The journalism business has always been built around boom and bust cycles. But it certainly feels like more bust than boom lately. Especially for online journalism. And within that, especially for technology journalism. I'll include games and game industry coverage in there, too, just for a final kick in the teeth.
Two recent closures really drive this point home. One is Reviewed.com, which is part of the Gannett network and often linked with USA Today. It's still alive, technically -- not officially shutting down until November -- but it certainly has a zombified feel.
Reviewed was (is) a mostly e-commerce affiliate link play, throwing up reviews and roundups of anything and everything, hoping you'll click on a link and earn Gannett a small commission. That was a model that seemed like a cure-all when the value of online display ads started dropping -- which happened in part because cheaper programmatic ad networks took the place of premium ad space sold by professional ad sales teams against specific publications and sections.
Google and the weed-like growth of affiliate content/best list junk content (aided and abetted by AI) have killed a lot of that model. Years ago, it was almost fun to joust with other tech news and reviews publications to keep a list of "Best Laptops" updated weekly, or even daily, trying to get into the first handful of organic Google results. For a while, it seemed like expert testing and reviewing of products and well-designed best list pages with thoughtful analysis (and some charts) actually moved the needle, both in terms of Google ranking and the amount of revenue that page could generate. (Heretical admission: I've been doing this since the '90s, and I'm 100% interested in knowing the revenue generated by individual pages.)
As always, publications found a modest amount of success in this model, so everyone piled on and drove it into the ground. The final nail was Google figuring out it could bypass the media middleman and put more of its own buy-it-now links at the very top of a search results page.
While Reviewed.com let some AI/spam content creep in at times and overextended into areas with little expertise, the core reviews product was very good and covered areas almost no one else did. While shopping for a refrigerator a few years back, Reviewed.com was one of the only places where it was obvious the reviewers had the actual products in hand and really tested them.
The other tech site shutdown that stings is AnandTech, suddenly shut by parent company Future after 27 years (and a series of different owners). This site was a real source of true expertise, and you could count on AnandTech to go far beyond whatever CNET, The Verge, PC Mag and others were doing on topics from chipsets and motherboards to CPUs and GPUs.
Now, after years of consolidation, a couple of big media companies own nearly every notable tech and gaming property. There's inevitably going to be more contraction as accounting types ask why they're paying for multiple sites that sound, at least on paper, like they cover the same ground.
As I was writing this, news broke that TouchArcade is shutting down as well. This was a smaller indie site that was a great source of information about mobile games, and I relied on it many times over the years when researching that topic.
Tech journalism has always been a tough game. Industry news competes with how-to guides and product reviews for valuable front door real estate, and every publication faces increasing pressure to cut costs and generate revenue. Young editorial staffers are worked over by multi-billion-dollar tech company PR departments, while the ranks of experienced senior staff that could provide context and guidance have been hollowed out by layoffs and attrition.
Are there any bright spots in the tech journalism ecosystem? As I pointed out in a previous newsletter, even though it adds to the consolidation issue, I think CNET has found a better home at Ziff-Davis, and new, reporter-owned properties like 404 Media are managing to not only survive but have a real impact.
What are your bright spots in tech journalism right now? I'd love to hear your shout-outs and commendations.
Links of note
Want to 3D print an entire guitar? Here’s how: https://www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news/article/3d-printed-guitar.aspx
I went back to visit that gang at CBS Mornings recently, to talk about the latest email scams.
It’s Halloween Shopping season, but after a certain age, a Halloween costume is basically a hat.
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Wow, AnandTech was a good one, I'll miss from my search results when researching computer upgrades! That was the saddest one for me.