These guys

July 14, 2001 1:07 PM

These guys are still around, but it seems they're the exception to the rule. Suck, etc seem to be with the vast majority. Does anyone know of any commercial independent web content ventures that are still kicking?
posted by owillis (16 comments total)

Besides porn, you smart alecks.
posted by owillis at 1:09 PM on July 14, 2001

Does tidbits count? They've been around for over 10 years now and are still kicking in a subtle but stable way.
posted by gluechunk at 1:21 PM on July 14, 2001

What exactly do you mean by "commercial independent?"
posted by NortonDC at 1:46 PM on July 14, 2001

What about The Onion?
posted by mathowie at 1:52 PM on July 14, 2001

Does The Onion count? The Onion began as, and still is, a print publication. As such, do they qualify as a "Web Content Venture?"

Commercial Independent Web content is a bit vague. Salon would seem to qualify: their goal is to make money (commercial) they're not owned by a media conglomerate (independent) and their content is created specifically for publication on the Web. Same with Cnet, too.
posted by dchase at 2:18 PM on July 14, 2001

Onion got bought out by a Disney subsidiary, and I wouldn’t count them as a web venture. They were always about the paper.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 3:49 PM on July 14, 2001

Popbitch?
posted by holgate at 4:22 PM on July 14, 2001

Actually, I take that back:

How does Popbitch make money?
At the moment, it doesn't. This is the internet, right?
posted by holgate at 4:25 PM on July 14, 2001

commercial independent?!?

nice oxymoron. gonna need to write that down.
posted by jcterminal at 4:42 PM on July 14, 2001

By commercial independent I mean someone who's not part of a major conglomerate (Disney/AOL/Viacom) but is a commercial (money generating, not necessarily profitable) enterprise, as opposed to a non-profit like Mefi/Fray/etc.

More specifically I was thinking of smaller shops like The Onion although Salon would also fit my initial question.

(note to self: not everyone can read my mind)
posted by owillis at 6:07 PM on July 14, 2001

Also, from what I read The Onion is still independent but they have a "first look" production deal with Miramax. I think Modern Humorist would fit my question too.
posted by owillis at 6:12 PM on July 14, 2001

I can't say for certain, but I'd imagine that Grant's Investor at least breaks even. (I part-subscribe, for Bill Fleckenstein's unassailable weeknightly demolitions of the bubble market..) And it's that kind of small-scale, desirable, dedicated content that has a chance of surviving.
posted by holgate at 6:59 PM on July 14, 2001

I'd think that no publicly-traded company should qualify, which would rule out Salon.
posted by kindall at 8:51 PM on July 14, 2001

Depending on your definition:

http://www.theinquirer.net

http://www.theregister.co.uk/

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cl/us/dailynews/?u

http://www.megatokyo.com/

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news-n.htm

http://www.myvideogames.com/

http://www.planetcrap.com

http://www.fatbabies.com/

http://www.celebritysexnews.com/index.shtml (not safe for work)

http://corona.bc.ca/films/main.html

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/section.cgi?type=Coolnews

http://www.realworldtech.com/index.cfm

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/
posted by NortonDC at 11:03 PM on July 14, 2001

Ok, this is somewhat self-serving, but MousePlanet is independent and commercial. Not necessarily going gang-busters and it will never be the next big thing.

But it is what it is.
posted by obfusciatrist at 11:47 PM on July 14, 2001

I'd add another one to that list: our independent film industry news daily indieWIRE, which just celebrated a fifth anniversery this year. Never a spec of venture capital, now nine employees (in NYC, no less) with 40% operating profit on $1.2M+ in revenue a year. Everyone keeps bemoaning the "death of free content" ... bah, humbug!
posted by bclark at 5:23 AM on July 16, 2001