Paris Hilton and Noel Biderman may seem like an odd pairing, but they do have something in common -- they both know what's hot.

In Mr. Biderman's case, however, what's hot is HotOrNot. com. The eight-year-old Web site was purchased by his company, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., for US$20-million last week.

Haven't heard of Avid Life Media? Perhaps you might recognize the company's other well-known Web property, Ashley Madison. Yes, the same Ashley Madison of online-dating-for-cheating-partners notoriety.

So what's Ashley Madison doing in the same league with HotOrNot -- a Web site that allows users to rate how attractive people are based on photos submitted voluntarily by others?

"As an expert in online customer acquisition and conversation ... we saw a lot of synergy there," Mr. Biderman said. "A site like HotOrNot's audience is phenomenal and we think we can bring a lot of the learning we garnered from Ashley Madison and turn it into a robust, mega-brand."

As for HotOrNot's original owners, it appears it was time to move on, even though the Web site was pulling in an annual profit of about US$2-million from advertisements and premium membership. In a posting on his blog, HotOrNot's co-founder James Hong said, "It seemed like the right thing to do was put the company in the hands of capable people who are excited about it and want to take it to the next level."

That next level, according to Mr. Biderman, is to take HotOrNot and turn it from a one-trick Web site into a "marketer's dream."

"We want to reinvent the nature of the focus group," Mr. Biderman said. "Because you can sample a wide, diverse crowd of people, the potential is enormous."

Retail consultant David Ian Grey, president of Dig360 Consulting, doesn't think turning HotOrNot into an online focus group is a "slam-dunk idea."

"There's plenty of product-based sites," said Mr. Grey, suggesting CNet and Consumer Reports already fill this niche online. "If they keep true to the brand, it's got to be irreverent, like quirky off-the-wall products, more of a fun thing."

Toronto-based e-business analyst Rick Broadhead said the HotOrNot purchase was a great deal for a company looking to make an immediate impression among the fickle tech-savvy crowd.

"It's buying a brand that has international name recognition and huge traffic, setting aside for a moment what you think of Ashley Madison," Mr. Broadhead said.

Founded last August, Avid Life Media was the brainchild of Mr. Biderman and several other local entrepreneurs who saw the potential of purchasing non-performing Web properties and turning them around into money machines, such as Ashley Madison. They own a number of other Web sites, including Fivelimes, a social network with a environmentally-friendly angle, and are looking to buy up to five more properties by the end of the year.

Mr. Biderman also has lofty goals and wants to make Avid Life Media the country's largest interactive media company, styling himself as the Canadian version of Barry Diller, InterActive Corp.'s chief executive.

And no matter what you may think about the morals attached to Ashley Madison, Mr. Biderman insists the Web site is doing good business.

"We've doubled our revenues in the past year and with numbers in the eight figures," he said, declining to provide financial information on a privately-run company. "This could one day be a 50-to-60-million-dollar business one day."

"We could even go public, it's a real possibility. Liquidity is important for our investor group and we will find the right way to make sure [they will] get gains on their investments."