Amazon buys dpreview.com

Photography website to allegedly keep independence

14 May 2007 21:58 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Photography website DPreview.com has been bought by Amazon.com for an undisclosed sum.

Started as hobby site in 1998, dpreview.com has grown to be the number one destination for anyone interested in digital cameras and digital photography.

Boasting 7 million unique visitors and over 120 million pages a month, the deal, which is a new move by Amazon, is being seen by some industry insiders as an opportunity for the shopping site to earn more from the heavily populated affiliate scheme the photography site runs.

Phil Askey, the sites owner cites the deal as a chance to "expand and build...without compromising our quality or independence."

However some websites are already questioning how a shopping site can run an independent review site claiming Amazon will use dpreview's influence to feature and focus on products that have higher margins.

According to the press release Dpreview.com will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in London, rather than move to the company's UK headquarters in Slough.