A few days ago, Glam Media, the number one vertical media company for women, announced that they were going to buy ad technology start-up AdPortal. The idea was that their tech would help bolster Glam Media’s GlamAdapt program which allows publishers to run their own self-service ad portals. The emphasis is on detailed demographics that will allow the advertisers to place ads based on very specific audience and geographic stats over a wide-range of sites all under the Glam Media roof.

AdPortal is a spin off of Sportgenic, a sports ad network. Now, with today’s announcement, it all becomes quite clear.

Glam Media is now going after the male market with the launch of their new vertical “BrashSports.”

The press release states:

“Brash.com, owned by Glam Media, has acquired Sportgenic (www.Sportgenic.com) — one of the leading men’s sports vertical media startups based in San Francisco, and has added leading men’s publishers (including SportsFanLive and Bloguin), professional social media authors, and digital video producers.”

“This acquisition expands Brash.com vertical leadership in Men 18-49 to over 30 million unique visitors in the U.S., making Brash #3 after Yahoo! Sports and ESPN with a massive, passionate, and socially engaged male audience online. Brash has added over 25 new men’s properties — making Brash Media a leader in offering 360 degree “whole life” solutions for brands looking to surround and engage men online.”

In addition to sports, they’re also moving deeper into entertainment and lifestyle for men. They’re using the tagline “Big. Bold. Brave. Blunt.” along with a photo of Steve McQueen which suggests they’re going for an upscale audience that is classy with a bit of the rebel thrown in. But if you take a look at Brash.com you won’t see big, bold, brave or blunt. Right now it’s a bland blog with a flat, purple navigation bar that does nothing to draw in the reader.

Brash has been online since 2008 but only represented 10% of Glam Media’s business. Now it looks like they’re putting the site into high gear in hopes of making it a much larger component. The question is, can a company that’s known for their women’s content, become the preferred homepage for men?

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