Gawker gets One-Third of its Revenue from Native and E-Commerce

Gawker Media has an advertising problem. In addition to the industrywide problem of declining ad rates and reader response to standard display ads, the edgy editorial content on its flagship vertical, Gawker, scares off many advertisers, leading to what company co-founder Nick Denton himself acknowledges is a “Gawker tax.”

But where Denton does see a big opportunity in connecting readers to brands by way of native advertising and e-commerce on its more product-friendly verticals like Jezebel, Life Hacker and Kotaku. That’s the thrust of a big hiring push Gawker is making this year, which involves staffing up in technology, native advertising and bloggers to stir up conversation about products — all with the goal of ultimately driving readers to purchase. The company says it gets one-third of its revenue from native ad and commerce-driven sales, which it calls “performance advertising.”