The uphill struggle (aka business on the internet)

It's been 53 weeks since this website became a website, and it is really remarkable seeing the transformation of this idea from a Skype-based podcast of two dudes trying to motivate eachother out of unemployment to what looks set to become a viable advertising model in the not-too-distant future.

Giantbomb has close to 47 000 registered users, and draws in a daily average of close to 25 000 people. But that is a candle in the sun compared to the bigger video game websites out there.

Giant bomb might be a little too personal for most people.
Generally a person just wants to go on a videogame website, and see a number between 1 and 10, and call it a day. Giantbomb obviously doesn't have the staff to review every last game the day it comes out and give it that number between one and ten people care about.

I say we make the GB crew wear skimpier, more evocative clothing.
Hot Pants and Glitter will most definitely help.

GB is MUCH more community oriented than others, and I think that's key. With IGN and Gamespot's positions as purely news orginizations, and Kotaku somewhere between them and GB, I'd say that they have the advantage in sheer information available. I still go to kotaku/joystiq for my news, but I always end up back at GB because of the community. In all honesty, I think that the community aspect is a blessing, and while it may keep the site smaller than the likes of Gamespot and IGN, it ensures a more personal and, in my opinion, enjoyable experience than is available on other sites.

I imagine putting the Giantbomb app commercial on TV would do the trick.

Yes Giantbomb simply can't offer you everything you need, still that's not a issue, whether a site is big or small, advertisers will still pay depending on the amount of traffic etc, ofcourse certain aspects could cause advertisers to go away (like discussing or offering illegal content), on the other side advertisers will value page visits more on sites like this where people will spend 10 minutes watching a report or review.

All in all this site should do fine with the proper advertising, ofcourse I have no idea how well they are doing it right now, the site looks really clean like this, I just hope they are atleast breaking even on it.

Giant Bomb is doing a lot better than their sister sites Comic Vine and Anime Vice, though.

Giant Bomb has more personality then all those other sites combined. I have no doubt that in due time Giant Bomb will rule the world.

Giantbomb kicks all other asses and will soon follow along as more and more people find out about the site, I kind of like us being a little underground, gives us a little bit more of a close knit community, and even if it stays that way I would be perfectly fine.

I don't think they're aiming for those other guys. They have alot of views which means more advertising $ but at the same time they've got many more people to give pay checks. The great things about a site like GiantBomb is because they're not 40 people in a huge office, they have much lower overhead, that means they need less $ to pay the bills. I'm sure they wouldn't mind it though because I doubt they're even making enough money to cover their backs at the moment. But hey, it won't stop them. I'm sure of that.

" I don't think they're aiming for those other guys. They have alot of views which means more advertising $ but at the same time they've got many more people to give pay checks. The great things about a site like GiantBomb is because they're not 40 people in a huge office, they have much lower overhead, that means they need less $ to pay the bills. I'm sure they wouldn't mind it though because I doubt they're even making enough money to cover their backs at the moment. But hey, it won't stop them. I'm sure of that. "

If Giant Bomb ever reached a million users, I would probably leave. I love how community driven the site is, it's all personal, and the people that use the site are wonderful. I would hate it if it got too crowded.

I haven't really told anybody about the site, so that may be part of the problem. The other part may be that it's young, by which I mean "give it time."

First of all, I don't think they can catch up to Gamespot and IGN. As I said, those sites are backed by huge media companies and thus have far more cross-promotion opportunities. That doesn't mean the producers (and the backers) of this site don't want to grow.

Second of all, they don't have to replicate the bigger sites in order to grow. As jukez pointed out earlier, they can find community-focused ways of making money, as well as adhering to their unique style (which I love and would never want to change ever, by the way) while still reaching new people. I'm sure we all know several people who might potentially dig Giant Bomb's craziness, but have we all exposed these people to said craziness?

You don't necessarily have to 'sell out' (godlessness I hate that phrase) in order to make money, you know.

" Giantbomb is about even with Destructoid on the Quantcast charts. :D "

Well I know I like coming to the forums because I see familiar names all the time, so getting crowded would be a downside for me, but as previously stated I'd just step back from the forums a bit. 

Giant Bomb needs to review more of a variety of games. Maybe they should hire more editors to be able to handle to work load.

Noob question: How does Giant Bomb make money? I've never seen any ads or anything of the sort, and I know they said they will never do a paid user service.

" @DanielJW: I think they'll go for more subtlety than that. While their ad site has prices for a skinning of their site, I doubt they'll make that sale too often. I think you'll see more stuff like the World at War downloadable content segment of the Bombcast and less "YOU WON A MILLION DOLLARS! CLICK TO CLAIM YOUR PRI$E!" "

its not about the number of visitors its about the awesomeness of the site.

no doubt I'm just saying that a little bit of ads never killed anyone so when that days comes i will understand. but for now i tip my hat at this virtually ad free kick ass site.

" @Benjaminvdv: But like I said, it's not a joke. They actually will do it if someone pays them to, they'll probably try to determine beforehand if it's the kind of thing that will actually get a positive reception with the userbase.And okay, so you think that having 100 000 daily visitors will somehow make this site less intimate? I mean, come on. 25 000 PEOPLE VISIT THIS SITE EVERY DAY! DO YOU TALK TO ALL OF THEM? NO! So how will a larger number affect that? The mods will continue to lock spam posts, and the users will continue to call people out on their shit when they make questionable forum posts, none of this has to change if Giant Bomb can find a way to make some money, if they keep the strategy they have now. "

When they are ready to expand they will, seems like the crew are really ramping up their contacts and associates throughout the past year.