I wouldn't say this drop in unique linking domains says a whole lot about the fall of valleywag - what domains dropped off, and at what rate? Is it just because of a certain story thread acquiring huge waves of links across other gawker networks or other blogs responding to topics and linking in the course of discussion?
My guess would be that gawker pushed some of their partners/syndicates toward other more profitable Gawker properties once VW got rolling and it was clear how much traffic/revenue they could expect from the current valleywag style & audience.
Were other gawker properties launched at the time of this drop?
Or it's possible that they want you to believe this?
I find it strange that both of the Preston-Werners posted blog posts directly after the github post came out. Usually I'd think lawyers would not encourage this...
Most attorneys will advise clients not to make public statements until a matter has been resolved formally. Where appropriate, public statements are generally very direct and avoid detail.
I am skeptical that an attorney blessed statements like "we were fully cleared of all accusations of harassment" and "we learned that, despite, being found not guilty of the harassment accusations." These statements, particularly "found not guilty", would be appropriate following a favorable resolution of a civil or criminal matter. In my opinion they are absolutely not appropriate following the completion of a third party investigation initiated by a company. Such investigations are a standard part of the pre-litigation process; they do not eliminate the threat of litigation and they do not guarantee a successful defense.
I am even more skeptical that this statement was coordinated with counsel because it contains information that could be used to support other claims against the company. The statement gives credence to the idea that some employees may have felt pressured by a superior's spouse. There are a variety of causes of actions under which such an admission could be beneficial to a plaintiff's claims and these statements could conceivably be useful to other employees if they are considering the pursuit of unrelated actions.
Might it be that defunkt said what lawyers would like him to say and that mojombo and his wife didn't? Did you see anything major that defunkt said in those two blog posts that a lawyer would find fault with?
It seems like defunkt may have watched mojombo and his wife do a few things that he'd rather they didn't do. Maybe he was frustrated and talked to their investor about it and they didn't like the situation either, and long story short, mojombo resigned. I imagine this might be hard for their friendship (which I hear is legendary despite their differences) but hopefully they'll overcome it.
Even though I'm no longer a practicing attorney I prefer not to speculate. I can only state that I have watched this situation with interest and am amazed at how poorly both sides have handled the matter. I do not see the fingerprints of competent counsel in the actions of either side.
Frankly I was blown away a little while ago when I first used the new search, it's lightning fast and really finds whatever you're searching for. I'd really love to know more about the infrastructure behind.
Probably a good time to mention that Google Ventures invested in RetailMeNot.
I think keeping these kind of coupon codes as a %rev affiliate model rather than CPC ads makes it easier to justify the high level of spending (much of which is cannabilizing other marketing channels) - if it was more directly comparable to adwords & Product Listing Ads CPC-based costs, I think more large brands would move faster to cut the wasteful spending going on in these programs.
Right now many rationalize it as "4% of revenue is a great acq cost" - but it's not a true acquisition cost as you already acquired many of these customers and if the affiliate sites didn't exist, 99% of these sales would still happen.
If you're a pure SEO built company, are you really betting it all on SEO? Without it you'd have no company, and if it weren't risky, there would be no opportunity left.
> you already acquired many of these customers and if the affiliate sites didn't exist, 99% of these sales would still happen.
That's only true for a small number of vendors (those that are "unique" in a relevant way, such as clothing brands). For everyone else, it's a "Red Queen" style race, where you have to run just to stay in the same place : you have to do it, because someone else did; if no one or everyone does, nothing changes - but if only some do, those who do have an advantage.
Your adwords rep will hide the complexities if you like - be prepared to bleed money all over the place though - in many simple, complex and esoteric ways.
Most of those "no price listed" tools run somewhere between 5-15% of ad spend. Many times with high minimums. I see no reason to choose one from scratch.
Either learn adwords (really learn it, practice, test, do it right) or hire someone who knows what they're doing (and beware of all those who think they do but don't...)
Google is super optimized to get into your wallet so either play ball or stay the hell out of the path of the greatest money machine ever created as it rakes in cash all the way til it can't monopolize more.
What are the first principles of journalism? What is journalism?
For all the words journalists spend on this topic, I've never seen anything which makes a whole lot of sense to regular non-journalist people, often the crux of the journalist side is some vague statement like "journalism is key for democracy". Is it? What part of it is?
Then maybe we can find ways to make a new journalism model which works without paying for the paper it's printed on and getting some nice local classified ads with your bundle.
This story is just another piece of the wu's marketing genius. Could it be true? Sure, so they may as well have you think about it - argue the truth, etc. Mystery shrouds the shaolin sword.
Wu-Tang are one of the few music acts to really get that it's about entertainment.
I get that it's easier to set up WPEngine, but this seems like one of those cases where you might be better off learning what to do - just set up a self-hosted VPS with nginx + varnish?
At least if you're gonna have multiple sites, this WPEngine is expensive stuff.
My guess would be that gawker pushed some of their partners/syndicates toward other more profitable Gawker properties once VW got rolling and it was clear how much traffic/revenue they could expect from the current valleywag style & audience.
Were other gawker properties launched at the time of this drop?