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 It
likely will surprise most people to learn it, but Pokernews.com is principally owned by and the brainchild of Tony Guoga,
better known to the poker world as bad boy Tony G.
The site's first incarnation appeared in late summer 2003 as Pokernews.info. I believe the 301 redirect was reversed
in spring 2005 and Pokernews.com became the primary URL then.
The site's relationship to search engines somewhat parallels the development of the domain itself. At first Poker News
went for the quick, easy and not always appropriate buck. (I first discovered the site when I found someone had placed
one of my articles on the site without my permission.) Like some other sites put online right after the Moneymaker
explosion, Poker News seemed to be wanting to make a buck that very day because the poker boom might evaporate like the
hula hoop the next day. To his credit, setting him apart from most of the other sites launched far less successfully at
the time, Tony moved on from this spammy, get-rich-quick philosophy and instead set out to make a money by making the
best poker information site online. To a large degree, he's succeeded.
Poker News has a powerful international presence, constantly updated content, a network of solid related sites including Pokerworks.com,
Pokeraffiliateworld.com and Neverwinpoker.com, and a longer term vision than most people in the poker industry can manage.
While it still underperforms a bit most likely due to some problematic residue from its spammy-ish launch, Pokernews.com
is poised to be the lead domain of the most successful network of poker information sites for the rest of the decade.
Others will have something to say about that, but no one is positioned better for the future, because white hat content
is king... as is good business strategy and hard, smart work. |
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