Comments on: New Platinum Wowio Contracts Discussed; Goodbye, Wowio

By: Wowio No Longer Owned by Platinum » Comics Worth Reading

Wowio No Longer Owned by Platinum » Comics Worth Reading — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:00:35 +0000

[...] had been acquired by Platinum about a year ago, so that didn’t last long. (And the combination was generally unsuccessful.) Practically, [...]

By: Remember Wowio? » Comics Worth Reading

Remember Wowio? » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:53:49 +0000

[...] success story, making thousands of dollars for participating publishers. Six months ago, Wowio was acquired by Platinum, a dodgy company with a shady track record. The changes they implemented, including eliminating [...]

By: Wowio Gives Free Gift » Comics Worth Reading

Wowio Gives Free Gift » Comics Worth Reading — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:56:01 +0000

[...] Wowio was down for its ownership transfer earlier this year, I said I wanted to be notified when they returned. Because of that, I got an [...]

By: Webcomics 2.0 » Comics Worth Reading

Webcomics 2.0 » Comics Worth Reading — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:42:54 +0000

[...] seems to have concluded, while the Smashout titles I checked are no longer part of Wowio after the recent changes (an understandable [...]

By: Wowio Returns; Customers Unhappy, Going Elsewhere » Comics Worth Reading

Wowio Returns; Customers Unhappy, Going Elsewhere » Comics Worth Reading — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:40:45 +0000

[...] webcomic provider Wowio is owned by Platinum. How have things changed? Let’s look at a couple of customer [...]

By: Avalon's Willow

Avalon's Willow — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:59:07 +0000

Linked you.

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:12:57 +0000

I suspect the “Wowio worked for everyone” claim is false. I’m really dubious that they were actually recouping 50 cents from sponsors for the ads in the books. The books had two ads, if I recall correctly — who is paying 25 cents per ad to reach comics readers? And by the end, the downloads I was getting only had ads for Wowio, and obviously that’s not an income generator.
What it always looked like to me was the traditional web startup, burning through venture capital in order to establish a sufficient user base that they become of interest to someone else. In order to get the users, they had to get the content, so that’s where they threw the money.

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » July 25, 2008: Culling the herd

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:37:42 +0000

[...] “I was talking with friends one night who hadn’t heard certain stories about unethical behavior from certain comic publishers because it happened last decade. It was fun digging up the old dirt, sure, but I also realized that some people, if they can just stick around long enough, will get a fresh start because comics doesn’t have much of a memory for these kinds of things. Which is a shame, because it’s what allows crooks to keep preying on people. Combine that with the ‘oh, that won’t happen to ME’ egotism many have, and you have a recipe for predators to keep culling the herd.” – Johanna Draper Carlson [...]

By: Ian Thomas

Ian Thomas — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:19:32 +0000

This is a real shame. Your point about the industry having a short memory is particularly valid. I suppose that as long as there are newcomers that are hungry to make there mark in the industry, there will be companies around to take advantage of them.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:19:19 +0000

According to the Wowio website, Wowio will be back online in one week (they even have a countdown meter) – two weeks from what they’ve been saying (mid-July). Given Platinum’s record for timeliness, make of that what you will.

By: Adam_Y

Adam_Y — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:23:06 +0000

Wow, those are some pretty harsh words against Platinum… I just wish they weren’t true.

The idea of lining up your own advertisers reminds me of a print scam I encountered whilst working in publishing…

Certainly not a sound long-term business model since if you can attract your own advertisers, the chances are you don’t need Plowio to to take their cut.