BuzzFeed Staffers Seeing Pink for the Holidays

As further evidence of the shakeout in the digital media space, BuzzFeed announced the layoff of about 7% of its total workforce, or roughly 100 employees. The company is also planning some big changes to its monetization efforts, according to an announcement from CEO Jonah Peretti. (Indeed, most of the new layoffs hit BuzzFeed’s ad sales and business operations teams.) In a memo to staff, CEO Johan Peretti explained that BuzzFeed will transition away from native advertising, and expand its efforts to areas such as e-commerce and programmatic ad sales. As part of the reorganization, BuzzFeed President Greg Coleman will leave his position, though he’ll stay on as a consultant. The layoffs come as no surprise, as earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is on track to fall 15 to 20 percent short of its 2017 revenue projections.

PageBreaks Take: As the digital world matures, pressure by venture capitalists to find profitability will begin to take its toll on startups and mid-level independents. Look for consolidation to center around major studios and major content providers.

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