The bottom line for Buzzfeed in 2016 is that it lost £3,543,554, which when added to the rolled up losses since 2013 means some £12,289,579 has been sunk into the venture so far. When it launched Buzzfeed derided display advertising as outdated and instead offered brands sponsored advertorial content. The search for revenue means you now see traditional display adverts on their homepage. The UK operation is small change for the parent company which is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into video in the hope that they will be able to divert TV advertising revenue into digital video revenue. This is the big bet for the many media ventures following the shining path of Vice News….

Rumours from inside the organisation that management consultants have been sent in are worrisome for the 200 odd Buzzfeed staff on – the filed accounts reveal – generous average packages of some £60,000. On the positive side Buzzfeed doubled their revenue last year to over £20 million. If they can do that again this year they will be extremely profitable…