Digital Trends

Digital Trends is a Portland, Oregon-based tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. With offices in Portland, Oregon, New York City, Chicago and other locations, Digital Trends is operated by Designtechnica Corp., a media company that also publishes Digital Trends Español, focusing on Spanish speakers worldwide, and a men's lifestyle site The Manual.

Digital Trends
Logo of Digital Trends
Screenshot
Screenshot of Digital Trends from 2-14-2017
Type of site
Technology news
Available inEnglish, Spanish
OwnerDesigntechnica
Created byIan Bell, Dan Gaul
EditorJeremy Kaplan
URLwww.digitaltrends.com
Commercialyes
Registrationno
LaunchedJune 2006 (2006-06)
Current statusonline
OCLC number810203593

The site offers reviews and information on a wide array of products that have been shaped by technology. That includes consumer electronics products such as smartphones, video games and systems, laptops, PCs and peripherals, televisions, home theater systems, digital cameras, video cameras, tablets, and more.

According to third-party web analytics provider SimilarWeb, the site received over 40 million visits per month as of June 2018.[1] Digital Trends editorial team is led by Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Kaplan and guided by Co-Founders Ian Bell and Dan Gaul.

History

Ian Bell and Dan Gaul founded Digital Trends in June 2006 in Lake Oswego, Oregon.[2]

In May 2009, Digital Trends moved its headquarters from Lake Oswego into the US Bancorp Tower in Downtown Portland, Oregon.[3] The company opened a second office in New York City in 2012. Digital Trends is a privately funded and owned corporation. Digital Trends en Español, a Spanish-language version of the site that offers original reporting focusing on the spanish speaking consumers worldwide, was launched in December 2014. Editor-in-Chief Juan Garcia leads an international team of seasoned professionals, among them Milenka Pena, an Emmy Award nominee and Silver Done Award recipient, who works as the News Editor for the Spanish site.

Digital Trends saw a surge in popularity in recent years; the site claimed a 100-percent increase in traffic in September 2015, reaching over 24 million unique readers globally and more than 13 million U.S. readers.[4] It currently reaches approximately 30 million readers per month who view over 100 million pages.

In addition to growth, 2015 saw a series of changes for Digital Trends. The site expanded its awards program to include several international trade shows, including Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and IFA in Berlin. It also launched its first car of the year awards and Smart Home awards, underscoring the site's growing investment in these areas. The company also launched DT Design,[5] an in-house creative ad agency, to focus on branded content and high-impact advertising units.

In late summer of 2016, Re/Code reported on a deal with Conde Nast to acquire Digital Trends for $120 million, noting that the site is expected to generate $30 million in revenue this year and around $6 million in profit. Bell denied that his company was in talks, but acknowledged that the company "is periodically approached by would-be buyers."[6] Digiday wrote about the deal as well, comparing the site's traffic to "such properties as the Purch network, CNET and The Verge, and ahead of USA Today Tech, Yahoo! Tech, and Business Insider’s Tech Insider."[7] In June 2020, as Digital Trends posted Black Lives Matter support statements, former and current employees observed racial bias, homophobia, bullying, and sexual harassment including at a 2017 holiday party, and stereotypes at a "Gin and Juice" party in 2018. CEO Ian Bell noted "weaknesses in the company", adding "I’m not a proponent of cancel culture."[8][9] In 2020, Gresham, Oregon Mayor Travis Stovall joined Digital Trends' board of directors.[10]

See also

References
  1. SimilarWeb. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  2. Rossmüller, Nic (May 24, 2006). "Design Technica becomes Digital Trends". LetsGoDigital.
  3. Turoczy, Rick (May 1, 2009). "Moving on up: Digital Trends takes up residence in Big Pink". Silicon Florist.
  4. "Digital Trends sees record traffic in September". TechInvestorNews. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016.
  5. "Digital Trends launches in-house ad agency with new work for Scion". Techsite. Archived from the original on 2016-03-02.
  6. Kafka, Peter (August 10, 2016). "Condé Nast came close to buying tech review site Digital Trends for $120 million, but the deal isn't happening". Re/Code.
  7. Moses, Lucia (September 15, 2016). "Digital Trends found a highly profitable niche among tech review sites without relying on Facebook". Digiday.
  8. Mike Rogoway (11 June 2020). "Portland tech site reckons with employee backlash". oregonlive. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. Mike Rogoway (10 June 2020). "Portland tech site faces outcry over 'Gin and Juice' party". oregonlive. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. "Why I joined the board of a company under fire for its culture". QZ. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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