Gawker plans a business model based on comments and conversation, not posts and ads

Reuters | GigaOM
Nick Denton is betting that comments will be a big new business for the future of Gawker Media. Felix Salmon explains how Gawker is reinventing comments and plans to sell advertisers the ability to create conversations. In an earlier memo, Denton wrote, “the days of the banner advertisement are numbered. In two years, our primary offering to marketers will be our discussion platform.”

Will it work? Salmon points out the biggest potential flaw: “The problem here, for Denton — and the reason why he got an editorial guy to run this new project — is the old one: how to persuade his websites’ readers to read the sponsored posts and to engage in their comments sections.”

Earlier: Denton’s new advertising system may foreshadow a post-blogger future (Poynter) || Related: The problem with Facebook’s ad model (Technology Review) | Why GM and others fail with Facebook ads (Business Week).