m s wine

Reviving Depression era whole food know-how, pantry cooking and frugal values handed down by my mother. She/Her/Ella

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

Many of us are still trying to convince @RedVentures & @Healthline execs to donate #Chowhound data archive to a nonprofit where the public can still search & access. @Jesse_Hirsch, please add your voice that this is history worthy preserving!

[Ｊｅｓｓｅ Ｈｉｒｓｃｈ @Jesse_Hirsch]

somehow I missed that Chowhound's archives went poof

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@TxacoliMike @NFCCC1 I'll make a point to try it!

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@TxacoliMike @NFCCC1 Wish I were closer to join you! Dumplings made fresh, not frozen, open station for you to watch. As good as San Jose original, that I've been to many times. I've tried to recruit them to Salinas. If you like it, please make a pitch to the manager too.

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@TxacoliMike @NFCCC1 We still marvel 8 yrs later that she could look at our Cantonese faces & tell us not to eat Chinese food. I couldn't convince her that real Chinese food is not drowned in soy sauce, sugar or grease and not all deep-fried!

[Mike Jones @TxacoliMike]

Just spent 3 days in ICU for open heart surgery. I got a "nice, big cow" valve. Wanted to go vegan, dammit. The nurses are amazing. Super smart, caring, well rounded. Charge nurse is rock climber out of Yosemite, coaches girls u12 soccrr, voracious reader, loves food and his dogs

[Andy Stone @andymstone]

We're aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now.

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@RyanKangail @ViperChill Would love it if Chowhound's discussion threads were archived and searchable in this way.

[Glen Allsopp 👾 @ViperChill]

What do you think would happen if you shut down an authoritative blog for a year then revived hundreds of articles?

What if the site was once so popular that closing its doors warranted an article in the New York Times?

We're about to find out, because Chowhound is back.

I think I'm the first person weird enough to notice / report on this, but I won't be the last because Chowhound was a big deal.

When the "food site for nerds" closed its doors in March of 2022, it was owned by Red Ventures.

Red Ventures is behind Cnet, Healthline, Bankrate and dozens of other names you might recognise.

I can reveal that Chowhound is now under the ownership of Static Media, a digital goliath in their own right.

Their network of websites like SlashFilm, Looper, Mashed and Women .com reach 170 million monthly website visitors according to their homepage.

I would love to tell you I have insider info on the purchase price, but sadly all I have is a job opening from earlier this month which states, "Static Media has recently acquired Chowhound and the site is undergoing an exciting redesign!"

When it closed, the site was picking up around 280,000 (Ahrefs) to 500,000 (Semrush) visitors from search each month with over 200,000 pages of content.

Traffic was certainly trending downwards, with Red Ventures commenting on its closure that "This incredibly difficult decision is due to limitations in the capabilities and resources required to maintain the site".

Huge brands like Food52, The New York Times and Eater covered its closure after 25 years online.

As of this month, the site is back online, and around 300 articles are live.

I don't know if the acquisition included all past content but posts from years ago have been restored.

If you're unfamiliar with my writing, note that I never do coverage like this of small sites or those trying to stay under the radar. Nor do I reveal anything shady that big brands might be doing (some people on Twitter want me to do that, but I'm not the Google police).

The Chowhound logo is already showing on the Static Media homepage so this isn't a secret — just a very new development.

Food bloggers, you're about to have a new (old) competitor in the SERPs.

As I write this, they don't have a single top-three ranking without their brand name in it. I predict 30 days from now, that won't be the case.

P.S. To whoever made it this far, here's one more insight for sticking with me: Static Media also just launched a brand new site in the finance space - MoneyDigest .com - that's already linked to from their entire network of sites.

The Ahrefs chart on that site might be even more interesting to watch going forward.

P.P.S. If you like this kind of update, next month I'm going live with Q2 on Detailed (free) which shares what dozens of digital goliaths are doing behind the scenes. I'm biased, but Detailed .com/q1/ is a good read if you missed the first installment.

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

Losing fizz! "The appeals court rejected arguments by the state and Big Soda that no cities had yet been harmed, finding no cities would ever dare to risk the exorbitant penalties for slapping sugary drinks with taxes." #sodatax #ssbs

[NFC Central Coast @NFCCC1]

"A state appeals court in Sacramento rejected California's bid to overturn a ruling from two years ago that stopped the state from outlawing cities and local municipalities from enacting taxes on sugary sodas."
https://t.co/4OLoSO6VFt #ssbs #sodatax

[Valerie @checazzo1968]

@maraleia @jentaub Here’s something weird. I only just discovered Jen Taub from @cbouzy referencing her. There use to be a very cool contributor on the message board Chowhound that had the same name, so on one of her posts I asked if it was her. She blocked me!

[Dee Ashington @AshingtonDee]

@apple_bright I too am lost without Chowhound at Xmas!

[Brigante @BriganteUSA]

@jwalkermobile I would've ranked HN higher. As a side note, Chowhound was a great website...miss it dearly.

[Kole Mica @MicaKole]

@EaterNY I can't believe the site is gone. They could've went read only. This is awful. Yes, ad man would post but there was still good people and info. I need help deciding on a food processor. Chowhound is the only place I trust. Cry face.

[Mikey T @mikeytnyc]

I’m in a new town for a while on the hunt for authentic local cuisine and pouring one out for the death of Chowhound. COVID claims another life. Where has that community gone?

[rajeev joshi @drooga]

@MallikaBasu_ my first chowhound find in london, back in 2000. may it continue going from strength to strength. the honey drizzled baklava - somewhat newish an addition - is very moreish

[Hasan Kwame Jeffries @ProfJeffries]

Friend: You headed back to Brooklyn?
Me: Nope!
Friend: Why?
Me: To avoid:

@Repjeffries: You know I was nominated for speaker?
Me: I know🙂
Him:And won 11 votes in a row.
Me: I said I know.😑
Him:Uninamous. 212 every time!
Me: Mom, he’s doing it again!😖

Me:So it’ll be a while🤷🏽‍♂️

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@theluketsai Not seen any reporting on status of price negotiations btw crabbers & big processors. Until that's settled, won't see all boats going out, only ones that do direct sales to consumers.

[m s wine @pantrycooking]

@theluketsai Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a break in the storm. I expect to see live local crabs come in then.