For the past two years, many of the tech industry’s hottest gadgets have been unveiled not by the companies that built them, but instead through the @evleaks Twitter account.
Several flagship devices—including the forthcoming Moto 360, Samsung Galaxy S5 Active—have all been featured in the Twitter feed, which is run by Blass, a former writer for technology sites Engadget cketnow.
Over the past two years @evleaks has been a must-follow for any gadget enthusiast news organization looking to stay on top of the next great device. Blass’ leaks have been very frequent, very accurate, very detailed.
l good things must come to an end. Thank you for an amazing two years. [RETIREMENT]
— Blass (@evleaks) August 3, 2014
So why is he calling it quits? Blass told The Next b that building revenue from the Twitter account a related web site he launched has proved to be difficult he needs to a more stable source of income.
“Trying to monetize a stream of Twitter leaks is not easy. First I tried monthly sponsorships. Then weekly. Then single sponsored tweets. I took donations—felt like online panhling.”
Most of the visitors to his web site were by more tech-savvy users who had ad-blocking software installed, he said. th the key information already available from his individual tweets there was little incentive for most to click over to his site. Blass was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, putting a greater sense of urgency on his need to increase income.
Blass said in the interview that he is going to continue to use the Twitter account for personal use is unsure of the future role of his web site.
