Has Matt Drudge Lost His Mojo?
A wide-open election, an embattled president, scandal-a-plenty: Matt Drudge's eponymous website should be booming. So why is site traffic dragging? comScore says the site attracted 1.5 million unique visitors last November, down 10% y/y. And per the chart below, traffic to the site has been idling for the past year.
A couple possible explanations:
But Drudge's flat or declining user base is a problem if he ever wants to cash out. Drudge still generates a ton of traffic for a one-man shop (which is itself a problem) and can wipe out a site simply by directing his readers there. But even in the more restrained, less-optimistic Web 2.0 boom, any investor/acquirer would want to see growth, and it will be hard to convince them that flat uniques and increasing page views are a good thing.
Portfolio has run a back-of-the envelope exercise and concludes that Drudge could fetch $10 million to $20 million if he wanted to sell. What do you think it's worth? Sound off in comments.
See Also: Leno: Who Need Writers, Anyway?
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A couple possible explanations:
- Drudge's traffic now mirrors that of cable news channels: A steady base that spikes with news events. In Drudge's case, you'd expect to see increased traffic next year as the election moves into full swing.
- Drudge's once-revolutionary idea -- a no-frills, one-page link dump -- is easy to replicate, and has been copied by news purveyors across the Web. And in general, there are many, many more places to get news on the Web than there were during Drudge's Lewinsky-era heyday.
But Drudge's flat or declining user base is a problem if he ever wants to cash out. Drudge still generates a ton of traffic for a one-man shop (which is itself a problem) and can wipe out a site simply by directing his readers there. But even in the more restrained, less-optimistic Web 2.0 boom, any investor/acquirer would want to see growth, and it will be hard to convince them that flat uniques and increasing page views are a good thing.
Portfolio has run a back-of-the envelope exercise and concludes that Drudge could fetch $10 million to $20 million if he wanted to sell. What do you think it's worth? Sound off in comments.
See Also: Leno: Who Need Writers, Anyway?
Gawker Writer Starts, Stops In One Day
Don't miss a second of Silicon Alley Insider. Sign up for our free, daily email newsletter, or stay tuned in real time via our RSS feed!
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If you're a daily drudger, check out drudgetracker.com
On the face of it, one would assume that it's a direct quote, or at the very least, a paraphrase. But when you read the linked article, you find it is neither. Hillary Clinton never said anything of the sort.
On another occasion, a headline stated: "San Francisco to ban wood burning fireplaces?". The linked article never even mentioned San Francisco, or a ban on anything. It was simply a notice of a public hearing hosted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, to help them determine future plans.
That's not called "spin", or "commentary", ... it's called "lying", Matt.
On the face of it, one would assume that it's a direct quote, or at the very least, a paraphrase. But when you read the linked article, you find it is neither. Hillary Clinton never said anything of the sort.
On another occasion, a headline stated: "San Francisco to ban wood burning fireplaces?". The linked article never even mentioned San Francisco, or a ban on anything. It was simply a notice of a public hearing hosted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, to help them determine future plans.
That's not called "spin", or "commentary", ... it's called "lying", Matt.
I was never a fan of Drudge thus I can't comment on his daily drivel content, but I do know that his side of the political spectrum is growing weaker and weaker the longer the current administration is in office. (Yipee!)
His site is now littered with tabloid filler about Paris Hilton or Ms Spears. And don't get me started on all the bad links that require page refreshers all designed to give him more hits. He's clearly taking advantage of his audience who in turn should go to one of the numerous and better news blogs out there. I still go there on occasion, not for the hard news, but for the trash.
His site is now littered with tabloid filler about Paris Hilton or Ms Spears. And don't get me started on all the bad links that require page refreshers all designed to give him more hits. He's clearly taking advantage of his audience who in turn should go to one of the numerous and better news blogs out there. I still go there on occasion, not for the hard news, but for the trash.
Anyway, whatever novelty he had is long gone. And what will he do if Hillary is NOT the nominee? Somehow, I just can't see him doing non-stop bashing of Obama, or posting unflattering Obama pictures, etc, with the same glee that he's applied to the Clinton's for the past decade....
Ariana is next thankfully! She makes Lucianne and Joel Goldstein look innocent by comparison.
Her continual assault on Hillary in articles and very unflattering pictures of the Senator, speak volumes of her jealousy of the solid marriage the Clintons have worked to maintain and the wonderful parents they have proven to be.
She gets people to write for "free" on her site. They must be very much in need for attention to sell themselves so cheaply.
Tone the rhetoric down.
A flat base of 100+ million page views a month is not a problem for acquisition.
Last I heard he wasn't a one-man site anymore anyway, he has one person working to help him, and they work in shifts. If he did want to cash out it wouldn't take him much to transition to a team of editors.
I don't see it, though. He's happy doing what he loves to do. Even if his traffic slipped significantly, I think he'd stay at it. It's more than an income to him, its connections, power, and his interests all into one.
You are correct - as I note in the piece, Drudge's traffic should go up in the coming year due to the election. But if current patterns hold, they'll drop back down again after the 08 cycle.
The following could point toward another possible explanation -
In November 2006 we were in the midst of actual congressional elections.
November 2007 merely marked the one-year lead-up to the next year's presidential election.
Not hard to guess which year might garner more hits for a politically oriented site
A lot of his listeners brought him page views.
no show = less page views, No big surprise.
No incentive for an entity to buy him out, unless they were also willing to employ him.
Unless Drudge is stupid (and I'm assuming he isn't), he'll just ridge the Drudge wave until it dies out, and in the meantime banked up a crapload of money from website ads, his radio show, and such. Even if his website and radio show go under, he should be able to live comfortably. Furthermore, his name will remain a cultural icon and he will be asked on news shows and might possibly write books.
Personally, I prefer Newsmax and Hot Air for timely news, as they are without a lot of the schlock that pads Drudge.
100 billion dollars!