Static Media

7Hops.com Inc., doing business as Static Media,[1] is an American internet company established in 2012 based in Indianapolis. It operates ZergNet, a content recommendation business that promotes paid content across their network of brands.[2][3]

Static Media
TypePrivate
IndustryInternet
Founded2012 (2012)
Headquarters
Indianapolis
,
United States
Key people
  • Reggie Renner (CEO)
  • Mike Langin (CTO)
  • Brian White (COO)
  • Pete Schieke (CCO)
  • Joe Bossone (CFO)
ProductsContextual advertising
Brands
  • Looper
  • Nicki Swift
  • Mashed
  • The List
  • /Film
  • Glam
  • Grunge
  • SlashGear
  • Health Digest
  • Tasting Table
  • SVG
  • House Digest
  • WrestlingInc
  • Food Republic
  • Explore
  • Women
  • Foodie
  • Money Digest
Websitewww.static.com

ZergNet

Established around 2011,[4] ZergNet has been compared to Outbrain, Adblade, Taboola and similar companies,[5][2] and the fact that the site itself has become popular with some end users invited a comparison to BuzzFeed.[3] Zergnet aims to distinguish itself from its competitors by focusing on high quality, less spammy offerings.[2][3]

The company's investors include Mark Cuban and Greycroft Partners.[3][6]

Owned or associated websites

Static Media owns and promotes entertainment websites:[7]

  • Looper – film, television, and video game news and reviews
  • Nicki Swift – celebrity gossip
  • Mashed – food discussion
  • The List – women's lifestyle
  • /Film – film news and reviews[1]
  • Foodie – food news and cooking tips
  • Food Republic – food news, recipes, tips, and reviews
  • Explore – travel news and tips
  • Glam – beauty, fashion, wellness, and women's lifestyle
  • Grunge – history, entertainment, science, and sports
  • SlashGear – personal technology and digital lifestyle trends
  • Health Digest – health news
  • House Digest – home improvement, DIY, and tips
  • Tasting Table – food and recipes
  • SVG – video game news and discussion
  • House Digest – home and decor news
  • Women.com – women's lifestyle
  • Wrestling Inc – pro wrestling and combat sports
  • Money Digest – finance

Company history

As of July 2023, all of Static Media's brands had over 170 million site visitors per month, with an additional 20 million subscribers on YouTube, 15 million followers on Facebook, and 8 million subscribers on Snapchat. The majority of those siteviews come from its film sites, Looper and /Film, which have a combined 54 million site visitors a month. Both sites' critics' reviews also appear on Rotten Tomatoes.

Looper was the first site acquired by Static Media, in 2015.[8] Mashed, Nicki Swift, Grunge, and The List are original Static Media brands, and all four launched in 2016.[9][10][11][12] Nicki Swift's name is an in-joke from editors, who simply took the names of two trending celebrities at the time — Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift — and combined them. The next site Static Media added was SVG, an original brand, in 2017. The brand's game reviews are featured on Open Review.[13]

SlashGear was launched in 2005 and was acquired by Static Media sometime after the company's debut in 2015.[14]

Health Digest is a Static Media original site, and it debuted in the third quarter of 2020.[15] Alongside general health reporting, many of the brand's early articles covered the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tasting Table was launched in 2008 and was acquired by Static Media in 2021, as well as /Film, which began in 2005.[16][17] House Digest is one of the site's newer home-grown brands, launching as a Static original site in 2021.[18]

Wrestling Inc. is the second-oldest of Static Media's branded sites — it was founded in 1996. Wrestling Inc. and Glam, the latter of which was founded in 2003, were both acquired in 2022 by Static Media.[19][20] The Daily Meal, a pun on the name of British tabloid the Daily Mail, launched in 2008 but was also acquired by Static in 2022.[21]

Explore, a travel-focused brand, launched as a Static Media original site in November 2022.[22]

Women.com is the oldest that Static Media owns, having been founded in 1995, but it wasn't acquired by Static until early 2023.[23] Also acquired in 2023 is Food Republic, another food vertical for the company, which was founded in 2010 but launched in 2011.[24]

In September 2023, Static Media launched another food site, Foodie, bringing its total food brands to four.[25]

On October 3, 2023, Static Media launched its first financial journalism site, Money Digest.[26][27]

Novacap partnership

On April 4, 2023, Novacap Management Inc. announced that it had partnered with Static Media. Pascal Tremblay, president and CEO of Novacap, stated, "We are excited to partner with the Static Media team and become a true value-add partner for the company. Their impressive track record of digital media innovation and scale is a testament to their dedication and expertise in the space. With our shared vision and resources, we look forward to further accelerating Static Media's growth and expanding its market leadership."[28] Novacap is a North American private equity firm founded in 1981. While the firm has invested in over 100 companies, primarily in financial services and technology, media, and communications, Static Media appears to be the first major digital media partnership Novacap has engaged in.[29] The purpose of the partnership for Novacap is to allow the firm to branch out into content creation.

While it is unclear how this has affected the company, Static Media launched or acquired three brands the same year the partnership was announced — Women.com, Foodie, and Money Digest — the most growth of any year since 2016, the year Static Media acquired or launched four of its flagship sites.

See also

References
  1. "Policies". /Film. 9 December 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  2. Chapman, Lizette. "ZergNet Scores $3.2 Million to Build 'Pinterest for Content'". WSJ. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  3. "Greycroft Partners places bet on ZergNet, a content recommendation firm that's not in advertising – New York Business Journal". New York Business Journal. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  4. "IU grad's ZergNet surges, powered by Mark Cuban". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  5. Wright, Mic (June 24, 2015). "How two gamers built a secret weapon to get huge Web traffic". The Next Web. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  6. "Q&A: Mark Cuban Talks Indy Startup ZergNet". Indianapolis Monthly. October 1, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  7. "Static Media". static.com. Static Media.
  8. "About Looper". Looper. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  9. "About Mashed". Mashed. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  10. "About Nicki Swift". Nicki Swift. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  11. "About Grunge". Grunge. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  12. "About The List". The List. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  13. "About SVG". SVG. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  14. "About SlashGear". SlashGear. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  15. "About Health Digest". Health Digest. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  16. "About Tasting Table". Tasting Table. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  17. "About Us - /Film". Slash Film. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  18. "About House Digest". House Digest. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  19. "About Us - Wrestling Inc". Wrestling Inc. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  20. "About Glam". Glam. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  21. "About The Daily Meal". The Daily Meal. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  22. "About Explore". Explore. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  23. "About Women". Women.com. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  24. "About Food Republic". Food Republic. Static Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  25. "About Foodie". Foodie. Static Media. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  26. Ngo, Hope (3 October 2023). "How To Know If You're Part Of A Pyramid Scheme". Money Digest. Static Media. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  27. "About Money Digest". Money Digest. Static Media. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  28. ""Novacap Partners with Static Media to Accelerate Growth of Digital Media Portfolio"". PR Newswire. PR Newswire. Retrieved 18 October 2023. {{cite web}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. "Portfolio". Novacap. Novacap. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
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