Weblogs, Inc. was a
blog network
On the World Wide Web, a link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to other sites in the group for the purpose of increasing SEO rankings. In graph theoretic terms, a link farm is a clique. Although some link farms can be created ...
that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
s, although the vast majority of its traffic could be attributed to a smaller number of breakout titles, as was typical of most large-scale successful blog networks of the mid-2000s. Popular blogs included:
Engadget
''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...
, Autoblog, TUAW,
Joystiq
''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG ''W ...
, Luxist, Slashfood, Cinematical, TV Squad, Download Squad, Blogging Baby, Gadling, AdJab, and Blogging Stocks.
Today, Engadget and Autoblog are the only remaining brands from the company, now existing as part of
Yahoo Inc.
History
The company was founded in September 2003 by
Jason Calacanis
Jason McCabe Calacanis (born November 28, 1970) is an American Internet entrepreneur, angel investor, author and podcaster.
His first company was part of the dot-com era in New York. His second venture, Weblogs, Inc., a publishing company tha ...
and
Brian Alvey
Brian Alvey (born March 6, 1970 in Falls Church, Virginia) is an American serial entrepreneur, programmer, designer and blogger. He grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in San Francisco where he is the CEO of Clipisode. He is best known for co-found ...
, in the wake of Calacanis' ''
Silicon Alley Reporter
''Silicon Alley Reporter'' was an American trade publication focused on New York's Silicon Alley.
Founded by Jason Calacanis in 1996, then was renamed the ''Venture Reporter'' in 2001 and was eventually sold to Dow Jones in 2003.
Rafat Ali serv ...
'' magazine, with backing from investor
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...
. By early 2004, Weblogs, Inc. and
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...
were establishing the two most notable templates for networked blog empires. Initially, Weblogs, Inc. consisted of a few dozen blogs, all residing as subdomains of weblogsinc.com. The exception was
Engadget
''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...
, a stand-alone site covering new technology in blog format. Engadget was co-founded by Peter Rojas, the former editor of Gizmodo in the Gawker Media network. Eventually a plethora of independent brands were established, including 26 stand-alone sites and over 50 sub-blogs. A few of the company principals also maintained personal blogs on the network, including Mark Cuban.
Weblogs Inc was sold to AOL for a reported $25 million in October 2005. The move came as AOL was preparing to become an independent division within
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
. Weblogs Inc continued to operate independently from AOL's other content websites for many years, until AOL began phasing out the Weblogs Inc branding in favor of its own, consolidating to a few of the strongest titles, and integrating more closely with its namesake media division, which included AOL News, AOL Autos, AOL Tech, etc.
The emphasis on AOL branding was increased following the spin-off of AOL from Time Warner in 2009. Up until mid-2010, Weblogs Inc branding remained subtly alongside AOL's, on titles like Engadget and Autoblog, but in late 2010 the name was dropped and the official website was redirected to AOL.com, approximately coinciding with a major redesign of AOL branded properties. Around the same time, AOL also acquired tech industry blog
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
. At this time, AOL had less than a dozen remaining blog brands.
Following AOL's $315 million acquisition of
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
in February 2011, the former Weblogs Inc blogs, along with TechCrunch and many of AOL's other content brands, were reorganized under a new division called the "Huffington Post Media Group".
Under the arrangement, the Huffington Post editorial team took responsibility for editorial oversight of AOL's other blogs and news sites. Months after the acquisition, AOL further consolidated its total count of content websites to just 20 brands, of which Engadget, Autoblog, Joystiq, and TUAW were the only remaining former Weblogs Inc titles.
The Huffington Post Media Group branding was never used in any significant public-facing capacity, but the Huffington editorial team was put firmly in control of AOL's news websites. This led to numerous controversies over editorial direction, including the departure of TechCrunch editor and founder
Michael Arrington
J. Michael Arrington (born March 13, 1970) is the American founder and former co-editor of TechCrunch, a blog covering the Silicon Valley technology start-up communities and the wider technology field in America and elsewhere. Magazines such as ...
.
Joystiq and TUAW were shut down and folded into Engadget in February 2015. Around the same time, AOL Autos and AOL Tech were shut down and redirected to Autoblog and Engadget, respectively.
In 2015, AOL was acquired by
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
. In 2017, AOL's content business, along with that of
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
, which was also acquired by Verizon, were combined into a new online media subsidiary called
Oath Inc
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to gi ...
.
Currently, Engadget and Autoblog are the only remaining former Weblogs Inc. titles.
Blogs
Engadget
Launched in March 2004, Engadget is updated multiple times a day with articles on
gadgets
A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''.
History
The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...
and
consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...
. Engadget is a
webzine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...
that looks like a blog.
Autoblog
Launched in June 2004, Autoblog is an
automotive news and car shopping website based in
Birmingham, Michigan
Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103.
History
The area comprising what is now the c ...
. Winner of a 2014
Webby Award
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
for its original video series
The List'' Autoblog produces daily articles and videos covering all facets of the auto industry, as well as a weekly video
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
featuring the editors of the site. Autoblog is also home to vehicle shopping tools and research pages where users can search for new and used vehicles for purchase. Autoblog's current Editor-in-Chief is Greg Migliore and its General Manager is Adam Morath.
Joystiq
Joystiq was a
weblog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
covering video games and video game culture. It was shut down on February 3, 2015.
Hack a Day
Founded in September 2004, Hack a Day (also known as HackADay) is a
weblog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
covering hacks, mods, and projects popular among computer enthusiasts. It was not included in the sale of Weblogs, Inc to AOL, but remained a separate entity until it was sold to SupplyFrame in 2013.
TV Squad
TV Squad was a
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
weblog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
founded on March 10, 2005. By 2006, it was one of the most popular on the internet. TV Squad was originally conceptualized to allow any Weblogs, Inc. blogger to write about the television shows they watch. Eventually, a core group of bloggers for the site was realized, with several other Weblogs, Inc. bloggers contributing on an irregular basis. TV Squad had about 20 regularly contributing bloggers. Writers include Adam Finley, Keith McDuffee, Bob Sassone,
Jay Black,
Wil Wheaton
Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...
and
Paul Goebel, and the site's main
television critic
Television criticism is the act of writing or speaking about television programming to evaluate its worth, meaning, and other aspects. Such criticism can be found in daily newspapers, on culture discussion shows (on TV and radio), and in specialis ...
is former ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' critic Maureen Ryan, who came to the site in 2010. During the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, while some industry blogs stopped or wrote articles in support of the strike, TV Squad continued to publish material normally.
TV Squad operated as a separate, independent site until May 2011, when AOL merged TV Squad with AOL. This meant all of the old TV Squad content would then be found on AOL TV. Originally, if a person went to TVSquad.com, it automatically redirected them to AOLTV.com. Just seven months later, AOLTV became HuffPost TV, moving the content once again.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
![TUAW logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/TUAW_logo.png)
TUAW covers tips, reviews, news, analysis, and opinion on everything Apple. Founded in 2004 and one of the most successful blogs from Weblogs, Inc., TUAW was shut down February 3, 2015.
Download Squad
Download Squad was a popular blog following web-based and downloadable software and news for desktop and mobile platforms. Consistently cited among popular software blogs, it was named among ''Computerworlds list of the ten best-written blogs on the Internet in 2008. Download Squad, along with sister blog Switched, was shut down on April 12, 2011, by parent company AOL.
References
External links
*
{{Yahoo, Inc.
Blog networks
Internet properties established in 2003
2005 mergers and acquisitions
AOL