Break.com

Break.com (formerly Big-boys.com) is an entertainment and humor website founded in 1998 that features comedy videos, flash games, and pictures among other material. The website's target audience is men aged 18–35.[2]

Break.com
OwnerDefy Media (1998-2018) Yeah1 Network (2019-Present)
URLbreak.com
Alexa rank 73,243 (June 2020)[1]
Launched1998 (1998) (as Big-boys.com)
Current statusOpen as of March 2020

After shutting down on November 6, 2018 when Defy Media announced that it was ceasing operations, the site reopened several months later in April 2019 under new ownership.[3][4]

History

Break.com was founded in 1998 as Big-boys.com, a humor website featuring comedy videos, flash games, and other material. At one time, visitors were able to rank site material on a scale of 1 to 5, but Break replaced this feature with a thumbs up or thumbs down system. Negative scores were not allowed on videos – a "thumb down" simply counteracted the vote of a "thumb up". Users could also comment on most of the individual entries. At the time of shutdown, all forms of visitor feedback and comments were removed.

In January 2006, Break.com introduced a new file hosting system for its users to share their files. Shared files can be promoted to the homepage to be featured. Users that host original files promoted to the homepage are paid and the user relinquishes all rights to their material under contract.[5]

In August 2006, Break.com and Showtime partnered to promote Weeds by encouraging Break.com users to upload original videos matching the themes of the show, with winners eligible for airing on the channel.[6] Since then, advertising from various television shows and movies had appeared around the site, with similar video competitions occurring occasionally.

In March 2007, Break.com signed a contract with NBCU Digital Studios to develop a streaming broadband series to be featured on Break.com, tentatively titled Breakers. The show will involve attractive women finding different ways to break objects.[7] Breaker's advertising revenue will come from businesses paying to have their product smashed on the show. Break.com's young-male demographic is expected to attract the advertisers. Break.com CEO Keith Richman stated, "We have a male audience that likes attractive women and demolition."[8]

In April 2007, Break.com announced a deal with Fear Factor and Big Brother producer Endemol USA to create a new show called Record Breakers. The show will center around contestants attempting to break obscure world records. Endemol chose Break.com for its ability to reach the young-male demographic. According to MediaWeek the show is likely to carry pre-roll video advertisements and banner ads.[7]

As of July 2008, Break was one of the 300 most viewed sites in the world.[9]

In July 2009, Break.com partnered up with G4's Web Soup for their "This Week In FAIL" segment.[10]

In February 2010, Break.com purchased the PC game mod hosting network FileFront.com, which was previously owned by Ziff Davis Media.[11]

In March 2018, Break.com inexplicably disabled all comments, user uploads and user pages on their site, putting an end to any kind of user interaction or participation. Before this, their Alexa ranking had already been in a steady decline, but this major change of removing all comments and discussions brought about a steeper decline during March/April in their page ranking, as can be seen on the Alexa rankings. Many users stopped visiting the website and they have dropped (as of September 2018) to 3414th most visited website in USA, losing a significant amount of their popularity since being ranked #248 in 2008.[12]

The website is owned by TMFT Enterprises, LLC.[13]

On November 6, 2018, parent company Defy Media announced that it was ceasing all operations.[14]

As of April 2019, break.com was under ownership of Vietnamese-based Yeah1 Network and was back online.[15]

See also

References
  1. "break.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic - Alexa". alexa.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  2. Paul R. La Monica (February 9, 2007). "Big media beats up on YouTube". CNNMoney.com. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  3. "Defy Media Announces Total Shutdown, Is Ceasing Operations Effective Immediately". TubeFilter. November 6, 2018.
  4. "Break.com Terms and Conditions". Break.
  5. Break.com Terms Of Use, Retrieved April 9, 2007 Archived March 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Heather Green (August 22, 2006). "Break.com's Innovative Marketing Deal With Showtime". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  7. Mike Shields (April 9, 2007). "Break.com, Endemol to Launch Record Breakers". MediaWeek. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  8. Andrew Wallenstein (March 14, 2007). "NBCU Digital Preps 'Breakers'". Adweek. Archived from the original on March 17, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  9. Traffic Details: break.com, Alexa Internet, #248 retrieved July 15, 2008
  10. Break.com & Web Soup's "This Week In FAIL" - Break.com (accessed July 30, 2009)
  11. Schonfeld, Erick (February 11, 2010). "Break Media Buys Gaming Site FileFront". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  12. https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/break.com
  13. https://www.docracy.com/2uzeomkhng/break-com-privacy-policy-tos
  14. "Defy Media Announces Total Shutdown, Is Ceasing Operations Effective Immediately". TubeFilter.
  15. "Break.com Terms and Conditions". Break.
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