Mother Nature Network

Mother Nature Network
Type of site
News and information related to sustainability and responsible living
Available inEnglish
Headquarters
Atlanta
Created byJoel Babbit & Chuck Leavell
IndustryMedia
URLmnn.com
Launched2009
Current statusActive

Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) was a news and information website focused on sustainability and ranked by Alexa Internet as the most visited for-profit website in the world in its environmental category.[1] It was labeled "the green CNN" by Time magazine,[2] "green machine" by the Associated Press,[3] and "best of the breed" by Fast Company.[4] Founded in 2009 by former marketing executive Joel Babbit and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, it was the flagship property of Narrative Content Group, whose equity partners included CNN and Discovery Inc.[5]

MNN generated revenue via exclusive content category sponsorships versus the traditional advertising model utilized by most websites.[6] Brand partners included Walmart, Mercedes-Benz, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, UPS, Allstate, Dell, Subway, MillerCoors, Bayer, Dunkin' Brands, and many other leading corporations.[1] In February of 2020, Narrative sold Mother Nature Network and TreeHugger, another of its sustainability focused websites acquired from Discovery, to digital media company Dotdash, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC).[7] The two sites were then merged and operate under the Treehugger name.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Portfolio: Mother Nature Network". Narrative Content Group. 28 April 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Walsh, Bryan (8 January 2009). "Introducing MNN, the New 'Green CNN'". Time. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "New Mother Nature Network aims to be green machine". Associated Press. 21 January 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Mother Nature Network: Online Media Finally Catches up to Sustainability Needs". Fast Company. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "MNN.com Analytics" SimilarWeb. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  6. ^ "This Company Broke the Online Ad Model for Fun and Profit". inc. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Exclusive: Dotdash acquires another 2 publishers". Axios. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "About Us: Our History". Treehugger. Retrieved March 24, 2023.