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Giant Bomb News

381 Comments

Phase Two Is Go

We're saying goodbye to Sausalito and moving back to the big city. Our time is now.


Maybe a bit too literal, but hey, whatever works. 
Maybe a bit too literal, but hey, whatever works. 
I'm coming to you live, from my house... in my underwear. Just felt I should get that out of the way up front, but the reason for all the partial nudity is that we're between offices right now. Wednesday was our last official day in the old offices, and we spent most of that day packing everything up, slapping labels onto it, and drinking. Actually, I was driving, so I mostly watched other people drink. And I'm extremely lazy, so I mostly watched other people pack, too.

It's a big move for us that comes at the exact right time. With the addition of Tested and Screened to the Whiskey Media posse, Sausalito is now officially too small to contain us. So our new office is a bigger spot that'll give us more studio space, a dedicated podcast room, and, weirdly enough, an entire room devoted to our own private whiskey bar. I believe in the business world they call that "walking the walk?" This also means that I'll be able to make vague threats directly to Alex every time a bad game shows up in the mail and constantly pester Will to help me figure out which laser mouse is right for me without having to walk upstairs.

We'll have more to show of the old office getting dismantled and new office in the near future. But there's more going on than just a new basement to call home.

 The Human Tape Measure goes to work.
 The Human Tape Measure goes to work.
The number one question we get around here goes something like "how the hell do you guys stay in business with no ads on the site?" We've sold a few T-shirts in the past, but to be honest, those happened because we thought they'd be cool, not because we ever expected to make a huge profit on them. Same deal with the iPhone app, which is rapidly losing value now that you can view those same videos using your phone's browser. For us, it's been all about building a regular audience and treating the people that choose to spend their time with us with the respect they deserve. The business dudes have done some ad deals in the past, and they've signed a deal with an external firm called Six Apart, which will be largely responsible with putting ads onto Giant Bomb and the other Whiskey Media sites.

It's funny, a lot of people wanted to guarantee us a whole lot of money up front for the ability to sell ads on our sites. For just about any other company I can think of, this would have been the "cha-ching" moment, where you start grabbing as much cash as possible. That's the easy way out. We've gone a different way with it, instead focusing on putting a system in place that should hopefully prevent the Internet's worst types of advertising from ever sullying our pages. We're doing what we can to make sure that the ads don't ruin your experience on our site. There will be site skins, but you definitely won't see one every day. There will be banner ads, but not for dick pills or "YOU PUNCH MONKEY 4 FREE IPODZ" or all of the other bullshit that makes a website start to stink. It's nice to be working with guys that understand the value of your experience with our sites. My guess is that there will be some bumps in the road this month as we get things going, but it feels pretty good to be shifting into "proper business" mode. That'll give us some more leeway to do all of the stupid things that no other game website would dare to even try and continue having fun while we do it.

This is the part where I should come to you, hat in hand, and tell you how ad blockers block the fun in the worst way possible, but I'm not going to tell you how to live your lives. If you absolutely can't stand any form of advertising ever yet you still want to support what we're doing down here, well, we might have some things for you in the fairly near future that'll let you handle that without the intense guilt that comes from knowing that Coonce won't be able to afford any more tracksuits if you're blocking all of the ads.

My understanding is that today is the first official day that Six Apart is beating down doors on our behalf, and our office doors will open once again on Tuesday. In the meantime, we'll be working on some review stuff (I have a lot of Singularity to play) and celebrating... our Independence Day! *cue cheers*
  
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

381 Comments

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thecartel

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Edited By thecartel

I back GB 100% I follow you guys closely almost like a religion.  You guys deserve it continue the good work.

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FightTest

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Edited By FightTest

GiantBomb is one of the very few sites that I turn off AdBlock for.  You guys put out a ton of awesome content in videos and the podcast and if I have to see some ads to support that then so be it.  Hell I'd probably even click a few for my favorite site on the web.
 
Keep up the great work, enjoy the new place, and watch out for ghetto birds.

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John1912

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Edited By John1912
@bretthancock said:
" Good for GB and all the Whiskey sites!  All your users appreciate the unique content and lack of annoying ads. "
GB is a site where I wouldnt even care about those annoying ads because they deserve what they get for them.  Flip side of that, attracting new viewers can be impacted by the ads.  Esp when they arent coming from the background of knowing the GB staff and their journey getting here.   I am pretty fucking mind blown by this post to say the least.  I think their approach is just fantastic.  More companies should take this kinda of approach in caring enough about making their customers family, and not a short term mark for extorting money from them.   To truly have that is priceless and will keep the money coming in, even in the hardest of times.
 
Giantbomb staff,ROCKS!  Have a great 4th guys!
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Cheapoz

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Edited By Cheapoz

A sprawling, rapidly growing website company moving to a huge downtown office with no income? 
 
Dot Com Boom 2.0, but more awesome.

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tahnit

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Edited By tahnit

Just added an allow ads filter on adblock plus.

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Dingofighter

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Edited By Dingofighter

I'm calling it. Site skin and banner ads for Kane and Lynch 2!

...was that funny?

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ez123

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Edited By ez123
@MaFoLu said:
"...was that funny? "
I think you know the answer to that Mr. Leno.
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ThePilgrums

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Edited By ThePilgrums

Fuck  Sausalito!! I have to say it. FUCK. SAUSALITO. 
 
And I hope the new Giant Bomb makes 775 million dollars! 
 
<>

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Sil3n7

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Edited By Sil3n7

I'm fine looking at ads for the content on this site.

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hexogen

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Edited By hexogen

Oh man, Giant Bomb "Pro"? I would totally pay for that even if all it does is turn ads off.

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deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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I just want to say exactly how much I appreciate that Jeff's post seems like it comes from a human being talking to human beings, and not from a content editor addressing a forum of unique page views because a man with a title told him to.  Giant Bomb has always kept it as real as it gets, almost to the point where they are more authentic than Kid Rock.
 
I also don't mind ads, as long as they aren't before every video.  Or at least, so that the ad only appears once per day.  I will find it increasingly difficult to queue up a bunch of Quick Looks if I have a Sprite commercial before each one.
 
And frankly, I think the makers of Game Room owe you some money, because Giant Bomb has increased the sale of Jungler by 3000%.
 
 Also, make sure the new office has wood paneling.  Nothing but the best for Luchadeer.

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Scooper

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Edited By Scooper

Bye old Bomb.

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onceler

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Edited By onceler

By treating me like a human and not some add credit, my  adblock is now disabled for giantbomb.com.

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Kung_Fu_Viking

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Edited By Kung_Fu_Viking

OK I'm confused because I don't recall having seen any ads on this site save for the occasional frontpage skin. I'm using Chrome and I'm pretty sure I have no ad blocker's installed =/

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bjorno

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Edited By bjorno

blow up those damn alien bastards

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gla55jAw

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Edited By gla55jAw

Thanks for the cool post Jeff.

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88Fingers

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Edited By 88Fingers

This may sound dumb, but how about food and drink ads?
I'd much rather see that type of ad over game ads.
 
Game ads on game sites... feel dirty.

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Laksa

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Edited By Laksa
@OllyOxenFree said:
" I'm turning off AdBlockPlus for Giantbomb!

 Do it!!!
 Do it!!!
"
Yes Sir!
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EDfromRED

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Edited By EDfromRED

 I trust the Giant Bomb team and appreciate all the work they do -- & Comicvine, Tested, Screened, to entertain & inform us fans.  Ad's don't bother me in the least, whatever keeps the GB goodness flowing.
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illmatic19

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Edited By illmatic19

Keep it up guys.
 
BUT HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET PAID?

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wolf_blitzer85

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Edited By wolf_blitzer85

It brings a tear to my eye watching my Giantbomb grow from a little blog to a website about video games and is now moving to the big city. 
 
Don't stop doing what you guys do best! 

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McDevy

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Edited By McDevy

I turned it off for GB, love you Jeff!

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Jared

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Edited By Jared

Great write about, thanks for sharing that with us Jeff, looking forward to seeing some videos of the new office.

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alistercat

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Edited By alistercat
@Laksa said:
" @OllyOxenFree said:
" I'm turning off AdBlockPlus for Giantbomb!

 Do it!!!
 Do it!!!
"
Yes Sir! "
I have been doing this for a while even there are no ads but intend to keep it that way when the ads go up. You guys deserve some money. I wont disable it on any other site though...
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iam3green

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Edited By iam3green

nice to know. i just want to tell you that i want ads to be made by the users of gaintbomb. i enjoyed looking at the pictures that people made for the ad for dragon age.

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mrfluke

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Edited By mrfluke
@Laksa said:
" @OllyOxenFree said:
" I'm turning off AdBlockPlus for Giantbomb!

 Do it!!!
 Do it!!!
"
Yes Sir! "
<>  
ill do it as well for u guys
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Blitzer

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Edited By Blitzer

Epic speech, even if you guys were kinda off the deep end during E3. (Understandable) 
 
Personally, I paid for Gamespot. I did it because of the people there, I wanted them to be getting my hard earned money directly (although I'm sure CNET (or whoever it was) saw most of it. But for GB, I'm sure you guys would see 100% or near that of the profits. Why not try a subscription model instead of ads and paying a corporation for your success? I get that you may not want to segregate people based on their income, but if you at least give an option of ads, fewer ads + $5 a month or just $10 a month or something like that, I think it could work. 
 
Just my 2 cents though, good luck guys and keep the info coming!

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Spiritof

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Edited By Spiritof

Giant Bomb has hired Randy Quaid.
 
99.9% Confirmed.
 

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The_Laughing_Man

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Edited By The_Laughing_Man

Are they video game related ads?  
 
I WILL block any Evony ads. 

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Seraphim

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Edited By Seraphim

NOT THE TRACKSUITS!!    ;(  I'll never block an ad again...on GB.

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JJWeatherman

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Edited By JJWeatherman

Wow, I'd forgotten how epic that speech was. 
 
I welcome ads in full force. Never used an ad blocker and I never plan to. It's time for the Bomb to start becoming what we all know it's capable of!

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Sooty

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Edited By Sooty

Advertisements on GameTrailers are a fucking joke, it's like a 30 sec ad before pretty much every video. URGH URGH URGH.  

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oblique_

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Edited By oblique_

Disabled Adblock for Giant Bomb.  For you Jeff.  For you.

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FCKSNAP

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Edited By FCKSNAP

I'm buying giantbombplus as long as I get exclusive video betas.

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Pkshields

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Edited By Pkshields

I'm all for more crazy, bring on the ads!

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skyline7284

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Edited By skyline7284
@natetodamax said:
" Does Chrome have ad blocker? I was wondering because I want to make sure such a thing is disabled. Would like to thank the Whiskey Media guys for understanding how to place ads on websites without it being completely retarded. "
AdBlock Plus is out for Chrome, yes
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ibu

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Edited By ibu

Don't blame you guys, love the pod casts and if I can support in any way, I shall be sure to. 
 
Good luck with the move

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MrMcgillicutty

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Edited By MrMcgillicutty

This means, that somewhere between Sausilito and San Fransisco; There are a bunch of dudes transporting a deer head with a luchador mask on it...Awesome.

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TrashMustache

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Edited By TrashMustache

lotta luv!
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yakov456

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Edited By yakov456

Good luck Gentlemen.

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TwoOneFive

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Edited By TwoOneFive

one day ill be in town, i hope i can stop by this place and say whatsup and get some pictures i think that would be awesome. 

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fjordson

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Edited By fjordson

Congrats on the move guys. As long as you get to keep making the content you want to, then I'm happy.
 
And definitely turning off Adblock for GB.

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Kowalski

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Edited By Kowalski

giantbomb.com domain unblocked  

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jacksukeru

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Edited By jacksukeru

You guys are awesome, I'll definetly try to support you in any way that I can. Good luck in the future.
 
<>

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zonerover

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Edited By zonerover

And so Phase 2 of building the Giant Bomb continues... complete with "an entire room devoted to our own private whiskey bar"!

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DukesT3

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Edited By DukesT3

I.. I... want some dick pills... =l 

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Advertisement

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Edited By Advertisement

Good luck Giant Bomb

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ISmoochyI

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Edited By ISmoochyI

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSH

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MisterMouse

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Edited By MisterMouse

This is a wonderful move for Whiskey! and thank you for the honesty Jeff. There is not really another website on the web that I spend more time on than this site.