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overview
holdings
landmarks
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overview
This profile considers the IDG magazine and information
services group.
It covers -
introduction
International Data Group (better known as ) is a US-based
conglomerate that straddles technical magazine and book
publishing, data services, recruitment services, conferences
and venture capital. IDG had 2001 revenues of US$3.01
billion and over 12,000 employees worldwide, roughly three
times the size of competitor T&F
Informa (formed through the 2004 merger of Taylor
& Francis and Informa, which in turn consolidated
IBC and LLP) and Ziff-Davis.
The group was founded and is still majority-owned by Patrick
McGovern.
McGovern became associate editor of Computers &
Automation while a biophysics student at MIT. In 1964
he founded International Data Corporation (IDC) - now
an IDG research subsidiary - and launched Computerworld
in 1967.
Expansion of the group has been driven by repackaging
content into local versions of its magazines - with for
example a Greenland edition of Computerworld -
until it has the ubiquity of Microsoft Windows.
IDG had a brief and unpleasant excursion into book publishing,
with acquisition and sale of the Hungry Minds group at
the end of last century following purchase of Macmillan
General Reference USA from Pearson
for £52m in 1998. The 'Hungry' group was founded in 1990
as an IT training specialist. It acquired CliffsNotes
in 1998 and Macmillan General Reference in 1999, becoming
one of the top 10 consumer book publishers in the US.
It was bought by IDG in 2000. In 2001 IDG sold its 75%
stake in Hungry Minds to Wiley.
In August 2006 IDG agreed to acquire Fairfax's
British assets (including MIS UK and the Market
Base database). In return Fairfax Business Media (FBM)
gained a licence to publish IDG's global IT content and
mastheads in Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand, along
with IDG's circulation information and infrastructure
in those markets.
The IDG corporate site is here
Publications
The group has around 300 magazines and newspapers in 85
countries. Most are local versions of its five flagships:
Computerworld/InfoWorld, CIO, Macworld, Network World
and PC World.
Online
IDG operates around 330 sites in 80 countries, mostly
repackaged content from the print publications and supported
by "the world's only 24-hour global technology news
organization, the IDG News Service".
Research
International Data Corporation (IDC) claims to be "the
world's leading provider of global marketing intelligence",
with 575 analysts and research centers in 43 countries.
Activity centres on market research in consumer computing,
including personal computing, online services and games.
Events
The group operates over 168 conferences and events in
35 countries, including LinuxWorld Conference & Expo,
Macworld Conference & Expo, Agenda & Demo and BioITWorld
Conference & Expo.
venture capital
In 1997 IDG launched IDG Ventures' Pacific Technology
Ventures USA, a US$80m venture capital fund for US IT
companies. Money went to what it describes as "extraordinary
successes" such as Babycenter.com, Spinner.com and
F5 Networks. In 1999 it launched a new US$100m fund, IDG
Ventures USA II, followed by IDG Ventures Europe (US$100m)
in 2000 and another US fund in Boston in 2001.
studies
There have been no major studies of the IDG group.
For US venture capital activity see the works highlighted
here
on the Caslon Analytics site.
James Ledbetter's engaging Starving To Death on $200
Million: The Short, Absurd Life of The Industry Standard
(New York: PublicAffairs 2003) offers insights into the
organisations's borg-like corporate culture.
 next
page (IDG holdings)
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