Administration
Compared to other popular websites, such as Daily Kos and del.icio.us, Fark is a relatively small operation, run more or less singlehandedly by founder Drew Curtis from his home in Lexington, Kentucky. The site earns revenue from advertising and membership in its TotalFark program. Although Curtis won't release official revenue figures, he estimated that, in 2006, the site earned just under $600,000 per year. Its classifieds section alone generates as much as $40,000 per year. Technology writer Mathew Ingram described Fark as "staggeringly successful" and noted the disparity between Fark's revenue and the amount of press given to sites like Digg. Fark has also spoken about its steady, above average CPMs.
Despite a fairly high revenue, Drew takes a yearly salary of just $60,000. The rest of the money goes to the site's legal "war chest" as well as to pay other expenses such as hosting, website design, and forum moderation. Additionally, Fark has been known to turn down advertising that interrupts the user experience such as pop ups or advertisements with sound.
Curtis has used public relations to drive traffic, including interviews every Friday on TechTV for one to one and a half years (ca. 2002–2003) about the three weirdest tech-oriented stories of the week.
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