Evolve Media / Gorilla Nation / Crave has stopped paying

I'm still looking into it. Not really my field. They owe nearly $5000 so not a ton of money but enough to leave a dent. I expect the legal costs to be double that >.<

 

Yeah I can't afford to pursue any legal action and the amount they owe me isn't really worth the trouble

 

Yeah, they owe me around the same amount...I want my money lol

I hear you

 

Got this response today when asking where my money was

 

Got a payment last week

 

You are a lucky one. I heard most payments were stop being sent last year and they are focusing on only a handful of their top 5 to 10 publishers. Everyone else won't get paid unless they complain. They know that it will be too costly for publishers to go after a few thousand dollars so they would rather keep the money. Class action lawsuit? I wonder how much we will find being stolen over the last decade once we look under the hood. Fake fees? Probably. Missing checks? Probably. Fake discrepancy? Probably.

 

We finally agreed to settle the debt, for about 15% of the amount owed. Signed a new agreement stating they would pay by February 28th. Surprise, surprise, nothing. Last year this would have crippled us but since switching to an advertising partner that actually delivers, we've got the finances to chase this down. The latest excuse was that their controller was out ill. Company is an embarrassment.

 

Guys like that need a backstage or garage meeting, on one of the shows.

 

What new advertising partner did you go with? I’m look for a new cpm network

 

You will not get paid. Period. Trust me. They are going straight to Bankruptucy by end of year. There is so much corruption that if anyone looks under the hood, they will see publishers have been robbed of millions of dollars over the last decade. Heck...I even heard rumors from a friend of a friend (who used to work there) that a well-known film site is owed six-figures because the site forgot to deposit their checks and Evolve never re-issued the money they were owed.

Go with a company like Freestar. Heard great things. Goodluck!

 

We went with Enthusiast. Relatively new network but it has been a fantastic experience, I believe they own Destructoid now. The CEO actually posted in this thread previously. Performance is solid, any issues we've had they've been all over. Years of dodgy payments, questionable advertisements etc. It's been a relief to finally find a provider that understands the needs of the publishers Couldn't recommend them highly enough.

 

I forgot about Enthusiast! They are also legit. Canadian based. Buying a lot of websites and seems very pro-publishers. Thanks for the reminder!

 

Thank you for the follow up on the subject and about Enthusiast. I've never heard about that company, and I had a hard time trying to find it on Google. Could you kindly share their website? Or maybe their "full" name or something that would help me to contact them? Thanks a lot!

 

Thank you for the note about Enthusiast. Much appreciated. Would you be able to share their contact information? We are looking for a new agency too. Thanks!

 

Here you go: http://enthusiastgaming.com/

They focus on gaming websites and I am not sure when they plan to branch out into other verticals. Legit though. Much better than Evolve Media.

 

Anyone having any luck with payments? Seems like its becoming a very common trend for them.

 

I got a payment last month, it was the final payment they owed me....

 

I stopped serving their ads a year ago. They still owe me a few months worth of payments. At this point I don't expect to receive anything from them.

 

They owe me for a couple months of revenue so I sued them in small claims. The judge found in my favor (they didn't show up) and now I get to work on collecting. It may be tough but I'm going to do everything in my power to collect and make sure others know their business practices so they don't get ripped off.

 

Respect! That is rare for the small guy to fight back. I doubt you will be able to collect but regardless, good job fighting back! More publishers who should join forces to have a better chance of being paid.