Today we are used to the closure of stores, brands and companies, but now it is the turn of sites that produce quality content site to close. A news I received today made me very sad. DP Review website, which has been serving the sector for 25 years, decided to close. I think it is useful to discuss this decision a little bit. 

First of all, I would like to make a brief explanation for you who do not know the DPReview site. This brand, one of the best Photography websites in the world, has been serving the world of photography for 25 years. It has never compromised on the quality content it has produced until today. They tried to produce the best. However, the decision taken is that the website will be closed in April.

Today, unfortunately, neither photography lovers nor brands selling products in this sector understand the costs of content management and usage. The reluctance of this audience, which is eager to consume content, to support these channels unfortunately leads to these closures. The readership, which is far from even paying for a coffee at an annual cost, thinks that the content produced by Google, ad agency, brand etc. can be covered by the advertisements – sponsorships shown on the website by advertising channels. However, unfortunately this is not the case. Today, the work you have done in a certain field is read only by a certain audience. These specific studies do not receive enough views. In particular, while the advertising revenues you receive from millions of content views are welcomed by hundreds of sites producing general mass quality / poor quality content; your work for certain target audiences cannot achieve these viewing figures.

As someone who has been interested in photography for about 25 years and has been trying to serve the youth and photographers of our country in this field, this news made me very sad. When I was an intern at Atlas magazine, we used to talk about the differences between analog and digital cameras with Gökhan abi, the photo editor at the time. At that time, the use of printed magazines had started to disappear and digital was increasing its weight. However, the closure of quality content sites such as DPReview, which produces content freely and without being tied to any brand, is quite sad. You can take this as a sign for the future.

But why will these closures continue to happen?

• Unfortunately, the lack of vision and experience of marketing, brand and digital marketing managers working in brands.
• Lack of support from brands that need to work on these content-producing sites on a product basis
• Advertising agencies tend towards channels with high commissions and views and do not provide sufficient support to these sites that produce quality content in line with their own interests
• Mass communication sites from all categories receive more investment from brands
• Unfortunately, quality sites are not supported by the readers who consume this content. We hesitate to pay annual payments for the price of a coffee for this great site.
• The fact that advertising companies such as Google do not provide sufficient support to these sites with advertising revenues in their own interests – I don’t even want to go into the details of this issue right now

Below you can find the letter published by DPReview on the subject:

” Dear readers,

After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview will be closing in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the annual operating plan review that our parent company shared earlier this year.

The site will remain active until April 10, and the editorial team is still working on reviews and looking forward to delivering some of our best-ever content.

Everyone on our staff was a reader and fan of DPReview before working here, and we’re grateful for the communities that formed around the site.

Thank you for your support over the years, and we hope you’ll join us in the coming weeks as we celebrate this journey.

Sincerely, “

I suggest you sit back, turn on your screen and watch this movie and you will understand much better what I mean: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

I appeal to all those responsible, just wake up!