Gawker Redesign a Success?

As you may recall, Gawker Media recently redesigned a number of its web properties in an interesting way that keeps users on the front page. For example, if you go to Gizmodo, and click on one of the headlines in the column, the story appears in the main section of the front page, rather than going to a separate article page.

The redesign (like many redesigns) was met with plenty of user backlash, and many expected it to drop the sites’ pageviews dramatically, leading to some questioning the business sense of the move. In early March, traffic was down by nearly 25%. Now, however, founder Nick Denton has tweeted the following graph, indicating that pageviews are up:

That bit about @fimoculous paying up is in reference to a bet Denton made with Rex Sorgatz. The wager is reported to be somewhere around a grand.

In related news, Gawker Media has reportedly hired Andrew Gorenstein, Senior Executive Director of Digital Sales at Condé Nast as its new chief advertising officer.

“This is no print dinosaur,” Denton is quoted as saying in an internal Gawker email, alluding to the fact that Gorenstein spent his entire time at Condé Nast on the digital side of things, where Denton admits to being jealous of the publisher’s ad sales.