Snopes.com is a for-profit fact-checking website and legacy mythbuster that verifies and debunks online misinformation. The site is currently entangled in a protracted legal dispute with advertising tech vendor Proper Media over the cancellation of Proper’s ad-management contract. Snopes launched a GoFundMe campaign and pulled in its $500,000 fundraising goal to allow the site to operate while the legal fight continues. Snopes staff say Proper Media still retains some control of the Snopes.com domain and that they cannot access all bank accounts, ad services, and other key databases; Proper disputes those claims and says founder David Mikkelson controls the domain. The parties are due before a court on Aug. 4 in San Diego, where Proper Media will attempt to oust Mikkelson and alleges mismanagement; if the court does not rule for Snopes the site could be forced to downsize. Traffic has risen in recent years to about 15 million unique visitors a month (Quantcast), which led Mikkelson to hire additional fact-checkers and business-operations staff.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jul 2017