Adweek announced the launch of Adweek Blog Network—which really should be called Adweek Blah Network. The story labels the mess as a “diverse collection of industry blogs”—which, of course, is completely devoid of diversity—spawned from a 2014 purchase of properties formerly owned by Mediabistro. A review of the $8 million acquisition shows it might be the online equivalent of Publicis Groupe Chairman-CEO Maurice Lévy’s digital drunkenness; that is, it looks like Adweek parent company Prometheus Global Media bought a huge, steaming pile of online shit and now hopes to mold the disparate dung into a unified turd.
One particularly smelly piece of fecal matter in the network is AgencySpy, whose updated site makes it the New Coke of advertising blogs. The spell-check-challenged chimps currently publishing posts at the site have delusions of journalistic grandeur—despite essentially copying stuff from Adweek, Advertising Age and PR Newswire—and seem to want to transform AgencySpy into a respectable advertising news vehicle. Plus, the design changes are a UX nightmare displaying complete ignorance of AgencySpy’s special persona.
AgencySpy is unique because it’s essentially user-generated content—it’s closer to being social media or a chat board, and it will never succeed as a trade journal. The visitors’ comments are the sole attraction. Period. AgencySpy became popular (i.e., its traffic exploded) when lead editor SuperSpy envisioned it as a forum for advertising workers to voice and vent their opinions. The daily posts were not interested in communicating press release information; rather, they were intended to ignite responses and let the masses expose behind-the-scenes truths.
Not sure why Adweek would want to integrate AgencySpy into a network. The site is embarrassing when placed alongside legitimate journalism. And the chances that AgencySpy will ever be profitable on its own are less than zero. The only potential benefit would be offering cross-links to draw traffic to other network players. However, such a notion will fail if AgencySpy doesn’t stay true to its identity, as alienating the actual audience/authors would lead to absolute abandonment.
9 Popular Sites Become Core of New Adweek Blog Network
Previous parent Mediabistro refocuses on recruitment and professional development
By David Griner
A diverse collection of industry blogs previously owned by Mediabistro today has been integrated into Adweek.com as the new Adweek Blog Network.
Purchased by Adweek’s parent company in 2014, the sites largely will remain the same in content and structure. Most visibly, their Web addresses will now begin with Adweek.com rather than Mediabistro.com, and each blog today has a consistent, updated design.
The nine blogs forming the Adweek Blog Network are:
TVNewser, covering national television news
TVSpy, covering local television news
AgencySpy, covering the ad agency world
LostRemote, covering TV’s second screen
PRNewser, covering public relations
FishbowlNY, covering New York media
FishbowlDC, covering the intersection of politics and media
GalleyCat, covering the book publishing industry
SocialTimes, covering social media
SocialTimes has been expanded to include all content from Mediabistro’s former social media blogs AllFacebook, InsideFacebook, AllTwitter, InsideSocialGames and InsideMobileApps.
The Mediabistro site itself is being refocused specifically on recruitment and professional development. Its primary features will be job boards, education programs and creative communities such as Ads of the World and Brands of the World.
Adweek’s decade-old AdFreak blog, which draws millions of readers each month, will remain the core of Adweek.com’s creative coverage and will not officially be part of the Adweek Blog Network.
As the former Mediabistro editorial properties transition to becoming the Adweek Blog Network, the corporate structure of the sites is also getting a new name.
Now called Mediabistro Holdings LLC, the organization will include Adweek, Mediabistro, the Clio Awards and FilmExpoGroup. Jeffrey Wilbur retains his title as president of the company.
“2014 was a very successful year for our business, highlighted by the acquisition of Mediabistro,” Wilbur said in a statement on the blog transition. “Establishing the ABN in 2015 is the next step in our evolution, allowing their voice to complement Adweek’s editorial expertise and leadership. This transition also allows Mediabistro an opportunity to expand upon core offerings in professional development and recruitment services for media professionals.”
In 2014, Adweek.com generated more than 121 million pageviews, up 81 percent from the previous year’s total of 67 million pageviews. The news site and Adweek Blog Network are expected to reach a combined audience of more than 8 million readers.
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