How about that? Hearst has decided to buy Answerology.com. You may know Answerology as a start-up site that offers homespun advice on sex, career, dating, married life, et al. And you may know Hearst as the publisher of Cosmo, CosmoGIRL!, Esquire, Marie Claire, O The Oprah Magazine, and Redbook (as well as several TV joint ventures with Disney: Lifetime and A&E). They were formerly the primary content provider of NBC Universal’s iVillage, so they probably would love to have another non-Hearst brand outlet for their content. And who couldn’t use a little advice from time-to-time? No word on how much Hearst paid for Answerology, but we’re guessing it was south of $1 Billion and north of $10,000. But that’s just a guess.

It looks like might finally be able to get a similar, unqualified answer to a question on MarieClaire.com as you would on Cosmopolitan.com. It’s really been a long-time coming that the websites for these large women’s magazines got on the same page with community-supported answers.

Answerology started as the web component to Matthew Milner’s rom-com novel, Guy Critical. It’s ranked somewhere in the 2.5 million area Amazon but it got four nice reviews. So, young entrepreneurial writers, try building a web-companion to your virgin novel attempt and then make more money off of the site. And maybe humorously rescue a few relationships along the way. Don’t be a dick and write a book about an aging boxer who's trying to make things right with her step-father because she's dating her Zen master boxing coach and just link the Amazon page to your Facebook. Get creative, gang.

Read more about the corporate takeover at Answerology at MarketWire…