Automattic acquires long-form content aggregator Longreads

Automattic today announced it has acquired long-form content aggregator Longreads. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Longreads was founded five years ago in April 2009 as a service dedicated to helping readers “find and share the best storytelling in the world, including both nonfiction and fiction.” The only requirement is that the content shared in question is over 1,500 words.

Longreads Founder Mark Armstrong says Longreads’ goals and Automattic’s goals are complementary: “For us it is to serve readers the best storytelling in the world, and for Automattic it’s to power a world where publishers and writers have the freedom and independence to own and control their own space on the Internet, and to then produce their best work using those tools.”

How exactly the deal will play out is unclear. For his part, Armstrong is promising to continue running Longreads just as before.

Image Credit: Kruno Knezevic