Ars Technica
Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes launched Ars Technica in 1998 from their respective homes. Fisher lived inside his parents' house in Boston while Stokes resided in Chicago. Their goal was to provide the best multi-OS computer hardware coverage possible. They aimed to be informative, accurate, and productive while having fun. The name itself translates from Latin as "Art of Technology". Writers were geographically distributed across the United States at that time. Each contributor worked from their own city rather than a central office.
Condé Nast Digital purchased the site on the 19th of May 2008 for $25 million. This deal included two other websites named Webmonkey and HotWired. The acquisition placed Ars Technica within the Wired Digital group alongside Wired and Reddit. Staff members mostly continued working from home with offices established in Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, and San Francisco. Layoffs occurred in November 2008 affecting all Condé Nast owned websites including this one. A UK site launched on the 5th of May 2015 to expand European coverage. That launch reached roughly 1.4 million readers within a single year before significant downsizing began in September 2017.
The website categorizes its output into four distinct types: news, guides, reviews, and features. Early articles aggregated content from other technology sites with short commentaries attached. After the 2008 sale, the publication shifted toward original investigative journalism. They began interviewing sources directly instead of just linking to them. An 18,000-word review of Apple's first iPad covered everything from packaging to integrated circuits. A 2009 article discussed quantum computer theory using mathematical proofs and physics. Daily traffic peaked at 15.3 million page views during iPhone 5 event coverage on the 12th of September 2012.
Many regular writers hold postgraduate degrees or work for academic institutions. John Timmer earned his PhD from University of California Berkeley after teaching scientific writing at Stony Brook University. He previously worked as a postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Eric Berger formerly wrote for the Houston Chronicle covering space exploration. Beth Mole holds a PhD in microbiology and handles health coverage after working at Science News. Jon Stokes published the textbook Inside The Machine in 2007. Timothy Lee served as a scholar at the Cato Institute until 2013. Biology journal Disease Models & Mechanisms called the site a conduit between researchers and the public in 2008.
Advertising has always funded the primary cost of operating Ars Technica. Federated Media Publishing originally handled advertising sales before Condé Nast took over management. Paid subscriptions named Ars Premier launched in 2001 to support operations. These tiers now include Ars Pro and Ars Pro++ options. Subscribers do not see advertisements and gain access to exclusive articles. They can also participate in live chat rooms with industry figures. Revenue comes from content sponsorship deals like those with IBM and NetApp. Affiliate marketing and branded merchandise sales contribute smaller amounts to the total income.
On the 5th of March 2010 the website blocked readers using Adblock Plus software. Ken Fisher estimated that 40% of visitors had this program installed at the time. The block lifted the next day following an article titled Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love. That piece implored users to allow ads on websites they cared about. Twenty-five thousand readers who used the software allowed ad display after the article published. Two hundred readers subscribed to Ars Premier during that same period. Fisher noted in February 2016 that the campaign lowered the ad-block rate by 12 percent. Most people blocking ads did so because other sites were irritating them.
Common questions
Who founded Ars Technica and where did they live when starting the site?
Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes launched Ars Technica in 1998 from their respective homes. Fisher lived inside his parents' house in Boston while Stokes resided in Chicago.
When did Condé Nast Digital purchase Ars Technica for how much money?
Condé Nast Digital purchased the site on the 19th of May 2008 for $25 million. This deal included two other websites named Webmonkey and HotWired.
What are the four distinct content categories used by Ars Technica?
The website categorizes its output into four distinct types: news, guides, reviews, and features. Early articles aggregated content from other technology sites with short commentaries attached.
Which writer earned a PhD from University of California Berkeley after teaching at Stony Brook University?
John Timmer earned his PhD from University of California Berkeley after teaching scientific writing at Stony Brook University. He previously worked as a postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
On what date did the website block readers using Adblock Plus software?
On the 5th of March 2010 the website blocked readers using Adblock Plus software. Ken Fisher estimated that 40% of visitors had this program installed at the time.