Amidst growing concerns for the sustainability of online media, blog-turned-news site Mashable officially shuttered its entire Asian operation yesterday.
Mumbrella Asia reported that the once highly valued site has dismissed its three remaining staff at Mashable Asia, closing its office in Singapore. Editor Victoria Ho, reporter Yvette Tan, and head of sales Meng Lye Liu were sent emails in the wee hours of yesterday morning, confirming the end of their site, which was first launched in July 2015.
The bad news arrives after Mashable was sold at a fire sale price to American publisher Ziff Davis for less than $50 million. Once lauded as the fastest growing publication in the world with a valuation of $250 million in 2015, the tides turned against Mashable soon after as Google’s and Facebook’s growing chokehold on the online advertising market reached critical mass. By 2016, Mashable recorded a net loss of $10 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
After the deal with Ziff Davis was finalized, it was announced that 50 of the site’s employees would be dismissed — a statistic that included the Singapore-based team as casualties. Mashable Australia, however, will remain open with just three people in its Sydney office.
In recent months, there has been increasing skepticism about online publishers that depend on digital advertising. Even digital empires Vice and Buzzfeed are feeling the heat with revenues that fall short of targets. It would seem that no amount of gif-filled listicles could save them — or any of us digital media companies — these days.
