Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture.
By early 2004, Weblogs, Inc. and Gawker Media were establishing the two most notable templates for networked blog empires.
Up until mid-2010, Weblogs, Inc. branding remained subtly alongside AOL's, on titles like Engadget and Autoblog,[3] but in late 2010, the name was dropped and the official website was redirected to AOL.com,[4] approximately coinciding with a major redesign of AOL branded properties.
Months after the acquisition, AOL further consolidated its total count of content websites to just 20 brands, of which Engadget, Autoblog, Joystiq, and TUAW were the only remaining former Weblogs, Inc. titles.
This led to numerous controversies over editorial direction, including the departure of TechCrunch editor and founder Michael Arrington.
In 2017, AOL's content business, along with that of Yahoo!, which was also acquired by Verizon, were combined into a new online media subsidiary.
Launched in March 2004, Engadget is updated multiple times a day with articles on gadgets and consumer electronics.
[11] Launched in June 2004, Autoblog[12] is an automotive news and car shopping website formerly based in Birmingham, Michigan.
[22] TV Squad was originally conceptualized to allow any Weblogs, Inc. blogger to write about the television shows they watch.
Writers include Adam Finley, Keith McDuffee, Bob Sassone, Jane Boursaw, Jay Black, Wil Wheaton, and Paul Goebel, and the site's main television critic is former Chicago Tribune critic Maureen Ryan, who came to the site in 2010.
Founded in 2004 and one of the most successful blogs from Weblogs, Inc., TUAW was shut down February 3, 2015,[26] and its archives republished on Engadget.
[27] Download Squad, along with sister blog Switched, was shut down on April 12, 2011, by parent company AOL.