In a deal that totals $1.8 billion in cash and stocks, Priceline has agreed to buy fellow comparison site KAYAK. This puts the shares of the publicly traded company at $40, up from where it closed today at $31. KAYAK consolidates the pricing from several different online booking services including Priceline. It appears that KAYAK will stay operational but it’s doubtful that it will continue to offer comparison shopping the way it does today. “Paul English and I started KAYAK eight years ago to create the best place to plan and book travel,” said Steve Hafner, KAYAK Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder….

Millions of websites have had to go through hell and back to survive long enough to reach profitability, but there is an elite list of websites that have managed to survive and prosper through the past decade and beyond. The things they went through dwarf any issues that their more recent counterparts have had to face. It wasn’t easy by any means for these sites though. From the dot-com bubble to the economic recession, the web has, at times, been plagued with turmoil that would make most website owners pack up shop. But, by luck or by design, the following have managed to keep their business going…