16 votes

Fandom buys TV Guide, Metacritic, GameSpot and other brands for about $50 million in cash

Topic removed by site admin

11 comments

  1. [7]
    lou
    (edited )
    Link
    Up until now, Fandom to me was "that awful wiki with autoplay videos that somehow holds some of the most rich content about many things I love". Naively, I thought it might be some kind of...

    Up until now, Fandom to me was "that awful wiki with autoplay videos that somehow holds some of the most rich content about many things I love". Naively, I thought it might be some kind of harmless entity that will most certainly always keep all the awesome details about my favorite shows, not just another nebulous corporation.

    We probably should have some Wikipedia-like nonprofit for things that, while valuable, are considered unworthy of Wikipedia.

    Also, Metacritic was surprisingly cheap.

    17 votes
    1. [6]
      babypuncher
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Most of these fandom wikis used to be non-profit. Unlike Wikipedia they are strictly non-educational. I think this made it harder for them to keep the lights on with a non-profit model, so one by...

      Most of these fandom wikis used to be non-profit.

      Unlike Wikipedia they are strictly non-educational. I think this made it harder for them to keep the lights on with a non-profit model, so one by one they outsourced hosting and maintenance to Fandom.

      6 votes
      1. [5]
        lou
        Link Parent
        I understand. But it seems to me that Fandom itself is not a nonprofit right? That's the site where I'll find a lot of the things I like.

        I understand. But it seems to me that Fandom itself is not a nonprofit right? That's the site where I'll find a lot of the things I like.

        2 votes
        1. [4]
          babypuncher
          Link Parent
          Correct, Fandom is not non-profit. Many of the wikis they host, like Memory Alpha used to be hosted by members of the community before moving to Fandom.

          Correct, Fandom is not non-profit. Many of the wikis they host, like Memory Alpha used to be hosted by members of the community before moving to Fandom.

          4 votes
          1. [3]
            lou
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            I see. I meant to say: it would be beneficial to have a non-profit in which everyone could host such things for free, without having to pay for and manage their own websites.

            I see. I meant to say: it would be beneficial to have a non-profit in which everyone could host such things for free, without having to pay for and manage their own websites.

            3 votes
            1. [2]
              Atvelonis
              Link Parent
              There are non-profit wiki farms out there, like Miraheze, but they've so far failed to attract serious editor bases. One of the issues here is that established communities are difficult to uproot,...

              There are non-profit wiki farms out there, like Miraheze, but they've so far failed to attract serious editor bases. One of the issues here is that established communities are difficult to uproot, even if administrators have serious misgivings with Fandom. The site has extremely good SEO.

              3 votes
              1. TavisNamara
                Link Parent
                Not just extremely good SEO, but they hold your SEO hostage if you ever try to leave. They'll keep dominating the search results because they keep using all the stuff you put years of hard work...

                Not just extremely good SEO, but they hold your SEO hostage if you ever try to leave. They'll keep dominating the search results because they keep using all the stuff you put years of hard work into building

                4 votes
  2. TavisNamara
    Link
    Oh fuck no. That means Fandom now has Gamefaqs by the balls. Of all the old, infinitely valuable data repositories out there, Gamefaqs is unrivaled in the depth of knowledge on old video games,...

    Oh fuck no. That means Fandom now has Gamefaqs by the balls. Of all the old, infinitely valuable data repositories out there, Gamefaqs is unrivaled in the depth of knowledge on old video games, and has remained relatively unscathed since the early days. With Fandom taking charge... That's... Not good. That's very not good.

    9 votes
  3. [2]
    MimicSquid
    Link
    Sigh. Fandom has been working hard to monetize other people's content in the wiki space. It makes perfect sense for them to expand that effort to paste ads all over anything that someone writes....

    Sigh. Fandom has been working hard to monetize other people's content in the wiki space. It makes perfect sense for them to expand that effort to paste ads all over anything that someone writes. Basically every game wiki with engaged personnel and some hosting chops has started to self-host to get away from them, though. They're awful to actually use.

    6 votes
    1. gco
      Link Parent
      I hope the trend of moving away from Fandom continues. Fandom wiki's are usually among the top results when you search for video game related content and to me they're becoming increasingly...

      I hope the trend of moving away from Fandom continues. Fandom wiki's are usually among the top results when you search for video game related content and to me they're becoming increasingly useless. Seems that nowadays most game wikis are trending towards having a verbatim copy of what the game says instead of an explanation of the mechanics; which is the reason why I looked it up online in the first place.

      4 votes
  4. cloud_loud
    Link
    I thought Metacritic was owned by IMDb which in turn was owned by Amazon. Guess not. I only know of Fandom because they bought ScreenJunkies a few years ago and rebranded their secondary channel...

    I thought Metacritic was owned by IMDb which in turn was owned by Amazon. Guess not.

    I only know of Fandom because they bought ScreenJunkies a few years ago and rebranded their secondary channel to Fandom Entertainment from ScreenJunkiesNews. A channel which is now essentially on life-support after having lose the major personalities that built it up.

    2 votes