BuzzFeed, the website known for easily-digested miscellany ("23 Dogs Who Really Love Their Best Friend") and that has recently branched out to more news and political coverage ("The Government Shutdown is Exactly Like 'Mean Girls'") has massive mobile traffic, has never taken a banner ad, and is profitable.
In a memo to BuzzFeed last month, founder and CEO Jonah Peretti wrote that it will more than double its amount of "social content advertising" this year compared to last, conducting 600 to 700 programs. S. C. Johnson & Son Inc., The CW television network, and Mars Inc. have all paid to place content on Buzzfeed recently as "featured partners." Other media outlets -- including The New Yorker and Fox News -- have done the same.
In an interview, Jonathan Perelman, vice-president of agency strategy and industry development at BuzzFeed, shared his views on the fast-growing world of "native advertising," also known as "branded content" or "sponsored content," that is meant to match the style readers are used to in the pages of their favourite publication or on their favourite website.
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