Linking news sites, Matt Drudge creates an Internet success

Miami Herald ^ | September 1, 2003 | Richard Pachter: rpachter@Herald.com

[Imal]

If I want to know what's going on I check Drudge and FR.

As it happens, I find a lot more interesting breaking news on FR than Drudge, but Drudge does offer a nice fast-loading single-page format which includes links to just about every news source I could want to check.

Not bad for a guy working out of his house. Kudos to the Drudgemeister!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

DRUDGE REPORT

[Cincinatus' Wife]

RE-LINKED: DRUDGE REPORT

[upchuck]

"What happens if everyone charges for content?'' he asked. "It's already started. Who will be left to link to?''

I fear this for FR as well.

[dwilli]

Google.com has a pop-up killer that will solve that problem for you. It is the best killer I have found; doesn't need to inform the user everytime it does it's job.

[Prodigal Son]

Apparantly, if you install the new Google tool bar on your browser, it eliminates pop-ups. (just fyi)

[netmilsmom]

>>Apparantly, if you install the new Google tool bar on your browser, it eliminates pop-ups. (just fyi)<<

OH really?????
I am going to try it. The pop-up on Drudge and Snopes drive me nuts.

[FreedomPoster]

I haven't loaded it (yet), but have heard good things about it as well.

[AndyJackson]

His Internet site is mainly a portal, an index of news stories that appear on newspaper and wire-service websites. He writes catchy headlines for his top links ...

If it is so easy, then why doesn't everyone do it? The answer is that most news organizations think that they are in the business of defining news rather than just reporting. Matt just passes on the hot tidbits, a large fraction of which catch a lot of people's interest. If he did not have a special taste for a good story, no one would go there.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

There is also the possibility of banning deep links; i.e., linking directly to a news article. There are suits against some sites to prohibit them from deep linking. I did not google to find specifics but I remember that a Dallas newspaper has a suit and there are suits in Europe.

[Allan]

bump

[jjbrouwer]

his longtime friend and associate Andrew Breitbart, a Californian, monitors and updates the site when Drudge himself is asleep or away.

I'm sure that's not all Andrew does for him.

[Prodigal Son]

OH really?????

Well, this is what I've heard. Other Freepers have apparantly gone this route.

[Balding_Eagle]

Drudge was the first place I used to go on the web. That was back in the days when he had a link to FreeRepublic on his page, which is how I found FR. FR is where I go for news these days.

The pop-ups at Drudge keep me from his site now. With my DirecWay satellite internet, the down-load is too slow.

[Quix]

Have always been thankful for Drudge bringing me to FR--lo quite a number of years ago.

But it's been a . . . long time . . . since I've checked Drudge directly.

I like his prose--when he puts it out.

I like much of his attitude.

But his site has too little prose compared to the wonderful and tons of content on Fr. So, am quite happy here.

[Ipse Dixit]

I gave up on the Drudge site a few months back when those intrusive pop-ups of his started freezing up my browser to the extent that I had to do an IPL to get out of them; deleted that bookmark, haven't been back since, and don't miss it at all.

[concentric circles]

Another free download to kill pop-up ads: Pop-up Stopper from Panicware.com.

[witnesstothefall]

I wonder if Drudge still gets paid every time my pop-up blocker puts another notch in its belt after visiting his site.