[ed. If you've never visited the Wirecutter, you should really check it out.]
Lam’s website, the Wirecutter, has become a Consumer Reports for the digital age, albeit with a unique model -- it posts in-depth reviews of gadgets, embeds links to buy them on e-commerce sites like Amazon.com, and takes a cut of the sales. The site has a staff of about 60 and posts only a few dozen articles a month, yet it’s profitable. Last year, the Wirecutter drove $150 million in e-commerce transactions, Lam said.
“We move as much product as a place 10 times bigger than us in terms of audience,” Lam said in an interview. “That’s because people trust us. We earn that trust by having such deeply-researched articles.”In recent months, several publishers including BuzzFeed Inc. and Hearst Corp. have started testing the Wirecutter’s strategy, known as affiliate marketing, as the traditional model of driving clicks to boost advertising dollars comes under pressure.
Some publishers have seen their U.S. Internet traffic growth flatten as the Web matures and websites proliferate. Meanwhile, more readers are adopting “ad blockers” to avoid annoying marketing messages that slow loading speeds and drain phone batteries. And brands are increasingly buying online display advertising -- such as banner ads -- via automated exchanges, creating an abundance of supply that depresses prices that publishers can charge, said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research.
“Publishers know that advertising is a difficult business to be in if you’re not named Facebook and Google,” Wieser said. “You can grow your audience, but in a deflationary environment, you have to run just to stand still.”
Lam sees less conflict of interest in profiting from the sale of products he recommends than in traditional Web advertising. The Wirecutter, which does carry some ads, has an incentive to help readers buy the best gadgets because it doesn’t get paid if they return them, while many media outlets get paid by posting “click bait” that disappoints readers, he said.
“If someone buys something off our site that we recommend, and they hate it, we get nothing,” Lam said. “So the more we help readers the better our business does.” (...)
When Lam started the Wirecutter in 2011, his strategy wasn’t completely new. Bloggers had supported themselves for years by reviewing products and taking a cut of sales. The Wirecutter was the first mainstream outlet to make that its primary model, said Lam, a former editor at Gawker’s technology site Gizmodo and Conde Nast’s Wired magazine.
Unlike many digital media startups, the Wirecutter has no outside investors. And its traffic is relatively small: it had 622,000 unique U.S. visitors in February, according to ComScore, a fraction of major tech websites like the Verge. The Wirecutter isn’t focused on traffic. It wants readers to buy products it recommends, so it takes its time, Lam said.
Each Wirecutter post takes between 20 to 200 hours of research and testing. In many cases, the site enlists the help of engineers, chemists and scientists. While reviewing the best bike locks, it received input from an actual bike thief, according to the company’s website. While testing waterproof iPhone cases, one of its employees swam a quarter of a mile in the ocean. The Wirecutter recently expanded its profile by teaming with the New York Times to test ways to preserve smartphone battery life and Wi-Fi routers.
No gadget is too obscure for reviewing, Lam said, citing a “really random” piece his site did on the best windshield wipers.
“You wouldn’t think it makes a difference,” said Lam, who realized he didn’t have streaks on his windshield in a year. “I didn’t know that windshield wipers could annoy me so little.”
by Gerry Smith, Bloomberg | Read more:
Image: Wirecutter
