how do websites like anandtech.com make money?

[new99]

IF they(review sites/database sites) make money.. how and how much? advertisements/banners? by hits daily?.. lets leave out extra stuff like forum income/expenses...

apologize in advance if this is too offtopic/secret?

 

[yobarman]

they charge subcriptions for their forums page.

 

[new99]

yeah, i mean EXCLUDING the forum. (make believe anandtech.com forum didn't exist. how would they make money then?)

 

[Nocturnal]

yeah i would think they get paid for banenrs, click thrus, and i think like crucial may be paying them to host their banner. or maybe they get so much off of every person who goes through the crucial link and buys a stick of ram.

im not sure, correct me if im wrong.

 

[Kadarin]

I can't think of too many possible business models, but they do semi-targeted advertising (after all, people who visit the site are interested in buying hardware..), and they *might* make money on the side through charging for favorable reviews (not saying any of these sites do, but it's possible).

 

[Ranger X]

Probably banners, sponsors, etc.

I'm not sure but maybe those vendors that send their equipment pay to have it reviewed.

 

[ViRGE]

Considering Anand's limited time, I wouldn't be suprised if he did some sort of "per-per-review" system, although I seriously doubt he does.

 

[snowdogg187]

People paying to use the forums makes some good money for them.

 

[tedthebear]

:Q People pay to read the forums? I don't.

 

[chiwawa626]

Anand rakes in over a million a year with the banners...that was somthing we learned from an interview like 2 years ago...so now with all the popularity its prolly even more than that.. + subscriptions, if u ask me i think its not even worth payin for somthing that u can get free, and for somthing that isnt even worth 30 bux since there is no REAL perks to it...i think their makeing a lot of money already.

 

[chibchakan]

<< Anand rakes in over a million a year with the banners...that was somthing we learned from an interview like 2 years ago...so now with all the popularity its prolly even more than that.. + subscriptions, if u ask me i think its not even worth payin for somthing that u can get free, and for somthing that isnt even worth 30 bux since there is no REAL perks to it...i think their makeing a lot of money already. >>



Is there a link to that interview ?

 

[udonoogen]

in the millions. man ... thats insane

 

[Lucky]

<< Anand rakes in over a million a year with the banners...that was somthing we learned from an interview like 2 years ago...so now with all the popularity its prolly even more than that.. + subscriptions, if u ask me i think its not even worth payin for somthing that u can get free, and for somthing that isnt even worth 30 bux since there is no REAL perks to it...i think their makeing a lot of money already. >>




Whatever you are talking about was 2 years ago...the ad market was a helluva lot different then than it is now. Thats pretty obvious. Russ used to post about the expenses, but Im not sure if they have changed since then, I assume the forums pick up more of the share as ad rates went down. Im sure he makes some money off crucial, etc. but if he really wanted to make serious money, he'd make some changes like autolinking and caputering outbound links and sending them out as referrals. Its obvious he doesnt want to persue this route (too intrusive?), because its a relatively simple thing to code, as I understand it, and he would stand to gain quite a bit. I really dont believe anand is running the place to suck you dry and get your money, but he's also not running it on charity either.

 

[Logix]

<< Is there a link to that interview ? >>


Here is a story from March 2000. It says, "With a site that gets almost 1.5 million readers a day and ad revenues nearing a $ 1 million, you can't blame Shimpi for being a workaholic."

 

[Blain]

Back in the day, the reviews were being churned out a lot faster. :Q

 

[new99]

<<

<< Is there a link to that interview ? >>


Here is a story from March 2000. It says, "With a site that gets almost 1.5 million readers a day and ad revenues nearing a $ 1 million, you can't blame Shimpi for being a workaholic." >>



great thanks.

do you guys think the other [hardware] websites are doing just as well?

 

[Ns1]

i don't think that interview is factoring in costs, just revenue...

Sorry, can somebody fill in the numbers?

What kinda bandwidth costs is associated with 1.5mil hits/day

+ Forums

Employs 12 people? how much are they making

Hardware needed to run the site, etc etc etc



But heck, if anand is rolling in the dough, then more power to him, good to see somebody succeed

 

[duragezic]

Um yeah that's when advertising actually used to pay a decent amount of money. Anand has said several times that the forums cost far more to run than the money they make, and they are only able to stay because of the money the main site makes. Hence, the use of subscriptions.

 

[Russ]

The business ignorance at this forum is startling.



<< Anand rakes in over a million a year with the banners...that was somthing we learned from an interview like 2 years ago...so now with all the popularity its prolly even more than that. >>



I would be surprised if the site is currently generating half of the revenue it was two years ago. It's pretty well known (except for some who've been living in a cave), that web advertising revenues have gone in to the toilet right along with the rest of the dot.bomb slaughter.



<< + subscriptions...i think their makeing a lot of money already. >>



The forum subscriptions might be up to covering a third of the bandwidth costs the forums generate. This little playground is still a money losing proposition for Anand.



<< do you guys think the other [hardware] websites are doing just as well? >>



Obviously not, since they've been dropping like flies.

Russ, NCNE

 

[jaydee]

He's got a book out, and is doing monthly articles for CPU Maginzine, although I have no idea how much they make (probably not substantial).

 

[new99]

thanks russ

 

[Mork]

Russ,

Simple question: Can you prove it?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

I love anand he is my god

 

[DrMoreau]

<< He's got a book out, and is doing monthly articles for CPU Maginzine, although I have no idea how much they make (probably not substantial). >>



The dot.com industry and the publishing industry are two different industries. He may not be making what he made before the dot.com decline, but my guess is he's probably still doing well if he's publishing. An average advance on the first printing of a book can range from 20k on up plus royalties and then additionl printings if the first run did well. And a regular monthly column for a major print magazine is no chump change.

Sounds to me like he's staying ahead of the game.

 

[jaydee]

<< Russ,
Simple question: Can you prove it? >>


I'm not Russ, but I can say he is absolutely correct, short of the exact subscription rate/bandwith cost ratio. Web advertising is practically nothing today, like mabey 1/5 of what it was a couple years ago, no joke. I know because I was looking for webhosts at that time.


<< The dot.com industry and the publishing industry are two different industries. He may not be making what he made before the dot.com decline, but my guess is he's probably still doing well if he's publishing. An average advance on the first printing of a book can range from 20k on up plus royalties and then additionl printings if the first run did well. And a regular monthly column for a major print magazine is no chump change.
Sounds to me like he's staying ahead of the game. >>


Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a major print magizine. CPU Magizine is only a few months old, and there are quite a few high-profile hardware guys with articles, so they can't all be getting top dollar, or can they? With the book, I'd be interested in how it's selling. Personally, I think it's lacking a market, considering a lot people here know most of what's in the book, people who don't know computer hardware probably don't care, and basically you can find all the information you want online for free anyway. The reason I think this is because I considered starting a general hardware website and after reading a few articles that I wrote I realized that either people already knew about the stuff, or don't care to read about it, so who am I talking to? The high-tech, day-to-day coverage is what people want, and it's hard for a book or a monthly magizine to fulfill it. Of course, I could be wrong about all that.