People Magazine was a success within 18 months of its inception. Despite the fact that many people wrote it off as an illegitimate gossip column, it has only grown in popularity. They were one of the first publications to cover celebrities in America and have expanded on that idea ever since.

The popular publication has undergone multiple ownership changes over the years. People’s publisher, a company called Meredith, is in the process of being acquired by digital media company Dotdash for 2.7 billion dollars. The result of this merger will be a new media powerhouse. Unifying these two companies seems to be a no brainer to many, as each has what the other lacks. Meredith has great magazine content and readership and Dotdash has the ability to make it widely available in a digital space.

Many people may be familiar with Dotdash, they are a sub division of the company that runs applications like Tinder. After this acquisition, they will have more than 50 publications. Some examples of these are Better Home & Gardens, Real Simple, and Southern Living. Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel claims that this new merger will result in a major challenge from a digital advertising perspective to big names like Facebook and Google.

 Although Vogel seems to think the two companies can unite harmoniously, many wonder if the same readers interested in Dotdash’s usual thought provoking content will be as fascinated by the tabloid style writing in People. This, coupled with the fact that Dotdash is not familiar with the level of print circulation that is required to keep People afloat, has lead many to raise an eyebrow.