Type of site
|
Educational website |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Headquarters | United States |
Owner | Blucora |
Created by | Marshall Brain |
Revenue | Advertising |
Slogan(s) | Learn How Everything Works. |
Website | howstuffworks.com |
Alexa rank | 682 (April 2014[update]) |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | None |
Launched | July 11, 1998 |
Current status | Active |
HowStuffWorks is an American commercial educational website founded by Marshall Brain to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, terminology, and mechanisms—including photographs, diagrams, videos, animations, and articles. A documentary television series with the same name also premiered in November 2008 on the Discovery Channel.
In 1998, North Carolina State University professor Marshall Brain started the site as a hobby. In 1999, Brain raised venture capital and formed HowStuffWorks, Inc. In March 2002, HowStuffWorks was sold to the Convex Group, an Atlanta-based investment and media company founded by Jeff Arnold, founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of WebMD. The headquarters moved from Cary, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia. HowStuffWorks originally focused on science and machines, ranging from submarines to common household gadgets and appliances. After adding a staff of writers, artists, and editors, content expanded to a larger array of topics.
In November 2004, HowStuffWorks moved its entertainment section to Stuffo. However, in 2006, the team disbanded and the site now redirects visitors to the site's entertainment channel.
The domain HowStuffWorks.com attracted at least 58 million visitors annually by 2008, according to a Compete.com survey.
There have been four HowStuffWorks books – two illustrated hardcover coffee table books called HowStuffWorks and More HowStuffWorks, and two un-illustrated paperbacks called How Much Does the Earth Weigh? and What If?. HowStuffWorks puts out an educational magazine called "HowStuffWorks Express" for middle school students. The company has also released a series of HowStuffWorks trivia "LidRock" discs – CD-ROMs sold on fountain drink lids at Regal Theaters.