Re:BuzzFeed Says Posts Were Deleted Because of Advertising P...
by manigandham on Sunday April 19, 2015 @01:51AM
(#9402175)
This is nothing new and happens all the time, they were just caught so it became a big story.
Advertiser pressure vs editorial freedom has existed since the beginning of press when the first publisher sold ads. The content marketing/native format of BuzzFeed makes it a little more susceptible to this but I am surprised a publisher with revenues over 100M were so worried about a few critical posts. Then again this is BuzzFeed which, while it's trying to move upmarket with some really amazing news pieces, is still massively in the mainstream world of producing viral social content lacking in substance and doesn't have the reputation of higher end publications yet.
Combine that with the highly political and sensitive world of digital advertising where young media buyers who control millions of ad spend and the lack of other solid revenue opportunities for publishers and this conflict will only increase in the coming years.
Advertiser pressure vs editorial freedom has existed since the beginning of press when the first publisher sold ads. The content marketing/native format of BuzzFeed makes it a little more susceptible to this but I am surprised a publisher with revenues over 100M were so worried about a few critical posts. Then again this is BuzzFeed which, while it's trying to move upmarket with some really amazing news pieces, is still massively in the mainstream world of producing viral social content lacking in substance and doesn't have the reputation of higher end publications yet.
Combine that with the highly political and sensitive world of digital advertising where young media buyers who control millions of ad spend and the lack of other solid revenue opportunities for publishers and this conflict will only increase in the coming years.