E.W. Scripps has big plans in mind for comparison-shopping site Shopzilla, which it recently acquired for $525 million, writes Cincinnati's Enquirer (via paidcontent). Shopzilla cofounder Farhad Mohit and Henri Asseily, along with CEO Chuck Davis, are working to merge Shopzilla's search software with Scripps's food, home and garden, and other high-growth content areas, according to the article.

"The ultimate goal: Turn Shopzilla into the same ubiquitous force for shoppers that Google has become for those trying to search the internet. That means any consumer could find and buy any product at any time."

According to a 2004 Forrester survey, nearly one-third of online consumers had visited Shopzilla (then bizrate.com).

Visitors to the site can now compare prices for more than 30 million items at 59,000 retailers. Shopzilla is updated six times a day, and Mohit said its technology can list and compare 100 million products.

Scripps officials are ostensibly satisfied with Shopzilla as a profitable, standalone business; but they say integrating their businesses can open up all sorts of possibilities. By the end of this year Shopzilla could be linked with Scripps's hgtv.com, for example, and Scripps video content could appear on Shopzilla.com - for example, product demonstrations or product reviews.

"When people read content, they become stimulated to seek commerce," Mohit said.