I had assumed GigaOM's web property was there to lend brand to GigaOM Research, versus the advertising angle. The ability of journalists to make ad revenue is very disappointing and unfortunate across the board, though it can also be said there's a lot of really poorly researched tech journalism out there too.

If the goal wasn't a self-sufficient web business, this seems to imply (maybe?) that the "research/analyst bits were also unsuccessful.

Which I can also believe, because Tolkein's "Go not to the Elves for counsel" was somewhat written about analysts - "for they shall say both no and yes".