Users unable to access the site for several hours
Moneyweb, a South African media company that produces independent, high-quality investment information and business news, experienced a technical glitch on its website on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Users who tried to access the site were greeted with a message that said “Just a moment…” and a spinning wheel, but the site never loaded.
The problem started around 10:00 am local time and lasted for several hours, according to Moneyweb’s social media accounts. The company apologized for the inconvenience and said it was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. It also advised users to follow its Twitter and Facebook pages for updates and news.
Possible causes of the outage
The exact cause of the outage is not yet known, but some experts have speculated that it could be related to a cyberattack, a server failure, or a software bug. Moneyweb has not confirmed or denied any of these possibilities, but said it was investigating the root cause of the problem.
Cyberattacks are becoming more common and sophisticated, especially against media outlets and financial institutions. In July 2023, several major websites, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Guardian, were hit by a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that disrupted their online services for hours. The attack was claimed by a hacker group called Anonymous, which said it was protesting against the global surveillance and censorship of the internet.
Server failures can also occur due to various reasons, such as power outages, hardware malfunctions, or human errors. In June 2023, Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the largest cloud computing providers in the world, suffered a major outage that affected many of its customers, including Netflix, Spotify, and Reddit. The outage was caused by a faulty power supply unit at one of its data centers in Virginia, USA.
Software bugs are another potential source of technical issues that can affect websites and applications. In May 2023, Google experienced a rare glitch that caused some of its services, such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Drive, to display error messages or fail to load properly. The glitch was attributed to a bug in the company’s authentication system that affected its internal servers.
Impact of the outage on Moneyweb’s business and reputation
The outage of Moneyweb’s website could have a negative impact on its business and reputation, as it could lose revenue from advertising and subscriptions, as well as credibility and trust from its readers and clients. Moneyweb is one of the leading sources of business, financial and investment news and tools in South Africa, with over 1.5 million monthly unique visitors and over 100 000 subscribers.
According to SimilarWeb, a web analytics platform, Moneyweb’s website ranks among the top 100 most visited sites in South Africa, and among the top 10 in the news and media category. The site also has a high engagement rate, with an average visit duration of over 6 minutes and an average of over 4 pages per visit.
Moneyweb generates revenue from various sources, such as advertising, sponsored content, events, podcasts, newsletters, data products, and premium subscriptions. According to its latest annual report, Moneyweb’s total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2023 was R87.6 million ($5.8 million), up by 18% from the previous year. The company reported a net profit of R10.4 million ($0.7 million), up by 76% from the previous year.
Moneyweb also prides itself on its editorial independence and integrity, as well as its quality journalism and analysis. The company has won several awards for its reporting and innovation, such as the Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year Award, the Sikuvile Journalism Award, and the African Digital Media Award.
Moneyweb restores its website after fixing the technical issue
Moneyweb announced on its social media accounts that it had restored its website around 2:00 pm local time on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. The company thanked its users for their patience and support during the outage and assured them that it had taken measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
The company also offered its users a special discount on its premium subscription service as a gesture of goodwill and appreciation. Users who sign up for an annual subscription before September 30, 2023 will get a 50% discount on the regular price of R840 ($56) per year. The premium subscription gives users access to exclusive content, such as columns, podcasts, newsletters, data tools, webinars, and events.
Moneyweb also invited its users to share their feedback and suggestions on how to improve its website and services. The company said it was committed to providing its users with the best possible experience and value.
