tim222 - 6:00 pm on Aug 10, 2010 (gmt 0)

For a high risk business like this, I would say 2) is more like "get out while the going is good". It is high risk - ranking reliant on good SEO, however brilliant they are at it, is a high risk.

Agreed - I smell a cash-out. The pattern is pretty typical: dump a bunch of money into a site and then wait for deep pockets to come along and buy it.

From the article:

Yahoo acquired Demand Media rival Associated Content for $100 million this spring.

That leaves Google and Microsoft as prime candidates to buy Demand Media.