider and Shopzilla is a leader in commerce, and the two together are a great fit."

Shopzilla, which searches about 55,000 retailers for more than 30 million products, earns money from retailer referral fees as well as from search services it provides for sites including Time Warner's Road Runner and AOL."

Other M&A activity in this space includes ebay buying shopping.com for $620 million or Kelkoo's exit to Yahoo a year ago.