KEY INSIGHTS

THE BIGGEST CHANGE TO E-COMMERCE

“I suspect machine learning will be the biggest change to e-commerce since it began — image recognition in particular. What happens when you can wave a phone at something and say ‘I like this'?” — Media Analyst Benedict Evans speaking to WhatsNewInPublishing

THE IMPACT OF VOICE SEARCH

The rise of voice search has implications for publishers looking to sell products and services on devices like Alexa, although Comscore found that consumers are still less likely to purchase through such devices than via mobile or desktop. WhatsNewInPublishing

TRUMP’S BIG TRUCK

The President and the Big Boy Truck started out as a listicle written by a BuzzFeed News reporter and was turned into a book when a Facebook comment suggested it and received many likes.

SHOPPABLE RECIPES

In August 2020, BuzzFeed's food vertical, Tasty, launched a partnership with Walmart that provides Tasty app users with “shoppable recipes,” allowing them to add the ingredient lists from any video directly into an online Walmart grocery cart for pickup or delivery.“This is different from advertising. It is very much downfunnel and integrated with content.” Nilla Ali, BuzzFeed VP/ Strategic partnerships, speaking to Folio

CHURCH AND STATE DEBATES

While lucrative and growing fast, affiliate models continue to challenge church and state traditions. Talk of optimising conversions against content are still fighting words for many editors and will always raise questions about the integrity of content decisions. Folio