Are Big Blog Networks slowing down?

This year alone, the top two global blog networks had a rough time with balancing their budgets. Both Gawker Media and the AOL-bought WeblogsInc. saw numerous pay cuts and retirements of less-performing blogs. Is this a sign that problogging is at a decline?

Gawker Media alone saw at least 3 successive pay cuts of its bloggers since January. They started out at about $7.50PHP 440INR 636EUR 7CNY 55 per 1,000 pageviews, then it was reduced to $6.50PHP 381INR 551EUR 6CNY 47. Then, another cut brought it down to $5.00PHP 293INR 424EUR 5CNY 36 per 1,000 pageviews.

Sites like the ValleyWag, Gizmodo, Consumerist and LifeHacker are under Gawker Media. It has recently pruned off lesser performing blogs like Wonkette, Gridskipper and Idolator.

On July 22, erstwhile Editor of Engadget Ryan Block announced his resignation from the network. On July 24, AOL was reportedly making budget cuts on some of its blogging properties. Several blogs were ordered to stop posting until August 1, 2008 so not to exceed budget allocation. Several blogs affected were The Unofficial Apple Blog (TUAW) and LifeHacker.

On July 25, b5media CEO Jeremy Wright wrote an open letter to the founders and bloggers of Know More Media offering them of a buy-out or something after hearing that the KMM network will be closing down in the following weeks.

These blog networks are the ones being emulated by dozens and probably hundreds of other smaller blog networks as well. Is it the slowing economy in the US? Is it the online ad spending space? Is it the internet advertising industry? Or is the blogging business model already failing?

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

9 Comments

BrianB says:

16 years ago

Go to the advertising networks like Federated Media and that network engadget and gizmodo use (forget what it’s called, adblogs something). That’s the best way to gauge the industry.
- Reply
BrianB says:

16 years ago

And didn’t I tell everybody blogs don’t sell?
- Reply
BrianB says:

16 years ago

Sorry for posting another comment, but Lifehacker, though less entertaining, is a much more useful site than all other tech blogs put together… to regular people, I mean.
- Reply
Animohosting.com says:

16 years ago

It is because of the slowing economy in the US. A lot of my foreign clients are complaining about their economy. All businesses are affected and most likely even the blog biz industry.
- Reply
Easton Ellsworth says:

16 years ago

Abe, thanks for posting this. I think more than anything it may be that it’s difficult for a lot of blog networks to build enough traffic and authority to make advertising dollars really flow their way. I’ve been a full-time editor at Know More Media since it launched in 2005, and I know what it’s like to struggle to find advertisers. I’m pretty sure our business model has been sound. We just haven’t generated the amount of revenue that we had hoped.

I hope everything works out to the benefit of bloggers who work hard, whether for networks or not.
- Reply
JC John SESE Cuneta says:

16 years ago

Blogs and bloggers have become nothing but a PR tool. It is far from the original “blog/blogging/blogger” when it started years ago.

Already expected such closures, I’m not surprised. I have blogs that I follow, subscribed, and reading, who themselves are PR tools only, so why go to other blogs who offer the same thing – being a PR tool?

Secondly, advertising-wise… XML Feed ftw. 0 ads.

Truth hurts.
- Reply
noel says:

16 years ago

It’s all about income from blogs should be greater than expenses for running those blogs. If income is less than the expenses, then definitely it cannot be sustained. As a business, each blog has to earn or at least break even.

A lot of factors come into play. One perhaps is the slowing economy as per animohosting. I suspect whenever companies slow down, advertising and marketing budgets are greatly reduced to keep expenses to a minimum. Without advertising, some blogs are going to be affected.

I don’t think the blogging business model is failing. But definitely there is going to be some adjustments to be made.
- Reply