The company has bucked the national US ad trend -- about a 5% decline in online revenues -- thanks to the popularity of its websites, known for their scoops and snark.
Late last year, Denton announced 19 editorial staff cuts as the recession dug in, and also rolled back his writer's bonus payment scheme, which paid bloggers based on the number of page views their stories received.
Denton, whose blog empire spans -- which includes Valleywag and Defamer -- and the sites , , , , , and , said the company will "cautiously" return to the bonus pay scheme.
Denton explained the system in a staff memo: "Each writer on a site will have a [pretty demanding] individual pageview target.
"That target will be proportional to a writer's base compensation, ie the more your monthly pay, the more people you're expected to reach.
"If you go 10% over target, you get a 10% bump in pay. The target will rise as the traffic of the site as a whole increases."
Page views will be prominently displayed on each story and within each writer's online profile.
Denton said the system is a sure-fire way to inspire his young talented writers.
The company also hinted at introducing a "checkbook journalism" programme, which would pay tipsters if their tips bring in big page views.
.jpg)
.jpg)