I visited the CNET HQ a few times, it’s strategically located in SF, in the South or Market area. They have a ton of brands (maybe too many?). CNET was known as one of the first and prominent brands to embrace community rating.

“CNET Networks was founded in 1993 and has always been “a different kind of media company” creating engaging media experiences through a combination of world-class content and technology infrastructure. The company’s brands currently serve the technology, games and entertainment, business, and community categories. The Technology category is anchored by our CNET brand. The Entertainment category primarily consists of the GameSpot, TV.com, and MP3.com brands. Brands such as BNET , ZDNet, TechRepublic are components of the Business category. Our Community category primarily consists of our Webshots brand.”

If you want to learn more about CNET history, pretty interesting.

Most importantly, here’s why CNET matters: I’ve made tech product decisions and purchasing decisions because of the editor reviews and consumer reviews.

(Silicon Valley Sightings is an ongoing PhotoBlog that captures the intersection of Tech Culture in the San Francisco Silicon Valley Bay Area, check out the archives.)