Gawker Media
Encyclopedia
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 to be one of the most visible and successful blog
-oriented media companies. , it is the parent company
for 11 different weblogs: 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.
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. Combined with low operating costs — mostly web hosting fees and writer salaries — Denton was already believed to be turning a healthy profit in 2006. 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.
, Hungary
, where a small company facility is still maintained. The company was headquartered at Nick Denton's personal residence in the New York
neighborhood of SoHo
, and it remained there until 2008 when a new base of operations was created further uptown in Nolita.
. 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."
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). 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. In September 2008, Gawker reported 274 million pageviews.
On November 12, 2008, Gawker announced that Valleywag
would fold into Gawker.com. The Consumerist was sold to Consumers Union
, who took over the site on January 1, 2009.
On February 22, 2009, Gawker announced that Defamer.com would fold into Gawker.com.
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." Gawker shared the correspondence between the scammers and Gawker via Business Insider
.
On February 15, 2010, Gawker announced it had acquired CityFile, an online directory of celebrities and media personalities. In a post that day, Gawker's Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Snyder announced that he was being replaced by CityFile editor Remy Stern.
password hashes with 12 bits of salt
. Security researchers found that password-cracking software "John the Ripper
" was able to quickly crack over 50% of the passwords from those records with crackable password hashes. Followers of Twitter
accounts set up with the same email and password were spammed with advertisements. The Gnosis group notes that with the source code to the Gawker content management system they obtained, it will be easier to develop new exploits.
. Pageviews since the redesign have gone down significantly, with many users either leaving the site or viewing international versions of the site, which haven't switched to the new layout. Gawker's sites saw a 80% decrease in overall traffic immediately after the change, from 1.75 million average views a day to less than 250,000, with a consistent decrease in overall traffic since, as of March 17, 2011, which has caused Gawker to have a "massive" loss in ad revenue. Founder Nick Denton has insisted that everyone should "Stay cool: we've been through worse backlashes", and it has been revealed that he has created a bet on the new design with New York-based digital media consultant Rex Sorgatz after Sorgatz wrote on his blog that the design would "fall falt", which would see the two check Quantcast
on October 1, 2011, and that for every million pageviews/month over or under a total of 510 million starting from February 1st, they would have to pay out $10, and that if the design is restored to the original format, Denten forfeits the bets and must pay out $1000. Some have already cried foul of the bet, as the site has tried to introduce a blog view that is a blend of the two formats, but this blend has been poorly received as well. As of June 27, 2011, the total was approximately 220 million pageviews/month for the US domain (as foreign domains have refused to switch to the new design and thus are not counted), and despite a traffic boost in June from E3 2011, the monthly page views were still 10-20 million below those from before the site redesign. By early October 2011, visits had only partially rebounded, and were still generating an average of 200,000 less hits than before the redesign.
As of October 24, 2011, a button in the shape of an eye was placed at the top right hand corner of the webpage, giving reader the option to choose from three view options: Traditional (entire page scrolls), Two Panes (side bar scrolls independently), or Blog View (listing of stories by date).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
company and blog network
Blog network
A blog network is a group of blogs that are connected to each other in a network. A blog network can either be a group of loosely connected blogs, or a group of blogs that are owned by the same company. The purpose of such a network is usually to promote the other blogs in the same network and...
, founded and owned by Nick Denton
Nick Denton
Nick Denton, born August 24, 1966, is a British journalist and internet entrepreneur, the founder and proprietor of the blog collective Gawker Media, and the managing editor of the New York-based Gawker.com...
based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It is considered to be one of the most visible and successful blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
-oriented media companies. , it is the parent company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for 11 different weblogs: Gawker.com
Gawker.com
Gawker is a newsmagazine/blog based in New York City that bills itself as "the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip" and focuses on celebrities and the media industry....
, Fleshbot
Fleshbot
Fleshbot is a sex-oriented weblog, published by Gawker Media. It was launched in November 2003 as the third online title from Gawker. The range of subject matter includes everything from amateur sex blogs and thumbnail gallery posts to news about sex in popular culture and advertising...
, Deadspin
Deadspin
Deadspin is a sports website owned by Gawker Media and was launched in September 2005. As of February 2010, the site had attracted over 462 million unique visitors and about 573 million page views....
, Lifehacker, Gizmodo
Gizmodo
Gizmodo is a technology weblog about consumer electronics. It is part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton and is known for its up-to-date coverage of the technology industry, along with topics as broad as design; architecture; space and science....
, io9
Io9
io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....
, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
, Jalopnik
Jalopnik
Jalopnik is a Weblog covering cars, car culture, and the automotive industry. Owned and operated by Gawker Media since 2004, Jalopnik emphasizes irreverent humor....
, Jezebel
Jezebel (website)
Jezebel is a blog aimed at women's interests, under the tagline "Celebrity, Sex, Fashion. Without Airbrushing". It is one of several blogs owned by Gawker Media.Jezebel was launched on May 21, 2007, as the 14th Gawker blog...
, Gawker.tv, and Cityfile. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
attribution-NonCommercial license.
Revenue and traffic
While Denton does not go into detail over Gawker Media's finances, he has downplayed the profit potential of blogs, 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.However, in the February 20, 2006 issue of New York Magazine, Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated Gawker.com
Gawker.com
Gawker is a newsmagazine/blog based in New York City that bills itself as "the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip" and focuses on celebrities and the media industry....
's annual advertising revenue to be at least $1 million two years ago, and possibly over $2 million a year. Combined with low operating costs — mostly web hosting fees and writer salaries — Denton was already believed to be turning a healthy profit in 2006. 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.
Beginnings
Gawker Media was originally incorporated in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where a small company facility is still maintained. The company was headquartered at Nick Denton's personal residence in the New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
neighborhood of SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
, and it remained there until 2008 when a new base of operations was created further uptown in Nolita.
Expansions and Contractions
On April 14, 2008, Gawker.com announced that Gawker Media had sold three sites: Idolator, Gridskipper, and WonketteWonkette
Wonkette is a left-leaning American online magazine of topical satire and political gossip, established in 2004 by Gawker Media and founding editor Ana Marie Cox, and edited by Ken Layne from 2006 to 2011...
. 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."
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). 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. In September 2008, Gawker reported 274 million pageviews.
On November 12, 2008, Gawker announced that Valleywag
Valleywag
Valleywag was a Gawker Media blog with gossip and news about Silicon Valley personalities. It was initially launched under the direction of editor Nick Douglas in February 2006. After Douglas was fired, the blog was taken over by Owen Thomas. Thomas himself left in May 2009, to be replaced by Ryan...
would fold into Gawker.com. The Consumerist was sold to Consumers Union
Consumers Union
Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...
, who took over the site on January 1, 2009.
On February 22, 2009, Gawker announced that Defamer.com would fold into Gawker.com.
In October 2009 Gawker Media websites were infected with malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
in the form of fake Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
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." Gawker shared the correspondence between the scammers and Gawker via Business Insider
Business Insider
Business Insider is a U.S. business/entertainment news website launched in February 2009. Founded by DoubleClick Founder and former C.E.O. Kevin P. Ryan it is the overarching brand beneath which fall the Silicon Alley Insider and Clusterstock verticals...
.
On February 15, 2010, Gawker announced it had acquired CityFile, an online directory of celebrities and media personalities. In a post that day, Gawker's Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Snyder announced that he was being replaced by CityFile editor Remy Stern.
Sourcecode breach
On December 11, 2010, the Gawker group's 1.3 million commenter accounts and their entire website source code was released by a hacker group named Gnosis. Gawker issued an advisory notice stating: "Our user databases appear to have been compromised. The passwords were encrypted. But simple ones may be vulnerable to a brute-force attack. You should change your Gawker password and on any other sites on which you've used the same passwords." Gawker was found to be using DES-based crypt(3)Crypt (Unix)
In Unix computing, crypt is the name of both a utility program and a C programming function. Though both are used for encrypting data, they are otherwise essentially unrelated...
password hashes with 12 bits of salt
Salt (cryptography)
In cryptography, a salt consists of random bits, creating one of the inputs to a one-way function. The other input is usually a password or passphrase. The output of the one-way function can be stored rather than the password, and still be used for authenticating users. The one-way function...
. Security researchers found that password-cracking software "John the Ripper
John the Ripper
John the Ripper is a free password cracking software tool. Initially developed for the UNIX operating system, it currently runs on fifteen different platforms...
" was able to quickly crack over 50% of the passwords from those records with crackable password hashes. Followers of Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
accounts set up with the same email and password were spammed with advertisements. The Gnosis group notes that with the source code to the Gawker content management system they obtained, it will be easier to develop new exploits.
2011 redesign and traffic loss
On February 7, 2011, the Gawker sites underwent a major design change and were quickly met with significant backlash from users, even after attempting a beta run a week earlier on Io9 was met with the same backlash. Numerous bugs have been noted by users which range from making the site unreadable, to unnavigable, to unusable, as well as a sizable increase of in-page pop-up ads covering articles, the removal of Gawker's "Fusion" Option, which allowed users to merge news feeds from multiple Gawker sites, and the increase in difficulty in reading older news posts. Numerous users have called for the old design to be reinstated or made accessible, at least until the new design is operational, having likened the redesign to the failure of New CokeNew Coke
New Coke was the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola...
. Pageviews since the redesign have gone down significantly, with many users either leaving the site or viewing international versions of the site, which haven't switched to the new layout. Gawker's sites saw a 80% decrease in overall traffic immediately after the change, from 1.75 million average views a day to less than 250,000, with a consistent decrease in overall traffic since, as of March 17, 2011, which has caused Gawker to have a "massive" loss in ad revenue. Founder Nick Denton has insisted that everyone should "Stay cool: we've been through worse backlashes", and it has been revealed that he has created a bet on the new design with New York-based digital media consultant Rex Sorgatz after Sorgatz wrote on his blog that the design would "fall falt", which would see the two check Quantcast
Quantcast
Quantcast is a California based company that provides publishers and marketers with the ability to understand, deliver and reach their best audiences at a massive scale...
on October 1, 2011, and that for every million pageviews/month over or under a total of 510 million starting from February 1st, they would have to pay out $10, and that if the design is restored to the original format, Denten forfeits the bets and must pay out $1000. Some have already cried foul of the bet, as the site has tried to introduce a blog view that is a blend of the two formats, but this blend has been poorly received as well. As of June 27, 2011, the total was approximately 220 million pageviews/month for the US domain (as foreign domains have refused to switch to the new design and thus are not counted), and despite a traffic boost in June from E3 2011, the monthly page views were still 10-20 million below those from before the site redesign. By early October 2011, visits had only partially rebounded, and were still generating an average of 200,000 less hits than before the redesign.
As of October 24, 2011, a button in the shape of an eye was placed at the top right hand corner of the webpage, giving reader the option to choose from three view options: Traditional (entire page scrolls), Two Panes (side bar scrolls independently), or Blog View (listing of stories by date).
Current
- Gawker.comGawker.comGawker is a newsmagazine/blog based in New York City that bills itself as "the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip" and focuses on celebrities and the media industry....
- New York City media and gossip - GizmodoGizmodoGizmodo is a technology weblog about consumer electronics. It is part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton and is known for its up-to-date coverage of the technology industry, along with topics as broad as design; architecture; space and science....
- Gadgets and technology - KotakuKotakuKotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
- Video games - JalopnikJalopnikJalopnik is a Weblog covering cars, car culture, and the automotive industry. Owned and operated by Gawker Media since 2004, Jalopnik emphasizes irreverent humor....
- Cars and automotive culture - Lifehacker - Productivity tips
- DeadspinDeadspinDeadspin is a sports website owned by Gawker Media and was launched in September 2005. As of February 2010, the site had attracted over 462 million unique visitors and about 573 million page views....
- Sports - JezebelJezebel (website)Jezebel is a blog aimed at women's interests, under the tagline "Celebrity, Sex, Fashion. Without Airbrushing". It is one of several blogs owned by Gawker Media.Jezebel was launched on May 21, 2007, as the 14th Gawker blog...
- Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for women - io9Io9io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....
- Science fiction - FleshbotFleshbotFleshbot is a sex-oriented weblog, published by Gawker Media. It was launched in November 2003 as the third online title from Gawker. The range of subject matter includes everything from amateur sex blogs and thumbnail gallery posts to news about sex in popular culture and advertising...
- Porn - Gawker.TV
- Cityfile
- Gawker Artists - Contemporary/Rising Art Registry http://artists.gawker.com
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
Weblogs formerly owned by Gawker
- Gridskipper - Travel: Now owned by Curbed Network
- IdolatorIdolator (website)Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
- Music: Now owned by BuzzMedia - WonketteWonketteWonkette is a left-leaning American online magazine of topical satire and political gossip, established in 2004 by Gawker Media and founding editor Ana Marie Cox, and edited by Ken Layne from 2006 to 2011...
- Washington D.C. gossip and politics: Now independent - ConsumeristConsumerist (blog)The Consumerist is a consumer affairs blog owned by Consumer Reports with posts provided by regular daily contributors. The blog's focus is on consumerism and consumers' experiences and issues with companies and corporations, concentrating mostly on U.S. consumers...
- Consumer advocate: Now owned by Consumer Reports - Oddjack - Gambling
- Screenhead - Online video: Now unrelated film site
- Sploid - News: Now vacant
- ValleywagValleywagValleywag was a Gawker Media blog with gossip and news about Silicon Valley personalities. It was initially launched under the direction of editor Nick Douglas in February 2006. After Douglas was fired, the blog was taken over by Owen Thomas. Thomas himself left in May 2009, to be replaced by Ryan...
- San Francisco, Silicon Valley and tech gossip: Now a tag on Gawker - Defamer - Hollywood news and gossip: Now a tag on Gawker
External links
- Gawker Media
- 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