Engadget's Top Editors Topolsky and Patel Exit From AOL's Giant Tech Site | Hacker News Reader

Engadget's Top Editors Topolsky and Patel Exit From AOL's Giant Tech Site

kara.allthingsd.com

77 pointsmoses140021 comments

Considering the AOL Way highlights them as a glorified content farm (that everyone scrambled to say doesn't apply to them leaving approximately nobody it does apply to) I don't blame them for leaving.

Churning out content on w/e the stats say is trending would be a shit way for a writer to express their creativity.

Actually, Topolsky said before that Engadget is not affected by the AOL Way.

Arianna Huffington (the new Cheif Editor of all AOL content sites) said she won't be messing with TechCrunch and Engadget.

Engadget are a textbook example of it and quite likely where the entire plan originated.

Their most recent article other than the resignation letter:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/12/htc-droid-incredible-2-sm...

- 3 sentence summary gives them a strong chance of hitting their rev per article goals.

- 3 internal links and a shitton of tags to reinforce their SEO

- 1 solitary little external link at the bottom to minimize the SEO juice they leak

If your job involves tagging summaries with "Android 2.2" and "Android2.2" then you're working the Aol Way™, even if it's not official.

I've always found the tags on Engadget to be completely useless, and I was wondering why they even waste their time with them. SEO makes a lot of sense.

sidenote- Blogsmith, the AOL blog editor, does the tag optimization for spacing / hyphens automatically.

I get that the AOL Way is kind of insulting to the writers, but it is really that big of a deal? Tons of posts, SEO bait, more video content seems like the status quo for nearly all mainstream blogs, even those without a big corporate overlord. I kind of assumed all the Engadget folk saw the AOL Way as a formalization what they were doing already.

I imagine it's every bit as exciting as cloning the little instantly-viral websites and apps that pop up - probably get paid, but making sites/apps stops being an outlet for your creativity.

(that everyone scrambled to say doesn't apply to them leaving approximately nobody it does apply to)

Actually, Paul Miller made no bones about the fact that AOL was the reason he left Engadget. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2238175

Wow - both Topolsky & Patel are out now[1]. Before was Ross Miller[2] & Paul Miller[3]. With all these Engadget people leaving, I haven't heard about anyone leaving their rival Gizmodo.

I wonder how Arrington feels about this. Arrington was pissed over Topolsky trying to kill the AOL/TC deal[4].

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/12/hello-i-must-be-going/ [2] http://ohnoros.co/post/3407371558/goodbye-engadget [3] http://pauljmiller.com/2011/02/leaving-aol/ [4] http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/16/blog-fight-rules-of-engagem...

Some times the decision to leave is made many months before but actual resignation happens in March. February and March are the months when annual bonus is paid. It is a natural time to leave. I've seen a lot of March departures in the past years.

I don't imagine Topolsky will stray far from his existing career. He has a very visible position that people tend not to relinquish lightly. How many other bloggers are able to command guest slots on late night talk shows?

I'm going to miss the Engadget Podcast. After Paul Miller left, I thought it might still have a chance, but now all three are gone!

Now that they're all gone, I'm hoping that maybe they'll continue podcasting together, even if they no longer use the Engadget name.

Topolsky did mention in his post that he has a project on the horizon that he will be sharing more about. Ryan Block and Peter Rojas went on to start GDGT so maybe the alienated engadget editors have some new fresh take on tech up their sleeve.

I really wonder what they'll do with the podcast. With all three gone now, it'll be extremely hard to continue on with the show - either they find replacements, which will change the atmosphere of show altogether, or they just discontinue it.

This is a loss for AOL. There are a few reviews which you really look out for, and Topolsky's was always one of them.

From Topolsky: http://engt.co/ftwNtM

Unshortened URL:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/12/hello-i-must-be-going/

AOL mass exodus lately

specifically Engadget. So strange ... obviously none of them have declared what the real reason is yet.

I don't have any inside knowledge w/ Josh / Nilay's exit, but I can say Enagdget editors tend to last about three years. Peter "left" and worked on rcrdlbl right after AOL acquired Engadget (twoish years into the site's life), then Ryan left after three years of tenure (2008), now Josh is leaving... not a surprise.

Blogging the Engadget way is hard. You have to always be on your game, making sure posts are timed, etc. It's not a picnic. These guys are really good at what they do, and having a corporate overlord wears on you.

[Disclosure: I was at Engadget in 2005-2007]

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