Posts Tagged ‘Shel Israel’

All posts tagged Shel Israel.

The Real Value of Audience

Posted: by chrisshipley on March 26th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Categorized: Uncategorized

We didn’t make the list, not that we’re surprised or even disappointed, really. The list? 24/7 Wall Street’s ranking of the 25 Most Valuable Blogs.

While I might argue the nuance of “value” (does audience size and ad revenue trump meaningful discourse?), I am impressed by the analysis Douglas McIntyre put into valuation and ranking of the top blogs. While admitting at the outset that “there is no way to accurately put a value on blogs,” the site drew revenue estimates from data and assumptions about advertising and other commercial revenue, quality and quantity of ads, traffic and traffic growth. The site then based total value on a multiple derived from estimated operating margins, longevity of the blog, outside funding, and the dependence of a blog on its founder or lead personality.

Omitting the blogs of large media companies and blogs as the market-facing vehicle for another primary business, 24/7 Wall Street’s list shapes up like this:

1. Gawker (including Gawker, ValleyWag, Gizmodo, and Wonkette, among others): $150 million.

2.MacRumors: $85 million

3. Huffington Post: $70 million

4. PerezHilton: $48 million.

5. TechCrunch: $36 million.

6 (tied): Ars Technica $15 million.

6 (tied): Seeking Alpha $15 million.

8 (tied): Drudge Report $10 million.

8 (tied): Mashable $10 million.

10. GigaOm: $8.4 million.

Valuations quick tapper off. No. 23 Talking Points Memo is pegged at $860,000. McIntyre assigns no price to No. 24 Travelpod and to his No. 25 pick, his own 24/7 Wall St. (I recommend reading the post in which McIntrye explains his reasoning for each blog, expecting his own.)

There are a couple of take aways from this analysis, and the first is clear: Read the rest of this entry »

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Does This Blog Make My Butt Look Fat?

Posted: by chrisshipley on March 3rd, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Categorized: Observations

Let me just start by saying that I realize I’m wading into shark-infested waters, dangerous territory no matter how I try to spin these next few paragraphs. But wade I must.

Until this morning, what I’m about to share have been private ponderings reserved for conversation with colleagues. Then I read the most ironic post by Michael Arrington. In it, he berates gossip site Valleywag for its coverage of the underbelly of Silicon Valley and the Web 2.0 movement.

Before I go further, I state for the record:

  • I respect Michael for what he has created at TechCrunch. I may go about the business of reporting and analyzing the technology business in a manner very different from him, but there is no doubt that he has created a successful franchise.
  • Valleywag leaves me conflicted. I like Owen Thomas, and even though he’s reported things I wish he hadn’t, he’s always been fair to me. Still, I’ve never thought Silicon Valley needed a gossip rag, an opinion I’ve held since The San Jose Mercury News carried the gossip column by my friend Chris Nolan in the 90s.

Then, came a post this morning. In his hyperbolic way, Arrington skewers Valleywag for its salacious coverage of Jimmy Wales’ breakup with his girlfriend Rachel Marsden. The irony comes in his conclusion:

There’s a market for this kind of content, obviously. And nothing can stop it except significant changes to our libel and defamation laws. That isn’t something I support. But the valley was a much nicer place to live and work before the days of Valleywag.

And, one might argue, TechCrunch and dozens of other blogs that stoop to a level of discourse that is undignified, disrespectful, and anything but social.

For much of the last year I’ve been struggling privately with a collection of essays about the nature of reporting, journalism, commentary, criticism, and opinion that is the blogosphere. Collected under the title of this post, this unpublished commentary is tied together by a simple idea: that social media, as it is largely practiced, has become entirely anti-social. Read the rest of this entry »

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