• TechCrunch, Friday, February 18, 2011 12:06 PM

Since its dramatic redesign earlier this month, Gawker's U.S. daily unique visitors have nosedived from a high of 561,000 to 257,000, according to TechCrunch, citing Quantcast data. Other Gawker Media properties that underwent a similar redesign seem to be suffering similar drop-offs. Gizmodo's numbers declined from 746,000 to 420,000 in the U.S., while Jezebel and Deadspin are also hurting.

The new design features a single top story in the main column, a few other featured stories just below it, along with additional headlines in a thinner column along the side. "It is a bit disorienting because when you scroll down, the righthand [sic] headline column doesn't move, only only [sic] the main column does," TechCrunch writes. In one encouraging sign, TechCrunch notes that among those readers who haven't defected, page-views appear to be returning to the pre-redesign levels. Nick Denton will be so pleased.

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