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What's 'garbage' about the Verge write-up? They've spoken to a source close to Dom Leca and given a no nonsense summary. Also what's 'spammy' about The Verge?

What's 'garbage' about the Verge write-up? They've spoken to a source close to Dom Leca and given a no nonsense summary. Also what's 'spammy' about The Verge? From what I've read they've got some great writers who typically write thorough and reasonably well researched articles.

benologist 14y ago
I'd probably start with "their entire business model is spammy" - they're a reskin of Engadget, the blog that pioneered The AOL Way whereby "journalists" and "writers" earn their pennies by taking someone else's story and doing their best to make sure they take all the value and traffic for it. Their source for this story was most likely an intern they pay to stare at HN, Reddit, etc looking for bandwagons to jump on - that's why they offer no unique news that wasn't lifted from the blog post they summarize except for their mystery person who adds some panache by suggesting it was never official when right or wrong it doesn't really matter but if they're lucky the parties involved will take the bait and write more blog posts The Verge can summarize too.
- andrewfelix 14y ago
  I respect your opinion. But that sounds a lot like conjecture. Ellis Hamburger is an employee of Verge with decent credentials. The article we're discussing also looks like an original with their own source. I'm genuinely interested to see some examples of 'spammy' write-ups from The Verge. My understanding was Josh Topolsky started The Verge for the very reason that Engadget was becoming what you're describing; ie. No original write-ups and short summaries by freelance writers.
  - benologist 14y ago
    Of course it's conjecture - there's no way to prove they didn't spot a trending topic and start firing up the content factory to capitalize on it by already churning out five articles on Google acquiring Sparrow. Here's a cute example of how high quality they are - they copied a paragraph from the email sent out to Sparrow users and describe it as: > We've just heard from Sparrow, and Dom Leca notably mentioned that the current Sparrow apps will receive no new features http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/20/3172222/google-buys-sparrow-mail/in/2936538 http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/20/3172222/google-buys-sparro...

benologist 14y ago

I'd probably start with "their entire business model is spammy" - they're a reskin of Engadget, the blog that pioneered The AOL Way whereby "journalists" and "writers" earn their pennies by taking someone else's story and doing their best to make sure they take all the value and traffic for it. Their source for this story was most likely an intern they pay to stare at HN, Reddit, etc looking for bandwagons to jump on - that's why they offer no unique news that wasn't lifted from the blog post they summarize except for their mystery person who adds some panache by suggesting it was never official when right or wrong it doesn't really matter but if they're lucky the parties involved will take the bait and write more blog posts The Verge can summarize too.

andrewfelix 14y ago
I respect your opinion. But that sounds a lot like conjecture. Ellis Hamburger is an employee of Verge with decent credentials. The article we're discussing also looks like an original with their own source. I'm genuinely interested to see some examples of 'spammy' write-ups from The Verge. My understanding was Josh Topolsky started The Verge for the very reason that Engadget was becoming what you're describing; ie. No original write-ups and short summaries by freelance writers.
- benologist 14y ago
  Of course it's conjecture - there's no way to prove they didn't spot a trending topic and start firing up the content factory to capitalize on it by already churning out five articles on Google acquiring Sparrow. Here's a cute example of how high quality they are - they copied a paragraph from the email sent out to Sparrow users and describe it as: > We've just heard from Sparrow, and Dom Leca notably mentioned that the current Sparrow apps will receive no new features http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/20/3172222/google-buys-sparrow-mail/in/2936538 http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/20/3172222/google-buys-sparro...