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Static Media

Reggie Renner, Co-Founder and CEO
Brian White, COO

Indianapolis, IN
Static Media properties Static Media's properties.
2023

Static Media is building a diverse content ecosystem

Started by engineers with a passion for data-driven content, Static Media has developed a popular network of entertaining sites — and they have the ad monetization strategy in place to continue their growth.
A fast-growing media company

As an engineer and self-professed “nerd,” Reggie Renner didn’t expect to end up working in media.

“I’m just a coder who loves building tools,” says Reggie. “So I started out building content recommendation widgets. But my transition to media started when we launched our first website, Looper.com, about 10 years ago.”

Looper offers readers unique, enjoyable insights into movies and TV shows. While Reggie doesn’t consider himself a movie geek or a burgeoning film critic, he loves data — so when he started the site, he and his co-founder made sure to equip Looper with data-driven tools and processes on the back end to help the site grow.

He may not have known it at the time, but Looper marked the beginning of Static Media, a network of 20 sites that provide readers with a diverse range of written content across verticals like film, food, travel, lifestyle, and so much more.

Thanks to a thriving video business on YouTube, Reggie and his co-founder were able to launch more sites from scratch and grow their authority on Google. They built strong partnerships with distribution partners, which helped them power more and more site visits.

Soon Reggie and his team realized they could reach another level of growth if they acquired other sites and added them to their content network. But before they could purchase other sites, they would need to find a way to sustainably monetize their existing content.
The Static Media office.
Turning to programmatic ads

Reggie and his team spoke to peers in the media industry to get a sense of the best monetization strategy. They learned that direct sales were an effective way to drive revenue but didn’t always result in sizable profit margins.

And a subscription model also wasn’t quite right for their business. “We pride ourselves on having a pretty broad-based consumer focus,” explains Brian White, Static Media’s COO. “So we’re generally resistant to the idea of putting any of our content behind a paywall.”

They decided the best option for them was programmatic ads — “so, we chose Google Ad Manager to help our ad ops team optimize bidding and place ads on the sites.” Best of all, Google Ad Manager gave them the granularity and detailed metrics needed to craft a profitable ad strategy that didn’t detract from the reading experience on their sites.

“Because of our ability to generate content that people enjoy reading, our readers inevitably consume ads,” says Reggie. “And that's generated enough revenue that’s left us with profits that we can reinvest to acquire new properties, launch more sites, and keep powering growth and helpful content for our audience.”
Group photo at an off-site.
More ad revenue, more acquisitions

Effective monetization through ads enabled Static Media to reinvest their profits into acquisitions — further expanding their network of sites. Today, Static Media’s properties are split roughly 50/50 between acquisitions and home-grown sites.

They specialize in taking neglected sites and turning them around using effective data-driven tools to enrich the content and make it more helpful for readers. For instance, about a year ago they acquired the once-dormant TastingTable.com and have since turned it into Static Media’s second-largest site, generating tens of millions of visits a month.

“We’re finding these storied sites that you've heard of over the years that never really found a perfect home,” says Reggie. “Then we're trying to build real journalism, integrity, and place quality articles on these sites — then regrowing them in the way they should have been grown 10 years ago. It’s all about giving them the love, care, and support they deserve.”

Static Media isn’t just giving neglected sites a makeover — they’re also taking successful sites and boosting traffic even more. “We recently bought the largest wrestling site, WrestlingInc.com,” says Reggie. “And now we’re trying to take this already successful site and make it even better by launching a unique, thoughtful approach to publishing.”

Google has been key to Static Media’s acquisition strategy. For example, Google Search Console helps Reggie really dig into potential acquisitions’ engagement metrics and trends. These insights help Reggie really understand where a site’s traffic is coming from so that he can devise a strategy for sustainable growth.

“We’re grateful for our relationship with Google,” says Reggie. “Anytime we have a question or a challenge around a product, everyone has been super responsive. As publishers it’s important for us to know what’s coming down the road in the ads ecosystem, so we appreciate that Google is always proactive when it comes to telling us about upcoming changes.”
“We love the ad-supported monetization strategy that Google helps us execute, so we’re going to stick to creating great content and trust that keeps people coming back to our sites.”
A simple recipe for success

Today Static Media has 234 full-time employees and their sites get over 100 million visits a month. They expect this number to continue growing as they bring more sites into their network. The strategy along the way has never been complicated, always grounded in building engaging content and staying data-driven.

Looking ahead, Reggie doesn’t expect that strategy to change.

“Our playbook is simple,” says Reggie. “We don’t have some grand five-year plan. We love the ad-supported monetization strategy that Google helps us execute, so we’re going to stick to creating great content and trust that keeps people coming back to our sites.”

Most of all, Reggie wants readers to be delighted by what they find on Static Media’s properties. “As we enter more verticals and scale up our network, we want to keep meeting our readers where they are. We’re writing to that person who’s on the train after a long day at work and just wants to read something entertaining and informative. We’re confident we can keep delivering on that promise, so we’re excited to stay the course and keep growing.”

About the Publisher

Reggie Renner is the Co-Founder and CEO of Static Media. After starting his career as a programmer, Reggie spent years as a lead developer for startups in the Midwest. He co-founded and is CEO of Static Media, which owns and operates 20 digital media properties and a thriving video studio.

Brian White is the COO of Static Media. As COO, Brian helps shape strategic vision and operational functionality for Static Media. He has over 23 years’ experience in digital publishing and ad tech. Prior to Static, he was SVP, Global Business Development and Operations at Vibrant. Brian also served as Director of Strategic Business Development at Valueclick (now Conversant), and has worked for 24/7 Media (now Xaxis) and The Financial Times/FT.com.
Static Media logo.
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Ad Manager Small & Medium Businesses Media & Entertainment North America