SB Nation redesigns sites as Vox Media readies for Google Zero
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SB Nation, one of the highest traffic brands within the Vox Media portfolio, has redesigned its website and its dozens of niche sports fan websites to include a new community content section called "The Feed," Vox Media president of revenue and growth Ryan Pauley told Axios.
Why it matters: The redesign, which places user and fan content alongside SB Nation's professionally created content, is meant to help the brand recapture engagement that occurs on external social media feeds instead of its sites.
- It also gives SB Nation, which relies on traffic-based ad revenue, to hedge against the decline of Google Search referrals in the AI era.
- SB Nation operates 185 active sports fan communities, each with their own distinct websites and branding, that generate over a million user comments per month.
Zoom in: The redesign, which launched Tuesday, is meant to put a larger emphasis on community content in a brand safe way that will still appeal to advertisers, Pauley said.
- Posts in "The Feed" are meant to be more interactive than a standard website. They will feature questions and prompts for users to further engage in conversations, embedded social media posts and links to news stories from other outlets.
- It also includes a new feature that allows logged in, registered users who engage heavily with the new community features to have a lighter and more streamlined advertising experience.
Zoom out: The SB Nation redesign is part of a broader push by Vox Media to hedge against AI's impact on search traffic, especially from Google.
- The Verge, Vox Media's tech news site, last month released new site features that allow readers to directly follow its journalists and topics in a personalized feed on its homepage. It also launched a new suite of newsletters.
- NY Mag, the company's preeminent subscription news site, is also leaning more heavily into newsletters and direct-to-consumer products, Pauley said.
- Eater, Vox Media's food recommendations site, is leveraging AI to optimize search within its site for users looking to dine with special requests.
Yes, but: Because each one of Vox Media's dozen plus brands has a very different identify and use case, the solution for each site will look very different and custom, per Pauley.
- "It is incumbent on each brand to develop their own strategy for what's the best way to get loyal audiences to come back more frequently," Pauley said. "Some of which will be through paid channels, some of it will be through non-paid experiences."
The big picture: Vox Media is one of the few remaining independent media holding groups that hasn't been sold or broken up.
- The company has focused on profitability as a way of controlling its own destiny, and has deprioritized certain businesses in response to market trends.
- As of February, the company's CEO Jim Bankoff said he wasn't eyeing an exit for the firm, which has raised over $400 million since 2009.
- Vox Media was last valued at $500 million in 2023, when it raised $100 million from Penske Media Corp.
What to watch: Outside of its websites, Vox Media has found success in building a robust podcast talent network, which has helped hedge against social media and search platform shifts.
- For now, talent deals vary dramatically based on a talent's needs and values, Pauley said.
- While independent creators, like "Pivot" podcast hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, own their podcast's intellectual property and split revenue with the company, others do not.
