Upworthy Co-Founder Eli Pariser: Here’s How to Solve the ‘Native Advertising Problem’
Posted in: UncategorizedUpworthy, a nearly two-year-old site that curates and repackages content with headlines built to share, has charged into the media landscape as one of the most talked about (and imitated) viral media sites.
Founded by former MoveOn.org Executive Director Eli Pariser and former Onion Managing Editor Peter Koechley, Upworthy says its goal is to draw attention to meaningful topics, from body image issues caused by Barbie dolls to the plight of torture victims. One recent post — with the headline “I Got A Bus Earlier, And A Woman Was Being Tortured Right Next To Me” — shows bus-shelter ads depicting torture victims. Fast Company referred to the site as a “soulful BuzzFeed.”
Critics have accused the site of dangling click-bait to draw visitors. But Upworthy argues that pageviews make only a “flimsy” measure in any case, one useful only to sites that deal in banner ads (which, like BuzzFeed, it does not). Upworthy’s pitch to advertisers is that it can draw eyeballs — and social media shares — to branded content posts in the same way it does for its own stories.
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