About.com will see CEO Peter Horan leave after a transition period, to be replaced by the New York Times's VP of strategic planning for its New England Media Group, Scott Meyer. Meyer, 35, previously worked on NYTimes.com, the flagship paper's online unit, until 2003. The New York Times bought About.com only a few months ago for $410 million, a price roughly 30 times its earnings.

Meyer will report to the Times's head of digital operations, Martin Nisenholtz. Nisenholtz in the past has gone on record as having some cynicism toward melding media products together in the absence of market demand for such conglomerations, suggesting that About.com will continue to operate and sell independently.

About.com staff can expect some continuity. In an interview with ClickZ, Meyer said that he agrees whole heartedly with Horan's existing strategies. He anticipates search and display advertising to remain the business growth engines.