Comments on: Ziff Davis files for bankruptcy protection

Web and print publisher cites declining advertising revenue and subscriptions as contributing factors.

[Galaxy5]

Yeowch

I knew the magazine business was doing badly, but wow.

Lay off Dvorak first. You might lose a few ad dollars on the web.
but you'll gain many dollars when you make "PC World" into
"Computer World" and give equal time and coverage to alternative
PC-based operating systems.

[bapsplat]

Not Surprising.

I used to subscribe to PCmagazine, but their insistence to automatic renewal, completely turned me off. Especially since the renewal was supposed to be at their lowest rate, which never was. Then to add insult to injury I tried to rewal at least three times through their website, all three times, the requests were never processed. I always liked having the magazine in print so I could grab during commericals, or whatever, but now I just got to their website about once a week (its not worth going to more often). Good Luck Ziff Davis.

[BigGuns149]

No surprise, Ziff Davis has lost money for a while

This doesn't surprise me one bit. Ziff Davis has had a lot of problems since the dot com crash. I remember looking at their stock back in 1999-2000? and even then I recall their net profit was negative.

A myriad of things really I think caused the downfall of Ziff Davis. One of the most painful things is when they briefly sold the rights to ZDnet to Cnet. Cnet, pardon my rudeness, screwed up ZDnet. Cnet cut the staff that reviewed software on ZDnet's download section amongst other things that changed.

Another big issue is that PC Magazine one of their crown jewel properties much like most of its competitors like PC World has focused far too on non-PC devices at the cost of reviewing software and hardware like they did even 10 years ago. I don't really care about a stupid review on a car, why would expect that in a magazine called PC Mag? Really? Every page you waste on this tangential stuff is one page you can't write on stuff about PCs. Heck, they even admit that they receive letters from countless old time readers who complain that the magazine spends too much time on non-PC stuff. I hope during reorganization that they think about opening up one of their older issues, say 10-15 years ago and see how they have gotten away from their roots in many bad ways. How about a review longer than a page? Is that asking too much?

Another major factor is that PC Mag like a lot of other publications is far too Windows centric. While I will agree that there are dedicated Linux and Mac publications, I think that for a lot of users non-M$ platforms are not only viable, but promising options especially as Microsoft seems to be alienating many of their user base.

The final cause I think stems from the rise of other websites that cater superceded Zdnet in many ways. Betanews' Fileforum at least for Windows programs is far better than Zdnet or heaven forbid, download.com. Cnet, historically, has been very bad a keeping version numbers up to date and most of their user reviews border on something a gradeschooler would write. For news Ars Technica and Betanews I are my 2008 version of what ZDnet was back in 1999-2000. Betanews has actually been cited as a source here on Cnet on a few occasions. While Cnet occasionally will have a unique story, more often than not it shows up on Ars or Betanews first. Furthermore, their coverage tends to be more accurate and the user forum tend to attract a more knowledgable user base whereas news.com seems to attract some very unintelligent users to use kind words.

Can Ziff Davis avoid dissolving the company? I don't know, but I could have seen this coming a mile away.

[mikalg]

Agree completely!

With every single word too!

[bwvla]

Watered down to nothing.

Ziff Davis grew too quick and watered itself down. Its many acquired publications lost their soul and joined a shallow content pool.

I also have to agree their Microsoft coverage was sycophantic.

Critical analysis is what we expect from the media. We want them to show us the good, bad, and the ugly so we can make informed choices. If a media outlet becomes a "fanboy" they lose all credibility or use.

[mikalg]

Advertising revenue

Not surprising to see a chapter 11 here. How on Earth ZD couldn't turn a profit on their magazine ads is beyond me. 60% or more of their magazines are ADVERTISING!!! I canceled all of my subscriptions with them long ago based upon this.

I suspect SUBSCRIPTIONS had a bigger impact than ad revenue. What advertiser wants to pay a premium on slumping subscriptions anyway?

Sad really, I like the website, and most of their news reporting is good. I could do without all of the blogs though.

At any rate, ZD will be around for some time to come.

[Magicland]

Jumped the shark long ago

Their magazines simply failed to stay relevant. Look at a copy of PC Magazine. Half the stuff that isn't ads has nothing to do with PC's, and their PC stuff is mainly pablum. All their reviews are old news by the time they get to print, half of the items reviewed have already been replaced by newer models, and they almost never review anything of use to business users. Anyone desiring REAL tech news gets it online, not in a dated, out-of-touch magazine.

[umbrae]

Saw it coming...

I was a PAID subscriber for Gamespot since they started charging for access. During that time I watched the open up content I was paying for to non-payers while silently upping my yearly fee without notification. In fact, one reason I decided to pay for access was ASSURANCES they my price would be grandfathered and would never go up.

Maybe instead of catering to advertisers they should actually start paying attention to the consumer who is using the content. RIP Ziff Davis; hopefully someone intelligent will win your properties in an auction.

[sdr984]

Gamespot is CNET genius

Hey genius, Gamespot is owned by this site's CNET networks, NOT Ziff Davis! So plan on them to continue doing what they do.

[imacpwr]

With a name like "Ziff Davis" what do you expect..?

I mean, come on... ZIFF.....???
What kind of drugs was his mother on at the time anyway..?!?

[keepingmediahonest]

Z-D abused their advertisers

Many years ago I advertised in PC Magazine, despite the advice of friends who had been ripped off. Sure enough, not only did their ad prices eat most of my profits, they sent me a statement (not an invoice) one February for several thousand dollars that they said I owed because they had miscalculated what I owed them the previous year! After each similar statement, I sent back a letter asking for docmentation on what they were talking about. I had immediately stopped advertising. They never answered my request. I never paid the "recalculation."

It's no surprise to me they are down the tubes. The surprise is that they lasted this long.

[Randall Lind]

I thought C|net Owned Ziff Davis

Didn't you all have a merger some years back?