[SCdF]

I don't think it's that.

They've been fairly vocal in forums and random discussions about how page views are what's most important to them (when people complained about the site redesign the answer was invariably "page views are going up so it must be working").

So I think that's the direction they're heading in. Changing the format of the slug to be shorter and snappier improves page views. Following Kim Dotcom stories, holding reverence for anonymous and being pro-piracy gets them page views.

I do wish them all the best, and they are a business, but I do wish they were more interested in pleasing their '10,000 fans' deeply instead of everyone shallowly, since it's so hard to find that kind of thing these days.

(disclaimer, I used to pay money for Ars until the site design. Now I check it every day but read about a 10th of the articles I used to. Sad times.)

[vy8vWJlco]

"Following Kim Dotcom stories, holding reverence for anonymous and being pro-piracy gets them page views."

A difference of opinion isn't always pandering. (I find those stories pretty interesting actually, and I've been reading them for a long time too.)