Madavor Media in Chaos: Imaging Resource Suddenly Back Online
After being taken offline earlier this month, Imaging Resource is now suddenly back online as the chaos wrought by the organization’s acquisition by the BeBop Corporation continues.
Imaging Resource, the oldest and largest repository of camera reviews and information outside of DPReview, was unceremoniously taken offline on May 8 as the company’s new owner started to pull the plug on many of the assets it had acquired along with the rest of Madavor Media.
For a time, Imaging Resource‘s URL redirected to Outdoor Photographer which recently had its own share of problems as many contributors and photographers have been unpaid for months.
Earlier this month, the BeBop Corporation told PetaPixel that it had chosen to shut down Imaging Resource and other enthusiast-focused publications because they were too expensive to operate. Specifically, CEO Gregory Charles Royal said that “these properties lost a lot of money.”
On May 18, Mr. Royal posted a large banner ad at the top of Outdoor Photographer that was offering it, Imaging Resource, Digital Photo, and The Image Creators Network for sale for as a bundle for $500,000.
PetaPixel has learned that the site’s return is intentional, whatever that might mean.
Mr. Royal was reached to for comment, but he did not immediately respond.
It is possible that Mr. Royal later realized it would be difficult to sell a publication that was not currently online — one of the reasons it has been speculated that Amazon has kept DPReview online well after it said that it would shut down the publication — and decided to flip the server switch back on in order to make the sale of the brand more compelling. This is, of course, speculation.
Whatever the case, Imaging Resource has already lost its most valuable asset during its time offline: Google search engine optimization (SEO). Since the site was taken down, Google recognized the change and de-emphasized the site in search results. It will be difficult for the site to gain that SEO back if it does indeed find a new owner.
This is now the second time that Imaging Resource has faced the brink and returned. The company originally announced it was going out of business in 2019 before it was saved by Madavor Media. It then was taken offline by BeBop after the acquisition, and is now back.
At the very least, those who have missed having access to Imaging Resource‘s vast library of reviews can at least find them again, for now. Given how tumultuous the situation with Madavor Media’s properties have been since BeBop acquired them, nothing is for certain.
