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Numerama

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Numerama (formerly Ratiatum) is a French language news website that focuses on digital and internet technology. It was founded in April 2002 by Guillaume Champeau and was published by his company PressTIC until 2015, when it was bought by Humanoid [fr]. In September 2011, Numerama was ranked the 10th most social pure play site on Facebook.

History

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Guillaume Champeau started the site in April 2002 as a blog about peer-to-peer file sharing, the culture industry, and related economic and legal issues. He named it Ratiatum for the Roman settlement on the site of the city of Rezé, where he grew up, and renamed it to Numerama in 2008. Champeau moved to Canada after qualifying as a lawyer, but later chose to leave the law and remained the site's editor-in-chief until 2016.[1][2]

In October 2015, Champeau and his business partners, Guillaume Cavaille and Erwan Delahaye, sold PressTIC, the company that published Numerama, to the French online media company Humanoid.[3][4] In October 2015, while still under Champeau's editorship, it was redesigned and underwent editorial changes as one of the Humanoid brands.[4][5]

A total redesign was announced in December 2021, along with the introduction of paid subscriptions that would permit an ad-free experience and more opportunities for interaction.[6]

Scope

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The site evolved to have a broader focus, which led Champeau to rename it to Numerama.[7] It analyzes the interactions between digital and Internet business models, the practices of users, and their legal framework. It often takes a critical stance, because it champions the principles of the free sharing culture, network neutrality, freedom of expression, and respect for online privacy. For example, in 2008 it appealed to site users to make videos arguing the case against the HADOPI law.[8]

In its 2015 refocusing by Humanoid, Numerama's editorial scope was further broadened to include pop culture, the future of transportation, and cyberwarfare;[9] sub-sections with their own social media accounts devoted to cars (Vroom) and cyberwarfare (Cyberguerre) were launched in October and November 2018.[10][11]

Ratiatum Magazin

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At the end of 2004, Ratiatum launched a monthly magazine called Ratiatum Magazin, as a paper complement to the website. The magazine was discontinued after issue 2 because the publisher Mediastone filed for bankruptcy.[12]

Audience

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In September 2011, Numerama was ranked by Le Journal du Net2 the 10th most social pure play site on Facebook.[13] In fall 2015 it had 466,000 unique visitors per month;[5] in February 2019, Humanoid reported that the site had 2 million unique visitors per month;[9] by December 2021, 7–10 million.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Clémence Jost (July 18, 2019) [June 12, 2019]. "Qui est Guillaume Champeau, le fondateur de Numerama aujourd'hui chez Qwant?" [Who is Guillaume Champeau, the founder of Numerama, today with Qwant?]. ArchiMag (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Thierry Wojciak (October 26, 2016). "Guillaume Champeau quitte numerama.com" [Guillaume Champeau leaves Numerama.com] (in French). CBNews. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  3. ^ Nicolas Jaimes (July 7, 2015). "Confidentiel: les fondateurs de Mobvalue rachètent Numerama à Guillaume Champeau" [Confidential: Mobvalue founders buying Numerama from Guillaume Champeau]. Le Journal du net (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  4. ^ a b David Legrand (October 12, 2015). "Numerama rejoint le giron Humanoid (FrAndroid, FraWin, etc.): Nouveau look, pour une nouvelle vie" [Numerama joins the Humanoid family (FrAndroid, FraWin, etc.): New look for a new life]. Next Inpact (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Cécilia Di Quinzio (October 12, 2015). "Numerama se réinvente" [Numerama reinvents itself]. Stratégies (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Tom Kerkour (December 8, 2021) [December 7, 2021]. "Numerama fait peau neuve et prépare une offre payante" [Numerama gets a new look and prepares to offer paid service]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  7. ^ Guillaume Champeau (February 11, 2008). "Bienvenue sur Numerama!" [Welcome to Numerama!] (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  8. ^ "Numerama en appelle à la créativité des internautes" [Numerama calls on netizens' creativity]. Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). October 20, 2008 [October 17, 2008]. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Chloé Woitier (February 5, 2019). "Les sites Numerama et Futura lancent une régie publicitaire commune" [Websites Numerama and Futura launch shared publicity program]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Thierry Wojciak (October 1, 2018). "Numerama lance sa transversale Auto: Vroom" [Numerama launches its auto sub-site: Vroom]. CBNews (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  11. ^ "Numerama annonce le lancement d'un média dédié à la cybersécurité et et la géostratégie à l'ère du numérique" [Numerama announces launch of a media channel dedicated to cybersecurity and geostrategy in the digital era]. ADN. November 29, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  12. ^ Ariane Beky (June 1, 2018) [2005]. "Ratiatum, magazine du P2P, est à bout de souffle" [P2P magazine Ratiatum is dead in the water]. Clubic (in French). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Sites médias pure players: Rue89 de loin le plus social" [Pure play media sites: Rue89 by far the most social]. Journal du net (in French). September 21, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
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