The Verge
Between March and April 2011, nine staff members walked away from AOL to start a new venture. Joshua Topolsky led the group as editor-in-chief of the former Engadget site. He was joined by managing editor Nilay Patel and product developers Justin Glow and Dan Chilton. Other departing editors included Paul Miller, Ross Miller, Joanna Stern, and Chris Ziegler. These individuals sought independence from their parent company after years of working there. They announced an unnamed partnership with SB Nation in early April 2011. Jim Bankoff saw demographic overlap between sports fans and tech enthusiasts. He had previously worked at AOL during 2005 when they acquired Engadget. The move signaled a shift toward independent journalism and in-house content tools.
The Verge launched on the 1st of November 2011, with four million unique visitors and twenty million pageviews. Joshua Topolsky served as the founding editor until mid-2014 when Nilay Patel took over his role. Dieter Bohn held the position of executive editor starting that same year. Helen Havlak became editorial director in mid-2017. Walt Mossberg joined the editing team after Vox Media acquired Recode in 2015. In March 2022, Dieter Bohn resigned to take a new position at Google. The leadership changes reflected evolving strategies within the technology news landscape. Tom Warren arrived as United Kingdom based senior editor following the launch. Katie Drummond led the effort for the new science section called Verge Science in 2013.
Vox Media used its proprietary Chorus system from the site's inception until the 28th of January 2025. On that date, The Verge switched to WordPress for all publishing operations. A visual redesign occurred during the fifth anniversary in November 2016 featuring a modified Penrose triangle logo. Another rebranding happened in September 2022 with sharper lines and more colorful visuals. The new homepage format resembled a social media feed incorporating external conversations. Advertising models shifted from display ads matched to articles toward partnerships adjusted to user behavior by 2016. These technical transitions aimed to improve performance and adapt to changing reader habits over time.
The inaugural episode of The Vergecast aired on the 4th of November 2011, including a video stream of hosts. A second weekly podcast launched on the 8th of November 2011 focusing primarily on mobile phones. Ctrl-Walt-Delete began hosting in September 2015 under Walt Mossberg before concluding in June 2017. Decoder with Nilay Patel started on the 8th of August 2015 and now releases two episodes per week since the 8th of February 2024. Why'd You Push That Button? ran from the 17th of October 2017 until the 15th of July 2020 co-hosted by Ashley Carman and Kaitlyn Tiffany. The Verge Mobile Show appeared among iTunes best podcasts of 2015. The site won Best Podcast awards at the Webby Awards for 2012 recognizing their audio output quality.
On the 6th of August 2011, co-founder Marty Moe announced plans for The Verge Show web television series. The first episode recorded on Monday, the 14th of November 2011 featured guest Matias Duarte. Ten episodes aired between late 2011 and the 10th of November 2012 before returning under a new format in May 2013. Verge Video launched on the 8th of May 2013 to host video backlogs from previous shows. Next Level debuted in 2017 hosted by Lauren Goode winning recognition at the 47th annual San Francisco Northern California Emmy Awards. Space Craft started that same year with science reporter Loren Grush hosting. By January 2019, Verge Science YouTube channel had over 638,000 subscribers and thirty million views total.
In September 2018, The Verge published an article about building custom PCs alongside a companion YouTube video titled How we Built a $2000 Custom Gaming PC. Host Stefan Etienne made errors including applying excessive thermal paste onto processors during assembly steps. An online harassment campaign followed against Etienne after the video surfaced publicly. Lawyers from Vox Media filed DMCA takedown notices in February 2019 requesting removal of critical videos alleging copyright infringement. YouTube removed two videos uploaded by BitWit and ReviewTechUSA while issuing strikes against those channels. Nilay Patel later requested reinstatement of the videos though he agreed with the legal argument for their initial removal. Linus Sebastian collaborated with Etienne nearly three years later to fix the build on camera.
December 2024 marked when The Verge began paying walling some content behind a subscription service offering premium reports and newsletters. Initial rates were set at seven dollars per month or fifty dollars annually according to a blog post by Patel. The move aimed to ensure survival amid increasingly difficult market conditions for rigorous independent journalism. Fewer advertisements accompanied the paid tier along with other exclusive features available to subscribers. This strategic shift represented a significant departure from previous free access models used since launch. The decision reflected broader industry trends toward direct reader support rather than reliance solely on advertising revenue streams.
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Common questions
When did The Verge launch and how many visitors did it attract initially?
The Verge launched on the 1st of November 2011 with four million unique visitors and twenty million pageviews. Joshua Topolsky served as the founding editor until mid-2014 when Nilay Patel took over his role.
Who founded The Verge and what was their previous affiliation before leaving AOL?
Nine staff members including Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Justin Glow, Dan Chilton, Paul Miller, Ross Miller, Joanna Stern, and Chris Ziegler left AOL to start The Verge in early April 2011. They sought independence from their parent company after years of working there.
What technology platform did The Verge use for publishing operations until January 2025?
Vox Media used its proprietary Chorus system from the site's inception until the 28th of January 2025. On that date, The Verge switched to WordPress for all publishing operations.
Which podcast won Best Podcast awards at the Webby Awards for 2012?
The inaugural episode of The Vergecast aired on the 4th of November 2011 and the site won Best Podcast awards at the Webby Awards for 2012 recognizing their audio output quality. Decoder with Nilay Patel started on the 8th of August 2015 and now releases two episodes per week since the 8th of February 2024.
Why did The Verge begin charging subscribers in December 2024?
December 2024 marked when The Verge began paying walling some content behind a subscription service offering premium reports and newsletters. Initial rates were set at seven dollars per month or fifty dollars annually according to a blog post by Patel.