Consumerist
Parts of this article (those related to screenshot) need to be updated.(May 2017) |
Type of site | Non-profit consumer news |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Dissolved | October 30, 2017 |
Owner | Consumer Reports |
Created by | |
Editors |
|
URL | consumerist |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | 2005[1] |
Current status | Closed |
Consumerist (also known as The Consumerist) was a
History
Gawker Media established the site in December 2005,[3] with Joel Johnson as editor.[1]
In creating Consumerist, Denton established its slogan and initial focus on readers' complaints, "consumer-oriented news nuggets, funny pictures and shopping tips — all with the same snarky tone that characterizes Gawker properties like Wonkette and Defamer."[1] Gawker hired Ben Popken to take over as site lead in February, 2006. Johnson left Gawker in July 2006, citing a "disagreement about [his] role within the company."[4]
Gawker put the site up for sale in November 2008, at the same time it announced the closure of one of its other blogs,
Due to potential
Consumer Reports laid off Managing Editor Ben Popken in November 2011.[7] The departure was announced in a final blog post by Popken on Consumerist.[8] Other editors later joined the site, including Deputy Editor Chris Morran, Senior Editor Mary Beth Quirk, Assistant Editor Laura Northrup, Content Editor Kate Cox, and Special Projects Editor Ashlee Kieler.[9]
Consumerist's traffic remained steady throughout most of its existence. At the time it was acquired from Gawker, it had monthly traffic of approximately 10 million pageviews, and had similar levels as of 2014.[6]
On August 30, 2017, The Wall Street Journal announced that it had appointed Meg Marco as its Editor, Digital Content Strategy, citing her history at Consumerist, which it called "the innovative digital arm of Consumer Reports."[10]
On October 30, 2017, it was announced that no further posts to Consumerist.com would be made.[2]
Features
- "Friday Flickr Finds"
Usually the first post of every Friday consisting of reader submitted photos.
- "Great Moments In Commercial History"
A popular past feature was known as "Great Moments In Commercial History", which focused on strange and entertaining local commercials. Past feature "moments" have included
- "Christmas Creep"
This feature publicized photos or stories of retail stores advertising Christmas sales, displaying Christmas decorations, or playing Christmas music far before the traditional holiday season, and often appeared between September and early November.
- "Above and Beyond"
In a post introducing "Above and Beyond", Creator Carey Greenberg-Berger said: "Occasionally, corporations do something right. Not all the time. Not most of the time. Occasionally. When they do, we want to give credit where credit is due."[11]
- "Worst Company In America"
Consumerist ran an annual "Worst Company In America" contest with the winner determined by a series of reader polls. The single-elimination tournament was similar in format to college basketball's
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Halliburton | Choicepoint
|
US Government
| |
2007 | RIAA
|
Halliburton | Exxon
| |
2008 | Countrywide Financial[note 1]
|
Comcast | Wal-Mart
| |
2009 | AIG[note 2]
|
Comcast | Bank of America[note 3] and Ticketmaster | |
2010 | Comcast | Cash4Gold | Bank of America and Ticketmaster | |
2011 | BP[note 4] | Bank of America | Comcast and Ticketmaster | |
2012 | Electronic Arts | Bank of America | Wal-Mart
| |
2013 | Electronic Arts | Bank of America | Comcast | |
2014 | Comcast | Monsanto | Wal-Mart and SeaWorld
|
- United States housing bubble
- ^ Involved in 2009 AIG bonus payments controversy after taking billions of dollars in Troubled Asset Relief Program bailouts
- ^ Acquired Countrywide Financial in 2008
- ^ involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- ^ Defeated Wal-Mart in the first consolation match to win the bronze poo.
Highlights
Stories reported on Consumerist have been featured in national media such as
Vincent Ferrari and AOL
On June 13, 2006,
"The Grocery Shrink Ray"
The "grocery shrink ray" is a term Meghann Marco coined to describe the trend for groceries to be
Facebook terms of service
On February 15, 2009, Consumerist broke the news of a terms of service clause that gave Facebook the right to "Do anything they want with your content. Forever."[20] Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, Inc., later claimed that a paragraph was accidentally left out saying that the license to your content was exclusive to one's privacy settings and that the license expired when an account was closed. This event instigated much media coverage over the controversy of the terms of service.[21]
Closure
On October 30, 2017, Consumerist announced it was shutting down, and that coverage would be handled by Consumer Reports in the future.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Dan Mitchell (31 December 2005). "What's Online: Shoppers of the World, Unite". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ a b c "An important message from Consumer Reports". Consumerist. 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- ^ Carl Bialik (December 25, 2005). "An Interview With the Consumerist". Gelf Magazine. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Second Annual Gawker Media Bug Out". joeljohnson.com. July 21, 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03.
- ^ a b Clifford, Stephanie (31 December 2012). "Consumers Union to Buy Gawker Blog Consumerist". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Watchdog in S. Phila. doesn't shrink from Comcast". The Inquirer. 27 October 2014. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
- ^ Ben Popken. "Goodbye to Consumerist.com". benpopkenwrites. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ Ben Popken Says Farewell To Consumerist.com
- ^ "About Us". Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "WSJ appoints Meg Marco Editor, Digital Content Strategy". 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
- ^ "Introducing Above And Beyond", Consumerist, 18 February 2007.
- ^ "Consumers Have Allies on the Web". The New York Times. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ How to Launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb
- ^ Vincent Ferrari, One of the New Influencers from blogoscoped.com
- ^ ICMI/Call Center Magazine Network from callcentermagazine.com
- ^ The Best Thing We Have Ever Posted: Reader Tries To Cancel AOL from consumerist.com
- ^ "Grocery Shrink Ray". Consumerist. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ Popken, Ben (2008-06-20). "Ben Popken on TV talking bout Shrinking Packages". Consumerist. Gawker Media. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- National Public Radio. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ "Facebook's New Terms Of Service: "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever."". Consumerist. Consumer Media LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ "Facebook Privacy Fallout Goes Nuclear". Consumerist. Consumer Media LLC. Retrieved 2009-02-20.