Comments on: Ziff Davis Dumps Print Edition of PC Magazine

By: M. Menius

M. Menius — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:01:08 +0000

Discontinuing print in lieu of the move to online is something that many domainers predicted … years ago. This confirms a trend that supports the consolidation of ALL media into a single portal. NFL.com showed the Thursday game (Bengals vs. Steelers) last night on the internet. You could watch the game on your PC or send it out to your flat screen via HDMI. We discontinued our subscription to the local newspaper a year ago. No longer need a phone book. Bills paid instantly online – no snail mail. Shop and order online. It’s endless. “CD” stores have disappeared due to downloadable music, and your local Blockbusters are vanishing on a daily basis as streaming/on demand movies (with no return aggravations) are the new norm.

By: Mike @ WannaDevelop.com

Mike @ WannaDevelop.com — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:44:00 +0000

I haven’t looked at their revenue numbers but I am sure they are still very profitable and the last time I looked their growth numbers as far as reach, etc… Was fantastic… All thanks to the internet. Any and all growth with magazines peaked during what, during the late 90s ??? it has been a steady downward trend ever since all across… They are lucky to have spin off in the right direction and transition to the net just in time.

By: Patrick McDermott

Patrick McDermott — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:31:40 +0000

“Just keep posting these death notices of print publications. Every one of them means that more and more people and businesses are coming online.”

Yep, but it’s not all upside.

The downside is some of those coming online or entering
the US market may try to take your domain.

See this:
http://snurl.com/frankloses

***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***

While that might be true to some extent, nearly all of my valuable domain names are developed right now. Not to say I don’t care about others’ losing their names potentially, I just think it’s risky to park. I’ve made less than .5% of my revenue (probably closer to 1/10th of 1%) on parked domain names, so it would impact me less than many. I still think the decision was poor and I would imagine a lawsuit to overturn this will probably follow.

By: Tim Davids

Tim Davids — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:37:19 +0000

Kinda sucks even though makes sense…I have some warm/fuzzy memories of reading PC mag. while sipping coffee at my favorite cafe’

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:48:59 +0000

Expect to see a lot more publications disappear soon. Print doesn’t provide real time results like online media buys do. With print media buying you’ve got a costly investment that requires you to wait many months to know if your ads will even pull or not. And you have to buy months ahead of the actual publication date so it requires advanced media planning. It’s also very expensive and most all the publishers fudge up the actual distribution numbers so you really never know the actual factors to figure your conversion rate.

Prices for magazines are ridiculous from the consumer standpoint which is why you can go to any bookstore and see dozens of people just reading the magazines while they sit in the store but not actually buying them. LOL