And we’re beginning to share in the monetization of short-form. We’ve also taken steps to adapt to this major shift in the marketplace. Specifically, we’ve realigned resources to focus on the fastest-growing platforms and formats so we can participate in the growth of vertical video with advertisers directly. And that’s one — having advertiser relationships is one of the areas of strength that we have for monetizing this kind of video. And so, as we continue to introduce and scale our AI and create our products with audiences, we’re also packaging these products up for direct selling to marketers. As we discussed, we’re also working to drive traffic directly to our owned and operated websites and apps to combat the monetization pressures we are experiencing across the third-party platforms.
And we are seeing interest from consumers to get out of the sort of the endless scrolling of short-form algorithmically-promoted vertical video that they see on the platforms to content where they can spend more time like on the BuzzFeed site and apps, whether it’s AI content like the chatbot games or other kinds of content where you’re spending much more time with each piece of content and kind of getting out of the ADHD sort of scrolling behavior that sometimes can be a bit much for consumers. And so we’re seeing validation of our strategy. And in terms of deeper engagement with BuzzFeed AI-powered content, strong viewership growth around our short-form content and then traction with clients in new product offerings like AI and creator growth in the front page of HuffPost where we see a lot of strength.
But we still have more work to do to scale those initiatives. And these marketplace shifts are having a real — are having an unprecedented impact on digital media companies and it will take time for these new initiatives to ramp up and scale and offset some of the traffic and monetization challenges reflected in our financial performance.
Amita Tomkoria: Great. And just maybe one more specifically on third-party monetization. A couple of months ago, Amazon announced BuzzFeed as one of its partners in terms of its sponsored products, advertising. And I’m just curious sort of from your perspective, why did Amazon choose BuzzFeed? How is the partnership progressing? And can you speak to materiality or potential for this ad monetization?
Jonah Peretti: Sure. So first off, we’re thrilled to be selected as a trusted partner for Amazon-sponsored product advertising initiative. Just announced in August, it’s still early to fully reap the benefits for both parties. They selected us for our scale and our audience reach. And we have a long-standing relationship with Amazon as it relates to affiliate in our commerce business and a track record for driving meaningful GMV for them through our editorial shopping content. And so, this is why many of the largest retailers from Walmart to Target to Wayfair choose to partner with us to tap into this highly engaged, motivated consumer audience and drive real-world transactions. And it really speaks to the strength of our affiliate model and driving conversion.
And also, just that those audiences that are on our shopping content have a lot of very high engagement and a willingness to discover new things and transact. And so that I think plays really well when it comes not just to commerce, but also to new advertising and advertising partnerships.
Amita Tomkoria: Marcela, maybe moving on to you. In terms of the relationship between revenue growth and cost growth, just sort of looking into next year into 2024, how should we think about the relationship between revenue growth and cost growth?
Marcela Martin: Thank you, Amita, for the question. So, in terms of revenue, I want to repeat the fact that we are operating in an unprecedented environment for digital media with ongoing challenges, as Jonah has explained as well, and it’s really hard to predict how the macro dynamics are going to unfold in 2024. And so, we are very focused on what we can control that it is driving audience traffic directly to our owned and operated websites and apps, scaling our AI product and format and improving execution on site. So, in doing so, we are working to spend the declines in traffic and monetization and open up new sources of monetization with marketers. And from a cost perspective, as we have talked in previous earnings calls, we have taken several steps in 2022 and 2023 to significantly reduce our operating expense and cash cost structure.
