AOL is making across the board budget cuts on its blogging properties, we’re hearing from multiple sources. The cuts range up to 25% of each properties total budget, which falls mostly on personnel costs – bloggers are simply being told to take a couple of weeks off for now, and there may or may not be work for them later in August.
One area that seems to be immune from the cuts: The Tech Network (including Engadget), which continues to grow like a weed and drives substantial revenue.
Employees across AOL are being asked to cut down on expenses as much as possible, even minor ones. One person complains that they’re cutting things like free bagels, and are being asked to limit travel as much as possible. Are more big layoffs coming across AOL as it gears up for a sale to Yahoo or another suitor? We’re looking into it.
Another explanation for the cuts, says one source: this is standard Q3 belt tightening. The blog properties were simply running way over budget and needed to be pruned to keep things under control. In addition to looking for a buyer, AOL is also concerned about the economy in general and trying to stay ahead of the curve to avoid more painful cuts down the road.
Update: We received an email from someone who says they are an AOL blog writer:
Obviously, I can’t give my name (and it’s not the name on this account, either), but as a writer for one of the blogs in AOL’s Weblogs, Inc. Network, I can tell you that the cuts are going pretty far beyond free fucking bagels. Pardon my language, but what we’re going through for these sites is beyond anything that could possibly be considered reasonable.
I don’t know what’s going on with Engadget and co., or the lifestyle blogs, but the gaming bloggers were told yesterday to STOP ALL POSTING. Now, after the network bosses went into the fray, our two biggest sites are cleared, but the rest of the sites are working on a 5 posts/day deal, so long as those aren’t written by international bloggers, but only US writers. Anything above and beyond that is unpaid and will be written under a staff account. Nearly everyone has agreed to post for free, including columnists, in the hopes that we will all still have jobs come August 1, when they’re telling us we’ll be back — just on a smaller budget.
Of course, we’re all speculating that this means there’s definitely a deal in the works, because there doesn’t seem to be any reason for AOL to kill the properties when the Joystiq Network was enjoying the biggest traffic month in its history. Either they’re selling us, or selling out completely, because they don’t care. If we didn’t have so many people who considered the job a labor of love, all the gaming network blogs would die.
Don’t know if any of this is usable, but I’d like to see the information out there if possible, because what AOL is putting us through is simply ludicrous.
I will answer questions if there are any that I can answer.
@mike. Any idea which blogs specifically. What verticals?
I echo Jason’s question, which blogs are they cutting, and what exactly do they own beside the Engadget network?
TL
I think people can buy their own breakfast. big deal.
So, Michael – you are not a MASSIVE engadget fan..
“One area that seems to be immune from the cuts: The Tech Network (including Engadget), which continues to grow like a weed and drives substantial revenue.”
A weed?
Jim Connolly
The Tech News Blog
Jim: “growing like a weed” is a good thing.
Mike: We’re seeing this across the industry. Gawker’s pay is now down almost 75% this year. Time’s is down 50%. AOL’s overall pay to bloggers is down almost 50% (happened earlier this year). Pubmatic is down almost 80% on the year.
It’s good, because it’ll force companies to really refine their models. It’s bad, becuase neworks are now closing all over the place (2 this week and 1 last week alone).
We’re reaching out to all networks to try and find a workable solution so that bloggers don’t lose their gigs and staff don’t lose their jobs, but some networks simply had really poor fundamentals and there isn’t an easy way out of it in a tighter market.
AOL owns TMZ. This is good news for the lohans and the spears.
Advertising drops off in recessions. When revenue drops, expenses need to follow.
If a few people don’t get laid off because there aren’t any free bagels, then… thats a good thing, right?
99% of blogs are useless, EXCEPT FOR TC!
I say pay them with bagels instead.
with or without cream cheese?
Lots of good people working at many of those AOL blogs… hope those that lose their jobs are able to land on their feet elsewhere!
You wouldn’t happen to know said individuals personally would you? Such as the ones at Joystiq for example… I think what I’m getting at is… are you Justin McElroy (http://www.joys...justin-mcelroy/)?
this should have been expect when aol took over these blogs
Insider info from AOL EUrope:
All marketing budgets across Europe have been cut down to zero! From x million to zero-nada.
All travel has been cancelled, flights that have been booked and where x% refund was available have been cancelled.
Doom and Gloom I’d say.
Insider from Weblogs
Actually, Weblogs Inc raised per post blogger comp in the beginning of the year….not a reduction.
now they are asking for proper # of posts per blog — makes sense to me as I would rather have gotten a larger per post fee then not, so like where we sit today vs. other blog outlets and where we were in 2006
Cost Management – is that a bad thing? sounds like the right move all the time not just given the recession we are in
This is a positive step for AOL. They are bleeding cash right now. In a recession, and a market where they are losing marketshare, big cuts are inevitable.
Unfortunately this also means that AOL will have a tough time hiring or keeping very talented people who might just get lured to other companies.
Working for one of AOL’s Blogging properties, I can state a budget cut across the board is not true. We have been asked to manage our posts in line with the traffic we generate.
It actually is the right thing to do and something we always do – this was just a reinforcement of that message
Got to love the blogosphere – doom and gloom
AOL Blogs actually hit an all time high in Q2 in traffic and revenue (did you see those huge beautiful apple ads on Engadget? Thus AOL has upped the blogging budget in 08 vs 07 — not cut it.
Hate on AOL all you want but they are operating this part of the business as an employee would want them to (if you are blogging on a site that gets no traffic then this is bad for you)
techcrush? including?
addebook
http://www.addebook.com
what happen with hte http://www.addebook.com site ?????????????????????
does anyone know (in ballpark numbers) about how much a “blogger” for these big media companies makes?
are we talking like $25k fresh-out-of-college here? or a more respectable “media salary” of like $35k-$50k?
anything more than that and quite honestly, these media companies were being raped.
bloggers: get over yourselves. you’re not worth that much.
from a great post on ZDNet’s Between the Lines (yesterday):
> Gawker writers used to get paid $7.50 per thousand page views, when the year started. That went to $6.50 at the start of the third quarter to $5. And could go lower.
> Gawker generates about 16 million or 17 million page views a month. So it’s actually at the head of the pack in generating reasonable revenue for individual bloggers. One of its bloggers, Richard Lawson, is reported by Portfolio to have made nearly $10,000 a month in the second quarter.
> At Gawker Media’s latest rates, that means: Generate 2 million page views a month.
more on http://blogs.zd...com/BTL/?p=9418
Hey, thanks for defining “clueless fuck.” Nice work.
@rick tait – bloggers for AOL don’t earn a salary. They’re paid per post. Your most prolific blogger may come close to $15K, *possibly* $20K for a real post-demon. No one’s earning a “respectable media salary” except the AOL full-timers.
Some Bloggers AOL has as part of the Weblogs team are full timers — over 15 I believe — I am a freelance blogger on the team paid by post and can make the $20K or more Anon states but they have editors on staff who make a lot more then what Anon states here….the guys on Engadget are paid 4x that and some much more
I go back to what I originally stated, Weblogs/AOL is doing the right thing here watching the benefits of their spend. Not sure why anyone would think this is not just good business. Been working with them for 18 months and the ad revenue is actually really starting to kick in over the past 8 weeks.
Lead blogger: $900/week
Bloggers: they are paid $400/week, minimum 4 postings a week.
HA HA HA whoo haa hee.
Jeff Blair, your numbers are INSANE.
I used to be a print journalist and I bailed because most who labor for dailies are making less than the generation before them—without pensions, quality healthcare or job security.
It’s sad to see the blog payroll trend follow so closely and so quickly—especially considering the overheads are smaller.
So it goes. . . . Publishing’s been rigged since Gutenburg punched out the bible. St. Jerome never saw a cent.
Lead blogger: $900/week
Bloggers: they are paid $400/week, minimum 4 postings a week.
What, $100 per post? Even if you meant per day, thats still $20 per post. That sounds pretty high.
“Pardon my language, but what we’re going through for these sites is beyond anything that could possibly be considered reasonable.”
From someone who spent their late teen years in 2000 running a PC gaming website were I used to get paid $2 just for every 1000 banners shown… all I have to say is “hahaha”.
Run, get a new career, it is over, don’t try and live off of this. You where used as a cheap tool to begin with.
@BetterThanTC:
They own…
* Autoblog
* Download Squad
* Engadget
* Switched
* TUAW (Apple)
* AisleDash
* DIY Life
* Gadling
* Green Daily
* Luxist
* ParentDish
* Slashfood
* Styledash
* That’s Fit
* Joystiq
* DS Fanboy
* Massively
* Nintendo Wii Fanboy
* PS3 Fanboy
* PSP Fanboy
* WoW Insider
* Xbox 360 Fanboy
* Big Download
* Cinematical
* TV Squad
* BloggingBuyouts
* BloggingStocks
* WalletPop
I don’t know what they are cutting.
Standard pay for the AOL blogs is $10 to $15 per post. Yes, leads get more but they definitely earn their pay. I consider the pay modest, and most of the bloggers bend over backwards for AOL. This all smacks of very poor planning. Going great guns and then slam on the breaks? Way to kill the momentum of the sites.
Posts considered “features” can be paid up to $100 but AOL is selective with those.
I write for a few of the affected AOL blogs and the one thing consistently being overlooked here is loyalty. Are we the highest paid bloggers around? No. Could AOL perhaps do better by us? Probably. Is it the greatest group of people I have the pleasure of working with? Damn straight.
I’m a professional writer by day and what my contracted clients pay me runs circles around what I make working at the AOL blogs — but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We have autonomy, we’re treated with respect, I’d donate kidneys to the people the rung and two above us because I know they consistently go to bad for us, and I’ve never laughed so hard in my life as I have with the teams of bloggers I’ve gotten to know at WIN.
So I work for AOL on the side and don’t make a lot of scratch for it. So I’m one of the bloggers that volunteered to write content for free — with no byline — while this situation plays itself out. Does that make me a chump? If so, at least I’m a happier chump when I’m brainstorming with them, than I am with the client that pays me hella more than them and doesn’t enrich my life in any measurable way.
Guess what? It’s not always about the money.
but less money always sucks
Sheesh. They go to *bat* for us. To BAT.
Argh.
I would be interested to hear other blogger compensation models from some of the other sites/networks out there. Anyone have any other information on blogger comp from others?
What happens with the gringo?
LOL – Everyone just got a “we really don’t have a budget problem” email. AOL is making scads of money and they just need to adjust things. Mmm hmmm.
A great blogger deserves to make $100k. This is blogging we are talking about. It’s hard work. This is not something that anyone can just do. You have to write and post words. And have fun doing it. That’s tough!
Here’s the reality: Your traffic is not generating any money. It probably never really has. In fact, the only reason you guys got to operate for so long is because AOL is incompetent. When the recession hits, and TW needs to hit numbers, that’s when the moron-brigade actually looks at how wasteful your efforts were to begin with.
Your efforts need to generate profits. Otherwise, your role doesn’t warrant cash and it should be volunteer work. It’s not your fault. But that’s the way it is.
Everyone deserves to earn what someone is prepared to pay them to do that job. many bloggers never had a does journalism training in their lives, and the growth of their hand-to-mouth profession has impacted the lives of people who spent years doing degrees in the subject. So, world’s smallest violin.
Wow, so I should feel terribly sorry for brick and mortar bookstores since they’re suffering in the day and age of Amazon.com? Enjoy your Matlock reruns, grandpa.
is very interesting
this is very interesting
AOL isn’t the company it used to be that’s for sure. These guys have a knack for choosing to cut off their own nose to spite their face.
Anyone have any thoughts on this other article that appeared at SeekingAlpha regarding possible problems with Platform A, there “Hale Mary” attempt to compete in the online advertising business?
Why AOL’s ‘Platform A’ May Not Make the Grade
by: John Harris posted at SeekingAlpha.com on: June 18, 2008 | about
stocks:
TWX
Back in September, AOL (TWX) today announced a series of changes it
was making to position the company as the world’s largest and most
effective advertising network, building on its industry-leading
Advertising.com network and the recent acquisitions of TACODA, Third
Screen Media, Lightningcast, Adtech, Quigo and Bebo, collectively
purchased for what must be close to $2 billion dollars. The
realignment marked the final stage in AOL’s transition from an
access business to a global, ad-supported Web company.
The new entity, called Platform A, says it is offering advertisers
access to the most sophisticated targeting and measurement tools
available in the marketplace across Platform A’s unmatched network
of third-party sites, as well as AOL’s owned and operated sites.
Platform A is said to already reach more than 90% of the domestic
online audience, according to comScore Media Metrix. Platform A
builds on the success of Advertising.com, which operates the largest
third-party display network, and integrates behavioral targeting
leader TACODA, Third Screen Media, which operates the largest mobile
media network, market leading video ad serving platform
Lightningcast, and ADTECH’s global ad serving platform.
In recent weeks, the company announced plans deploy Tacoda’s
technology across the whole Platform A network. In an article
written by Fred Aun published at Clickz.com titled “AOL’s Platform A
Integrates Tacoda Across Network” Platform A President Lynda
Clarizio, said players in the online ad industry are now insisting
on scale and precision with consumer targeting options. She said the
use of Tacoda’s BT technology will help Platform A satisfy that
demand.
“We’ll replace all of Advertising.com’s existing behavioral
technology with Tacoda’s behavioral product,” said Clarizio. For re-
targeting campaigns, Platform A will continue using Advertising.com
Advertiser Leadback technology and migrate Tacoda Encore clients to
the Advertiser Leadback platform, she explained. Clarizio said the
integration gives Tacoda the full benefit of reaching all of
Platform A’s 180 million unique visitors, representing 91 percent of
the U.S. Internet audience. She said she considers Tacoda to be the
industry’s best behavioral targeting technology. I guess that makes
sense, they did pay David Morgan and his team $275 million after all
for it.
It all sounds great doesn’t it? Ah yes, but Ms. Clarizio failed to
mention a potential large problem that could literally prove to be a
show stopper. Tacoda is being sued for patent infringement by a
company who appears to be the rightful owner of the “patented”
technology she herself refers to as “the industry’s best behavioral
targeting technology”.
That’s right! It appears Tacoda, said to be acquired solely for
their technology and not their people, owns not a single issued
patent on the technology they sold to AOL! They must have seen the
value in patenting it since it is “patent pending” but you obviously
can’t obtain a patent for technology someone else patented many
years ago. This `already patented” technology is the exact same
technology that they intend to make a cornerstone of Platform A,
allowing them to monetize AOL’s $2 billion dollar plus investment. I
know, say it isn’t so!
It get’s even better, according to Modavox’s (MDVX.OB) just released
filings, they just sent a Cease and Desist letter to AOL, LLC
President & Chief Operating Officer regarding Ms. Clarizio’s exact
stated plans to utilize Tacoda across all of Platform A.
On May 16, 2008, Modavox served a Cease and Desist letter to the
AOL, LLC President & Chief Operating Officer. We advised of the
possible expansion of our current action against Tacoda to include
AOL, LLC if they intend to utilize the Tacoda Advertising process
throughout the AOL, LLC “Platform A” as described in recent
publications and news releases. We have informed AOL, LLC that a non-
exclusive license to the patents-in-suit are available; however in
the absence of a license AOL, LLC’s published intention to make the
Tacoda solution available across the Platform-A Network will in fact
infringe upon well identified patents. As of June 1, 2008, the
matter remains unresolved.
So I ask a couple very simple questions of Ms. Clarizio and Mr.
Falco. In light of the importance of Platform A to AOL’s future, the
fact that at least a couple billion dollars has likely been spent in
it’s formation, the fact there have been suggestions it will be spun
off into it’s own publicly traded company, and the fact Platform A
is clearly predicated and reliant on Tacoda’s behavioral targeting
technology to monetize your audiences through online advertising,
what if you lose this lawsuit? What if one of your competitors buys
this small company and leverages it against you?
Until this important issue is resolved, it appears AOL’s Platform A
may not make the grade.
PS. TC is the best!
No comment on the AOL stuff.
But I do have some commentary on some of these comments: http://random-b...-another-thing/
AOL is a leading global advertising most comprehensive display advertising network now-adays. Here is some information regarding information technology.
The free bird picture,birds videos and more types of birds About Us in the http://www.birds-house.com/
Lovely. Great site.