Dictionary.com: Direct object of a $100 million deal

Answers, the creator of Answers.com, plans to purchase Lexico Publishing Group, the parent of Dictionary.com.

Through the deal, Answers will inherit a collection of Web properties that "generate approximately three times the total page views of Answers.com," according to an Answers statement.

In addition to Dictionary.com, Lexico also owns Thesaurus.com and Reference.com.

Lexico Web sites had a total of 11.5 million unique users in June, Answers Chairman and CEO Robert S. Rosenschein said in a Tuesday Webcast.

"The combined properties (of Answers and Lexico) would have reached a total of 22.5 million unique users in June, ranking it as the 28th largest U.S. property. This leap would rank us higher than such well-known Web properties as ESPN, WebMD, Craigslist and iVillage," said Rosenschein.

But it is the Dictionary.com URL that seems to be generating the most interest, both from Answers and the general public.

About 85 percent of Lexico traffic is directly from people who type the word "dictionary" in a search engine and then click on Dictionary.com from the results. Lexico, however, only makes one third as much per page in advertising revenue as Answers.com, according to a company statement.

Answers said it plans to capitalize on that search phenomenon by directing people to more than just dictionary content.

Dictionary.com and other Lexico sites will soon begin to see more of the encyclopedic content offered by Answers from sites like WikiAnswers.

Answers said that combining encyclopedic content from Answers properties with Dictionary.com's URL popularity will help it to be more competitive against Wikipedia, the open encyclopedia.

The $100 million transaction, pending closing conditions, will likely be completed by fall.

Think it's a coincidence that today's "Word of the Day" is gallimaufry?