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Formerly a part of the Gizmodo network of related specialty blogs, Engadget now stands alone. It was established in 2004 and joined the network of blogs owned by AOL in 2005. They saw many ups and downs after their editor-in-chief quit in 2011. As a result, they no longer maintain the distinctive Gizmodo look and feel.
Against the backdrop, Verizon acquired AOL, and Engadget was separated to become a part of Oath, Verizon’s content network. In 2019, Oath was expected to change its name to Verizon Media Group.
All Things Gadget
The blog Engadget itself focuses on technology. Currently (as of this writing), their front page features articles about Microsoft’s decision to switch Edge to the Chromium engine, some Elon Musk controversy, a few tech industry acquisitions, a fascinating historical look at computing predictions, a random giveaway, and a story about Street Fighter V and its in-game advertising plans.
All of this is relatively standard for a general-interest tech blog. Gear, Gaming, Entertainment, “Tomorrow,” a Buyer’s Guide, Reviews, and a section dedicated to video material make up their core categories. The future of science and technology are the main topics of the Tomorrow section. It covers topics like the Mars InSight rover, an investigation of a fictional machine uprising, and AI.
Engadget is a little peculiar in terms of guest posting. They can view guest postings in two distinct ways. One is through their topical system, and the other is through tags. The few authors who contributed only articles about World of Warcraft appear to have used the Tag system almost exclusively. The most recent entry in this area was written in 2010, over ten years ago. Thus it is not essential.
Everything with the topic “Guest Post” ended up in the topics system. Additionally, it displays a significant amount of World of Warcraft information, along with some sporadic updates concerning gaming technology. Once more, a small number of authors have utilized this, with the most recent instance occurring in 2011.
A site search for guest posts turns up a few other bits of material, like this article from an app developer concerning app updates. It was released that year.
This logically begs the question, “Does Engadget still accept guest posts?” Six years have elapsed since the last guest post was publicly highlighted, in 2018 and the beginning of 2019. So either Engadget no longer accepts guest submissions, or they have altered how they reveal guest writers.
I could locate two separate “write for us” articles on Engadget. They date from 2010 and 2011, respectively. Additionally, both appear more interested in hiring an editor than accepting guest pieces.
Endgadget once had a platform for community contributions. This functioned similarly to how the contributor gateway operated on The Huffington Post in the past. The site administrators could decide to elevate some of the content that community members posted that they found interesting to their main blog. Similar to the HuffPo version, this was Public Access and was also discontinued.
Purchaser’s Guide
You can only currently contribute directly to Endgadget by leaving a review of a specific piece of technology that they are actively looking for reviews for. For instance, you can now post a study in the Buyer’s Guide section for the Google Pixel 3.
Regrettably, this isn’t an efficient “guest posting” approach on the website. It’s not a post, and you don’t gain much from it. It’s primarily a system for reviews. A user must first locate the product in question, click to read additional reviews, then click on user reviews before they can even see your review. Engadget emphasizes its evaluations above those of well-known websites in the tech field; thus, it is pretty hidden by default.
Additionally, while reading user evaluations, you receive a name, a few brief words of information, and no byline, link, or biography. Since it is a review rather than a post, that is how it should be handled.
On AOL, users can
AOL employed its User Voice system as a feedback mechanism for all its blog domains. The website allows users to offer suggestions, ranging from bug reports and compatibility or display issues to edits to postings or typos. The system described by Engadget is available here.
User Voice is an AOL property, and despite its continued existence, I doubt it is still actively monitored. You cannot actively peruse other people’s ideas and post your seats in a vacuum. We all know Verizon is about putting up the least effort in their holdings, so it’s probably a legacy feature that would take more work to remove than it would ignore.
There are three methods for you to contribute to Engadget right now. Let’s discuss the possibilities.
It’s important to note that ordinarily, I’d mention one of those freelancing marketplaces like People Per Hour or Fiverr, where vendors promise to have your work published on a well-known website. Unfortunately, Engadget no longer has access to any of those alternatives. At least where I usually go, I need help locating any, which shows that writing for Engadget is more complicated than ever.
Option 1: Manual Entry
There is no form for contributing ideas on Engadget, no helpful information on how to submit guest content, and no way to get in touch. There isn’t even a space for contributions of any kind. There isn’t a footer written for our area, and there isn’t even a contact page. Instead, you can get the general Oath terms and rules directly from the FAQ.
Many of Engadget’s offshoot properties have recently received only passing attention. Even though it has not been updated since January 2017, their footer links to their Tumblr account. So at least, they have stayed current with the major social media platforms.
If you’ve read much of this site, you’re probably already familiar with the manual submission method. The procedure is as follows:
- Investigate Engadget to determine which category your material does best in.
- Find out who is in charge of that part or the entire website by looking around.
- Identify the editor’s contact information and find it.
- Then, send the editor a pitch of the highest caliber for your proposed piece of content.
- The editor can give you some time to publish your work or allow you to post it yourself.
The chances aren’t that great. If you wanted to receive any credit or a byline, any guest contribution would need to be flagged as such. As a result, you might search for it on their website or Google. I’m forced to think that guest blogs are sporadic because there isn’t any content like this.
However, you will be fine. You can always take a look around and try it. If the editor tells you, “no, we can’t accept guest pieces at this time,” the worst that can happen is that you end yourself back where you started.
Give it a shot if you want to attempt submitting a pitch to an editor or writer. In fact, please let me know in the comments if you succeed so I can edit this post. Though not all of them are now employed by Engadget, this page offers contact information for some of them if you’re looking for a place to start. Also, you can attempt this.
It’s interesting to note that one man has written more than 70% of the entries on Engadget during the past week or so. Associate editor Jon Fingas appears to be the author who writes the most frequently.
If you look closer, practically every article on Engadget is written by a person whose title includes the word “editor.” It doesn’t look good, but I don’t know if this indicates they have writers who work for them but publish under an editor’s name or if Engadget has dismissed everyone but its editors.
Alternative 2: Circular Publication
The second possible choice is to post content to a website that periodically syndicates posts from Engadget. This offers several potential advantages as well as some severe disadvantages.
The first significant advantage is that it could be a two-for-one. For the effort of publishing one guest post, you are published on Site 1, and Engadget syndicates it, giving you two guest articles on two well-known websites. As a result, there is a lot of potential traffic and a high-efficiency level.
Another advantage is that many websites that syndicate content from Engadget are more straightforward to join than Engadget itself, especially in light of Option 1, where it is evident that Engadget does not welcome new guest contributors.
However, it also requires you to locate these websites, have your writing accepted for publication there, and somehow create content that will be syndicated to Engadget, a particular type of website. The Wirecutter syndicates on Engadget are one illustration. You can assess your possibilities of using Wirecutter to appear on Engadget by viewing the information they post and visiting their site directly.
Furthermore, Wirecutter (or any other website publishing that information) will be given credit rather than your byline when it appears on Engadget. A “by Author Name” line appears under the title. However, it is unlinked and offers very little assistance.
The only other site I can see that has recently blogged for Engadget when I go back is Autoblog.
Alternative 3: Employ Oath
Engadget is a jumble of outdated data. For example, one section of their FAQ tucked away in the About section discusses hiring. It directs you to the AOL careers page. The link, however, requires you to a broken Yahoo page.
You must apply for Oath if you want to work for Engadget. The list of “content and editorial” job vacancies is available here. These include Oath, Yahoo Finance, HuffPo, and numerous international offices. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have any vacancies for Engadget.
Of course, you can always buy advertising on Engadget if you’re seeking a sponsored post rather than a guest post. Who knows how much that cost, but you’ll end up with a feed that resembles this.
But ultimately, Engadget isn’t accepting contributions. You can try, and there’s a good chance you might be successful in buying your way in or persuading one of the editors to publish anything with a link to you, but the conventional type of guest posting is almost certainly out. However, based on my investigation, I need help finding a method to have a guest article published today. If you can, please let me know in the comments.