Gawker Media, the blog “collective” that includes sites like Defamer and Gizmodo, has sold three of its 15 sites as part of an attempt to “hunker down” as they “wait for the internet bubble to burst.” Didn’t that already happen? Music site Idolator, travel site Gridskipper and politics blog Wonkette have all been sold to companies who can supposedly better sell advertising on them, with Idolator heading to Stereogum-owning Buzznet and Gridskipper migrating to Curbed. Wonkette, a near-legendary site that had been closely identified with Gawker, will now be part of the Blogads network that includes Daily Kos.
Since music is more my thing, I can attest that Idolator has always done a pretty good job, with an anything-goes pop culture policy and ample evidence of the quirky tastes of its writers. But when they post “Top Stories” and it turns out just a couple-hundred page views is all it takes to land there, one wonders how it all makes economic sense. (Not to gloat, as I’m sure Riff page views aren’t anywhere close). Besides, Stereogum and Pitchfork also cover a lot of the same ground. Connect the dots to the recent stories about overwhelmed bloggers dropping dead from exhaustion, and this blog downturn (“downblog”? “blogturn”?) could be all too real. Jeez, Mother Jones, don’t spin off the Riff to Playboy, you’re a non-profit, remember? Guess I gotta up those click-throughs…
