Gawker Media
Gawker Media is an American online media company and blog network, founded and owned by Nick Denton based in New York City. It is considered[1] to be one of the most visible and successful blog-oriented media companies. As of March 2010, it is the parent company for 10 different weblogs, including Gawker.com, Fleshbot, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, io9, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Gawker.tv, and Cityfile. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons attribution-NonCommercial license. [1]
[edit]Revenue and traffic
While Denton does not go into detail over Gawker Media's finances, he has downplayed the profit potential of blogs[2], declaring that "[b]logs are likely to be better for readers than for capitalists. While I love the medium, I've always been skeptical about the value of blogs as businesses," on his personal site[3].
However, in the February 20, 2006 issue of New York Magazine, Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated Gawker.com's annual advertising revenue to be at least $1 million two years ago, and possibly over $2 million a year[4]. Combined with low operating costs — mostly web hosting fees and writer salaries — Denton was already believed to be turning a healthy profit in 2006.[5] In 2009, the corporation was estimated to be worth $300 million, with $60 million in advertising revenues and more than $30 million in operating profit.[2]
[edit]History
On April 14, 2008, Gawker.com announced that Gawker Media had sold three sites: Idolator, Gridskipper, and Wonkette. Denton explained the sale by saying, in a memo, "they each had their editorial successes; but someone else will have better luck selling the advertising than we did."[6]
In a fall 2008 memo Denton announced the layoff of "19 of our 133 editorial positions" at Valleywag, Consumerist, Fleshbot and other sites, and the hiring of 10 new employees for the most commercially successful sites, - Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker and Gawker - and others which were deemed to promise similar commercial success (Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Jalopnik).[3] Denton also announced the suspension of a bonus payment scheme based on pageviews by which Gawker had paid $50,000 a month on the average to its staff, citing a need to generate actual advertising revenue as opposed to just increasing traffic. He explained these decisions by referring to the 2008 credit crisis, but stated that the company was still profitable.[3] In September 2008, Gawker reported 274 million pageviews.[3]
On November 12, 2008, Gawker announced that Valleywag would fold into Gawker.com. The Consumerist was sold to Consumer Union, who took over the site on January 1, 2009. [7][8]
On February 22, 2009, Gawker announced that Defamer would fold into Gawker.com.[4]
In October 2009 Gawker Media websites were infected with malware in the form of fake Suzuki advertisements. The exploits infected unprotected users with spyware and crashed infected computer's browsers. The network apologized by simply stating "Sorry About That. Our ad sales team fell for a malware scam. Sorry if it crashed your computer."[5] Gawker shared the correspondence between the scammers and Gawker via Business Insider.[6]
On February 15, 2010, Gawker announced it had acquired CityFile, an online directory of celebrities and media personalities.[9] In a post [10]that day, Gawker's Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Snyder announced that he was being replaced by CityFile editor Remy Stern.
[edit]List of Gawker Media weblogs
[edit]Current
- Gawker.com - New York City media and gossip
- Gizmodo - Gadgets and technology
- Kotaku - Video games
- Jalopnik - Cars and automotive culture
- Lifehacker - Productivity tips
- Deadspin - Sports
- Jezebel - Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for women
- io9 - Science fiction
- Fleshbot - Porn
- Gawker.tv
- Cityfile
- Valleywag - San Francisco and Silicon Valley gossip
- Gawker Artists - Contemporary/Rising Art Registry[11]
- Defamer - Hollywood news and gossip[12]
[edit]Licensed Australian weblogs
- Defamer Australia - Australian and Hollywood gossip
- Gizmodo Australia - Gadgets and technology
- Kotaku Australia - Games and gaming industry coverage
- Lifehacker Australia - Tips, tricks, tutorials, hacks, downloads and guides
[edit]Weblogs formerly owned by Gawker
- Gridskipper - Travel
- Idolator - Music
- Wonkette - Washington D.C. gossip and politics
- Consumerist - Consumer advocate
[edit]Defunct Gawker weblogs
- Oddjack - Gambling (Still in operation as of 12 Feb 2009)
- Screenhead - Movies (Still in operation as of 12 Feb 2009)
- Sploid - News (Operating as part of Gawker as of 12 Feb 2009)
[edit]See also
[edit]References
- ^ Gawker Media. Terms of Use
- ^ Penenberg, Adam L. "Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?" Wired. September 22, 2005.
- ^ Denton, Nick. "Nano Wars" March 8, 2005.
- ^ Thompson, Clive. "Blogs to Riches - The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom" New York Magazine. February 20, 2006.
- ^ Carr, David. "A Blog Mogul Turns Bearish on Blogs", New York Times, July 3, 2006
- ^ Pareene, Alex. "Memo: Gawker Sells Three Sites" April 14, 2008.
- ^ Gawker Media is the Goldman Sachs of the Internet, The Awl, July 27, 2009
- ^ McIntyre, Douglas A. (2009-11-10). "The Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs In America". 24/7 Wall St.. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ a b c Owen Thomas: Valleywag cuts 60 percent of staff Valleywag, 3 October 2008
- ^ "Defamer Folds Into Gawker; Editors to Pursue Careers in Bearded Hip-Hop". gawker.com. 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Popken, Ben (2009-10-27). "Gawker Duped By Malware Gang, Serves Up Infected Suzuki Ads". The Consumerist. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ Blodget, Henry (2009-10-26). "Gawker Scammed By Malware Crew Pretending To Be Suzuki". Business Insider. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
[edit]External links
- Tom Zeller, Jr.. "A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip", New York Times, May 8, 2005 (registration required)
- Vanessa Grigoriadis, "Everybody Sucks: Gawker and the rage of the creative underclass, New York magazine, October 22, 2007
- Gawker Media Traffic
- Gawker.com
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