Travis Johnson

Citigroup downgrades CNET

Thanks for the response, David. I agree with most of your points, I guess the only real question is how sticky the CNET content is among it's core group of gadget enthusiasts and techies. If folks don't stay loyal to the CNET sites and instead start going directly to the competitors you mentioned, they are certainly doomed -- and there's no way they'd be able to keep the high ad rates they enjoy right now for their targeted and much sought-after audience.

As I noted, I've sold and I think you're probably right ... but if CNET or the company that acquires them can build on and maintain the brand they might continue to grow and be successful. I agree that the diffuse nature of expertise and information on the web is a threat to the specialized content publishers, but I think the power of brand names is also underestimated in the internet world when we assume that RSS and personalized content aggregation will take over. Some people will always want to go to the trusted brand, and the percentage of web users who use RSS or anything similar on a regular basis is still, I believe, under one percent. Unfortunately for CNET, that one percent is probably the core of their historically captive audience.

Cheers,

Oneguy
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