Amazon drops a bombshell: DP Review is to close

One of the largest resources for stills camera reviews on the internet, DP Review, is shutting down after 25 years.

Over the course of 25 years, DP Review has built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you're after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010. The Askey's are no longer involved in the running of the site, with the current editorial being managed by Scott Everett.

Despite the site's size, it employs only 14 people. Yet, even back in 2007, DP Review was receiving over 7 million unique visitors per month and ranks as one of the oldest tech review sites in existence - until now.

Amazon has decided to shut the site down with no plans for public archive, which would make it an enormous loss to the community. Even without further updates, DP Review is an amazing resource for anyone looking at buying an older or used camera. In recent years, DP Review has produced some very informative and well made review videos, too.

DP Review archive

Amazon says that the site will continue to be updated until April 10th, becoming read only "for a limited period afterwards." Due to the site's importance, something that Amazon seems to be unaware of, the Internet Archive is currently attempting to "...to scrape over 4 million articles and posts within the next 3 weeks." After which, the site will be publicly viewable on the Internet Archive site. The .WARC file will also be made available for download here, meaning that it will be possible to download the entire site and view it locally using a web archive viewer.

The demise of DP Review comes off the back of an announcement from Amazon that it will be laying off 27,000 workers over the course of 2023. It originally announced layoffs totalling 18,000 in January, but a recent internal email reveals another 9,000 are planned. Most of the layoffs are taking place in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch, but DP Review is an unexpected casualty.

Online publishing is a difficult business, and not one that is filled with riches. However, resources like DP Review could be considered too big to disappear, and so it is incredibly disappointing that no official archive plan has been announced, or indeed an attempt to sell off the concern. Although it is difficult to see who would, or could, take on such a behemoth.

RIP DP Review, it's been a great 25 years.