Why Did Nick Denton Truncate Gawker Media’s RSS Feeds?

Speaking of RSS and advertising revenue, Felix Salmon has a piece on Gawker Media’s decision to switch from full-text to excerpts in their feeds. He quotes Nick Denton from this comment on Lifehacker:

Gawker Media is an ad-supported company. RSS ads have never realized their potential. At the same time we sell plenty of ads on our website. So, yes, it is in our interest for people to click through if enticed by an excerpt.

Salmon, in an update, points to this comment from Matt McAlister, who says that The Guardian has seen web traffic go up after switching from excerpts to full-text feeds. I.e., even without monetizing the feeds themselves, The Guardian thinks switching to full-text feeds was a win financially.

★ Thursday, 11 March 2010