Estimated Value of Top Blogs Surprisingly Resiliant
Any way you read the data, the exercise of blog valuation done by 24/7 Wall St. casts a new light on changes in advertising, the involvement of founding owners, and changing tastes.
Admittedly, these are estimates of value, which, absent an actual buyer, is at best informed conjecture. OK, its one blogger spouting off about the value of another blogger’s blog. But 24/7 did have some of their estimations validated by actual sales last year. And even if we’re skeptical, comparing data from this year to last year can give a sense of the market’s direction and velocity.
So now that we’ve consumed more than a grain of salt, here’s what their results suggest to me.
A 5 percent Decline in Value is Nearly Gain
A comparison of values between this year’s top ten blogs, and those of last year, shows a mere 5 percent decline in value ($447m down to $422m). That’s a surprise, because the researchers discounted future ad revenue by 50 percent. It suggest there’s strong traffic growth to offset the ad discount.
More Growth than Loss by Position
Looking solely ranking position rather than company reveals five of the rankings have a higher value this year, four went down, and first place stayed even at $150m.
This Year’s Top Ten Show More Growing into Position.
Depending on how you read it, six of the top ten sites seem to have growing revenue.
1. + Gawker Media: $170 million. Last year: $150 million.
2. + Huffington Post: $90 million. Last year: $70 million.
3. + The Drudge Report: $48 million. Last year: $10 million.
4. – Perez Hilton: $32 million. Last year: $48 million.
5. + Sugar, Inc.: $27 million. Last year: Not listed.
6. – TechCrunch. $25 million. Last year: $36 million.
7. – MacRumors. $21 million. Last year: $85 million
8. – SeekingAlpha. $11 million. Last year: $15 million
9. + GigaOm: $9.5 million. Last year: $8.4 million
10. + Politico: $8.7 million. Last year: Not listed.
It seems reasonable to count those “not listed” last year as having grown. After all, they weren’t listed because they were too large to be noticed. While this news isn’t breathless optimism, it seems to suggest that the blog medium is gaining broader adoption, with commercial viability at its high end.
Meanwhile, far away from the “high end” we least we know UsefulArts’ zero valuation won’t be fallling with ad rates. And we’re glad that you value our take on these stories with your time. Thanks!
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2 Responses to "Estimated Value of Top Blogs Surprisingly Resiliant"
September 19, 2009
[…] blog cu suflu puternic. De exemplu, cele mai mari bloguri americane erau evaluate de cam a?a de UsefulArts.us, plecând de la cifrele […]
September 19, 2009
[…] Estimated Value of Top Blogs Surprisingly Resiliant | UsefulArts.us: 1. + Gawker Media: $170 million. Last year: $150 million. 2. + Huffington Post: $90 million. Last year: $70 million. 3. + The Drudge Report: $48 million. Last year: $10 million. 4. – Perez Hilton: $32 million. Last year: $48 million. 5. + Sugar, Inc.: $27 million. Last year: Not listed. 6. – TechCrunch. $25 million. Last year: $36 million. 7. – MacRumors. $21 million. Last year: $85 million 8. – SeekingAlpha. $11 million. Last year: $15 million 9. + GigaOm: $9.5 million. Last year: $8.4 million 10. + Politico: $8.7 million. Last year: Not listed. […]