The website was launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media's proprietary multimedia publishing platform Chorus.[6][7] In 2014,Nilay Patel was namededitor-in-chief and Dieter Bohn executive editor; Helen Havlak was named editorial director in 2017.[8][9]The Verge won fiveWebby Awards for the year 2012 including awards for Best Writing (Editorial), Best Podcast forThe Vergecast, Best Visual Design, Best Consumer Electronics Site, and Best Mobile News App.[10][11]
Between March and April 2011, up to nine ofEngadget's writers, editors, and product developers, includingeditor-in-chiefJoshua Topolsky, leftAOL, the company behind that website, to start a new gadget site.[12][13][14] The other departing editors included managing editorNilay Patel and staffers Paul Miller, Ross Miller, Joanna Stern, Chris Ziegler, as well as product developers Justin Glow and Dan Chilton.[12][15][16] In early April 2011, Topolsky announced that their unnamed new site would be produced in partnership with sports news websiteSB Nation, debuting some time in the fall.[15][17] Topolsky laudedSB Nation's similar interest in the future of publishing, including what he described as their beliefs in independent journalism and in-house development of their own content delivery tools.[15][16] SB Nation'sJim Bankoff saw an overlap in the demographics of the two sites and an opportunity to expand SB Nation's model.[15] Bankoff previously worked at AOL in 2005, where he led theirEngadget acquisition.[18] Other news outlets viewed the partnership as positive for bothSB Nation and Topolsky's staff, and negative for AOL's outlook.[19][20][21][22]
Bankoff,chairman andCEO ofVox Media (owner ofSB Nation), said in a 2011 interview that though the company had started out with a focus on sports, other categories including consumer technology had growth potential for the company.[23] Development of Vox Media'scontent management system (CMS), Chorus, was led by Trei Brundrett, who later became thechief operating officer for the company.[24]
Following news of his untitled partnership withSB Nation in April 2011, Topolsky announced that theEngadget podcast hosted by Patel, Paul Miller, and himself would continue at an interim site calledThis Is My Next.[15][25] By August 2011, the site had reached 1 million unique visitors and 3.4 million page views.[25] By October 2011, the site had 3 million unique views per month and 10 million total page views.[2]Time listed the site in its Best Blogs of 2011,[25] calling the prototype site "exemplary".[26] The site closed uponThe Verge's launch on November 1, 2011.[citation needed]
On June 11, 2014,The Verge launched a new section called "This Is My Next", edited by former editor David Pierce, as a buyer's guide for consumer electronics.[27] By 2022, this section had been retitled simply "Buying Guide".[28]
The Verge launched November 1, 2011,[4] along with an announcement of a new parent company: Vox Media.[2] According to the company, the site launched with 4 million unique visitors and 20 million pageviews.[29] At the time of Topolsky's departure,Engadget had 14 million unique visitors.[12][21] Vox Media overall doubled its unique visitors to about 15 million during the last half of 2012.[29]The Verge had 12 former Engadget staffers working with Topolsky at the time of launch.[2] It hired Tom Warren, formerNeowin editor-in-chief and WinRumors blogger, as their new United Kingdom based senior editor.[30] In 2013,The Verge launched a new science section,Verge Science, with formerWired editor Katie Drummond leading the effort.[31] Patel replaced Topolsky as editor-in-chief in mid-2014.[32] JournalistWalt Mossberg joinedThe Verge's editing team after Vox Media acquiredRecode in 2015.[3] By 2016, the website's advertising had shifted from display advertisements, matched with articles' contents, to partnerships and advertisements adjusted to the user.[33]
Vox Media revampedThe Verge's visual design for its fifth anniversary in November 2016.[34] Its logo featured a modifiedPenrose triangle, animpossible object.[35] On November 1,The Verge launched version 3.0 of its news platform, offering a redesigned website along with the new logo.[36]
In September 2016,The Verge fired deputy editor Chris Ziegler after it learned that he had been working forApple since July.[37] Helen Havlak was promoted to editorial director in mid-2017.[38] In 2017,The Verge launched "Guidebook" to host technology product reviews.[39] In May 2018,Verge Science launched aYouTube channel, which had more than 638,000 subscribers and 30 million views by January 2019. The channel received more than 5.3 million views in November 2018 alone.[40] As of August 2023, the channel has over 100 million views and 1.15 million subscribers.
In March 2022, Dieter Bohn announced his resignation from The Verge in his position of Executive Editor, and that he would be moving to a new position atGoogle.[41]
The Verge rebranded and redesigned its website in September 2022 with a sharper, more simplistic logo, more colorful visual design, and new typefaces. Its new home page format resembled a news feed, incorporating external conversations from social media and reporting from other publications. The new format will, in part, reduce aggregation reporting.[42]
In December 2024,The Verge began topaywall some content behind a subscription service; this offering covers "premium" reports, newsletters, and reviews, as well as fewer advertisements and other features.[43][44] In a blog post,[45] Patel announced the initial subscription rate as $7 per month or $50 per year. Patel also writes in the post that the reason for moving to a subscription model was for the site to survive anincreasingly difficult market for "the kind rigorous, independent journalism we want to do."
The Verge broadcasts a live weeklypodcast,The Vergecast. The inaugural episode was November 4, 2011. It included a video stream of the hosts.[46] A second weekly podcast was introduced on November 8, 2011. UnlikeThe Vergecast,The Verge Mobile Show was primarily focused on mobile phones.[47][48]The Verge also launched the weekly podcastCtrl-Walt-Delete, hosted byWalt Mossberg, in September 2015.[49]The Verge'sWhat's Tech podcast was named among iTunes's best of 2015.[50] The podcastWhy'd You Push That Button?, launched in 2017 and co-hosted by Ashley Carman and Kaitlyn Tiffany,[51] received aPodcast Award in the "This Week in Tech Technology Category" in 2018.[52][53]
Editor-in-chief Nilay Patel hosts a weekly interview podcast called Decoder.[54] On February 8, 2024, Patel announced Decoder would now do two episodes per week.[55]
On August 6, 2011, in an interview with the firmEdelman,The Verge co-founderMarty Moe announced it was launchingThe Verge Show, aweb television series. After its launch, the show was namedOn The Verge. The first episode was recorded on Monday, November 14, 2011, with guestMatias Duarte.[56] The show is atechnology news entertainment show, and its format is similar to that of alate-night talk show, but it is broadcast over theInternet, not ontelevision. The show's first episode was released on November 15, 2011.
Ten episodes ofOn The Verge were broadcast, with the most recent episode going out on November 10, 2012.[57] On May 24, 2013, it was announced that the show would return under a new weekly format, alongside a new logo and theme tune.[58]
On May 8, 2013, editor-in-chief Topolsky announced Verge Video, a website that contains the video backlog fromThe Verge.[59]
Circuit Breaker, agadget blog, launched in 2016,[60] has amassed nearly one million Facebook followers and debuted a live show on Twitter in October 2017. The blog's videos average more than 465,000 views, and Jake Kastrenakes serves as editor-in-chief, as of 2017.[61] Also in 2016,USA Network andThe Verge partnered onMr. Robot Digital After Show, a digitalaftershow for the television seriesMr. Robot.[62] In December, Twitter and Vox Media announced alive streaming partnership forThe Verge's programs covering theConsumer Electronics Show.[63]
The seriesNext Level, hosted and produced by Lauren Goode, debuted in 2017 and was recognized in the "Technology" category at the 47th annualSan Francisco / Northern California Emmy Awards (2018).[64][65] In August 2017,The Verge launched the web seriesSpace Craft, hosted by science reporter Loren Grush.[66]
In 2022, The Verge produced the showThe Future Of forNetflix.[67]
In September 2018,The Verge published the article "How to Build a Custom PC for Editing, Gaming or Coding" with a companion YouTube video entitled "How we Built a $2000 Custom Gaming PC". The video was criticized for containing errors on almost every step presented by its host, Stefan Etienne,[68] such as applying an unnecessary amount ofthermal paste onto the processor as opposed to a small amount.[69] An online harassment campaign against Etienne ensued.[69]
In February 2019, lawyers fromThe Verge's parent companyVox Media filed aDMCA takedown notice, requesting that YouTube remove videos critical ofThe Verge's video, alleging copyright infringement. YouTube took down two of the videos, uploaded by YouTube channels BitWit and ReviewTechUSA, while applying a copyright "strike" to these two channels.[68][70] YouTube later reinstated the two videos and retracted the copyright "strikes" after a request fromVerge editor Nilay Patel, although Patel acknowledged that he agreed with the legal argument that led to their removal.[71][72] Timothy B. Lee ofArs Technica described this controversy as an example of theStreisand effect, saying that while law regardingfair use is unclear regarding this type of situation, "the one legal precedent ... suggests ... that this kind of video is solidly within the bounds of copyright's fair use doctrine."[68]
Nearly three years after the erroneous build, PC builder and YouTuberLinus Sebastian collaborated with Etienne in a video entitled "Fixing the Verge PC build". In the video, Etienne admits not being an experienced builder when he assembled the PC, having built only four computers at that point, withThe Verge build being his first on camera. Etienne said before the video went live,The Verge was unwilling to hear from him to address what he saw were editing issues, insisting that the video be uploaded regardless.[69][73]
^"Welcome to Verge 3.0".The Verge. November 1, 2016.Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. RetrievedNovember 1, 2016.
^Carson, Biz (September 23, 2016)."A high-level editor at a top tech blog secretly worked for Apple for months".Business Insider.Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2017.Ziegler had actively worked on stories throughout July while also employed by Apple. After he fell silent in August, The Verge tried to get in touch with him since they were 'in the dark and concerned for Chris'.
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