A redesign of CNET.com's popular Gamespot.com, which went live Monday, added full-site branding capabilities to the gaming site.
The new design for the nearly decade-old site also sports an
updated user interface, which gives it a look and feel similar to other properties in CNET's network--such as TV.com and MP3.com. The new layout also emphasizes user-generated content, including the
consumer reviews and forums.
The redesign also allows advertisers to show similar campaigns across MP3.com, TV.com, and Gamespot.com simultaneously, since the ad layout on each page will be
similar, said Ankarino Lara, CNET Network's director of games and entertainment. In addition to the new ad unit, the redesign also aims to ad more space for MPUs, which are the most popular ad unit
for the site.
CNET has already lined up several major sponsors for the days following the redesign, Lara said, including Vivendi Universal, Sega, Midway Games, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, and
Activision.
Lara added that the redesign fits into CNET's current template for its content sites. "We've created a model, where it's a hierarchical and archetypal structure that you can drop any
content into," he said. Plus, having a similar look for all the network's sites helps unify the brand, Lara said. "When you have all these sites with the same [user interface], you get this 'universe
concept,'" he said.
The substance of the redesign tightens up the site, removing the navigation sidebars and concentrating the site navigation functions into bars at the top of the page. The
central ad unit of the redesigned site is a 758-pixel wide banner at the top of the page, which can also be used as part of a whole-site branding scheme; the banner ad can be accompanied by branding
on two sidebars, creating a "skin" for the whole site. "The 758-wide unit and the skin is the branding play for people who are looking for big impact," Lara said.