that generated 3 million unique monthly visitors during the first quarter of 2007—for US$33 million in cash following two other purchases that were made in the preceding eight-month period: UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. Initially conceived of in January 2007, About.com's first fully owned foreign venture, the China-based Abang.com, debuted in December 2007. At the time of the launch, the company had a Japan-based online entity, Allabout.co.jp, but it functioned under a licensing agreement. By January 2008, the China site consisted of around 25 employees, as well as 80 guides who were responsible for article production within seven categories: Fashion, Food, Health, Hobbies, Pets, Digital, and Travel. As part of the localization process, the China initiative—led by Matt Roberts, who became the CEO of Abang.com, and Wen-Wei Wang, the vice president of technology for the launch—was named "Abang" because the Chinese character "bang" refers to the concept of a group or community. The About Group generated US$102.7 million in 2007, which represented a 135-percent increase from the time of the Times Co. acquisition. Meyer stepped down from the chief executive role in March 2008 and was replaced by Cella Irvine, who previously worked for Hearst Corp. and Microsoft Corp. In April 2011, Irvine launched the About en Español website, which was About's first-ever Spanish-language channel and initially featured nine topics, including movies and makeup, that were to be expanded by around 100 by the start of 2012. The launch was part of an overall strategy that included a redesigned About.com homepage, a doubling of the number of "how-to" and do-it-yourself videos on About.com's 24 channels, and new outlets on About.com for advertisers. The significant impact of the global financial crisis upon online advertising was experienced shortly after Irvine's appointment and, despite her focus on video content and Hispanic consumers, she was removed from the CEO role after three years and three consecutive quarters in which revenue decreased. Martin Nisenholtz, SVP of digital operations, temporarily replaced Irvine following her departure in May 2011. In July 2011, Darline Jean was named CEO of the About Group, after the company's second-quarter revenues totaled US$27.8 million. Jean previously served as About's chief financial officer (CFO) and was promoted on September 1, 2011. 2012–2017: IAC acquisition, Neil Vogel appointment, relaunch A media report published in August 2012 indicated that Answers.com had reached a preliminary agreement to acquire About.com for US$270 million. However, on August 26, Barry Diller's