Topic List

Click a topic to learn more.


Term of the Moment

component video


Look Up Another Term


Definition: ZDNET


A technology news portal from Red Ventures, which owns CNET and Lonely Planet. Launched in 1995, ZDNET was a consolidation of ZiffNet memberships on several online services that preceded the Web, which included CompuServe and Prodigy.

In 1988, ZDNET evolved from PCMagNet, a Ziff Davis bulletin board launched three years earlier for PC Magazine readers. By the mid-1990s, the ZDNET brand, which was featured on AOL, Microsoft Network and Prodigy, was an extremely popular technology site.

In 2000, CNET acquired ZDNET from Ziff Davis Media, and CBS acquired CNET in 2008. In 2020, ZDNET was acquired by Red Ventures. See Ziff Davis Enterprise and Ziff Davis.




This Encyclopedia on ZiffNet
In 1993, the DOS and Windows versions of this encyclopedia were used as a promotion for ZiffNet on Prodigy. See About this encyclopedia.