Available in English, Spanish Slogan(s) upgrade your lifestyle Founded 2000 | Created by Ian Bell, Dan Gaul Website www.digitaltrends.com | |
Type of site Technology news and information Owner Ian Bell, Digital Trends | ||
Digital Trends is a technology 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, and New York City, Digital Trends is operated by Designtechnica Corp., a media company that also publishes Digital Trends Español, a Spanish-language version of the site, and men's lifestyle site The Manual.
Contents
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 had over 51 million visits per month, as of August 2016. Digital Trends editorial team is led by Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Kaplan and Managing Editor Nick Mokey, 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.
In May 2009, Digital Trends moved its headquarters from Lake Oswego into the US Bancorp Tower in Downtown Portland, Oregon. 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, was launched in December 2014, led by Editor-in-Chief Juan Garcia.
DigitalTrends.com 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. 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, 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." Media and marketing news site 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."
Product News and Reviews
Digital Trends reviews hundreds of products each year within categories such as cell phones, digital cameras, headphones, cars, home theater systems, laptops, tablets, TVs and more. Navigation through these product reviews is performed via Digital Trends’ product filtering engine, which allows users to narrow down the products shown by a given set of specifications such as manufacturer, operating system, and product size.
Products are rated on a 10-point scale represented on the site by half and full stars. The site includes a plain-English explanation of the scale, describing ratings from Exceptional (5 stars) to Garbage (0.5 stars). Users can also submit reviews of products they own. Products of note receive a Recommended Product badge. Standouts receive the Editors’ Choice award. Digital Trends also publishes news and how to features about products, features including interviews, and editorials and opinions.
Videos and Podcasts
Digital Trends creates a wide variety of original videos, including game trailers, game reviews, product hands-on looks, product reviews, movie trailers, and more. Digital Trends broadcasts DT Daily, a news-oriented rundown of the previous day’s top tech stories, hosted for a time by Kacey Montoya, now a general assignment reporter at KTLA 5 in Los Angeles.
The editorial team launched the Trends With Benefits podcast in Oct. 2014. It is hosted by Greg Nibler, the host of the Funemployment Radio and Sportlandia podcasts, and is available as a subscription through iTunes, Stitcher, and as an RSS feed.
Awards
The editorial staff of Digital Trends picks best products of the year every December, and has awarded the Top Tech of CES trophies to leading companies at the Consumer Electronics Show for four years. In 2015 the company picked Sling TV as best in show; in 2016 the award – a 3D-printed trophy in the shape of a “Cyber Stag” – was awarded to the Chevy Bolt.
In 2015, Digital Trends expanded its awards program to include other major trade shows, including Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and IFA in Berlin. The company also launched its first car of the year awards, to “spotlight the auto industry at a time of remarkable change,” and Smart Home awards, which included both Internet of Things products and home appliances.