They are owned by CBS, a TV network corporation.

TV networks in the states are floundering right now, advertising dollars have dropped off quite a bit, with things on the Web like Netflix and everyone using DVRs to skip commercials, advertisers just dont want to pay as much for their commercial space anymore.

So the most likely scenario I see (just guesswork) is CBS forcing its smaller holdings like Cnet to generate more revenue to support its losses elsewhere, and this is the best way Cnet came up with to meet that mark.