Medium Just Laid Off 50 Employees and Shut Down Offices in New York and D.C.

Medium founder and CEO Ev Williams disclosed today in a blog post that his four-and-a-half-year-old company is eliminating 50 jobs and shutting down offices in New York and Washington, D.C. In a philosophical letter to the public, he recounted how his team's ultimate goals had gotten off course thanks to the monetization model known as advertising.  "We set out to build a better publishing platform—one that allowed anyone to offer their stories and ideas to the world and that helped the great ones rise to the top," Williams wrote. "In 2016, we made big investments in teams and technology aimed at attracting and migrating commercial publishers to Medium. And in order to get these publishers paid, we built out and started selling our first ad products. This strategy worked in terms of driving growth, as well as improving the volume and consistency of great content." While it appears Medium is doing away with its sponsored posts ads product, he wrote that 2016 was his company's best year in terms of key metrics. For instance, published posts jumped roughly 300 percent year over year, and monthly visitors reportedly reached 60 million in December, representing a 140 percent year-over-year increase. Medium, a digital storytelling platform, has even attracted scores of public figures—most notably President Barack Obama—to get their messages out.  Meanwhile, publishers of all sizes have been able to try to make money off their Medium stories, which have been sponsored in... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]

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The Onion Offers the Definitive Explanation of the Economics of Online Publishing

In a post headlined "Report: We Don't Make Any Money If You Don't Click The Fucking Link," The Onion this morning published what may be the definitive explanation of the economics of online publishing, particularly as it relates to social media. The unbylined post from "America's Finest News... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This Digital Publisher Wants to 'Alter the Perception of Cannabis Users'

A sophisticated digital platform was missing from the world of cannabis publishing, so Derek Riedle and his wife decided to create one. Riedle is the CEO and founder of Civilized, a news and entertainment site that centers on cannabis culture. A "PR guy by training," Riedle worked in... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium Just Laid Off 50 Employees and Shut Down Offices in New York and D.C.

Medium founder and CEO Ev Williams disclosed today in a blog post that his four-and-a-half-year-old company is eliminating 50 jobs and shutting down offices in New York and Washington, D.C. In a philosophical letter to the public, he recounted how his team's ultimate goals had gotten off course... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Meredith’s magazines are shifting to video

Media company Meredith is betting big on Facebook Live. It has produced 26 videos in the past eight months and aims to create between five and 10 a week. It puts a big focus on Martha Stewart content and uses those live videos to generate revenue through integrating products within them. It's... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booktrope To Shut Down Operations

The startup book publishing platform is shutting down after failing to attract consumers and generate revenue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Adweek' Launches Self-Serve Ad Platform

Adweek has partnered with Toronto-based technology company Shiny Ads to create the new Adweek Self-Serve Ad platform. The service now lets anyone upload a 300 x 250 banner ad and secure a set number of impressions for as little as $500. This will allow marketers with any size budget to speak... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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