Dotdash’s evergreen empire just got even more evergreen

Although other ad-based media publishers seem to be struggling, the digital publisher Dotdash (formerly About.com) has carved out success by featuring evergreen content — content that’s not pegged to the news cycle.

And now, Dotdash is expanding its evergreen empire by buying 2 sites that publish evergreen content… about evergreens. 

Yes, we’re talking about evergreen TREES, people

That’s right: The 2 newest pieces of Dotdash’s portfolio, TreeHugger and Mother Nature Network, both feature content about trees and other greenery. 

The 2 sites fit Dotdash’s portfolio because:

• They feature content about a popular topic with a well-established audience (sustainability)
• They feature “service content” — stories that tell people how to calculate the environmental footprint of their meat consumption, for example — that’s not focused on breaking news

Dotdash shows that ad-based media still works…

… especially when it’s not reliant on breaking news and when it caters to loyal, niche audiences.

Dotdash, which is profitable and did $160m in revenue last year, has built its entire strategy around launching (or acquiring) niche content sites instead of flashy news sites.

Some of the portfolio sites (and their respective niches) that Dotdash has:

Self-launched…

• Investopedia (investing)
• The Spruce (home design)
• TripSavvy (vacation travel)

And acquired…

• Byrdie (beauty)
• Brides (weddings)
• Liquor.com (booze culture)