“I do think it’s a real sign of the shifting times that Huffington Post—which felt like it had been left behind by the social web—turns out to have a key asset in the post-social world; a big homepage that a generation of web users stuck to,” said Ben Smith, the editor in chief of Semafor and former founder of BuzzFeed News.

HuffPost could also benefit from its greater variety of content types, said digital media analyst Mike Shields. Whereas BuzzFeed News left lighter subjects to BuzzFeed.com, HuffPost has long blended original news reporting with other categories, such as entertainment and lifestyle content.

These lighter, more advertiser-friendly verticals could help subsidize the news content HuffPost produces.

Challenges with ad-supported news and undifferentiated content

Despite these advantages, the core weakness of HuffPost remains its business model, which leaves it susceptible to the many challenges that plague ad-supported digital news.

Many advertisers avoid news inventory completely for fear of brand safety concerns, and news inventory typically generates lower yields as a result. Compounding the matter, HuffPost lacks a robust source of reader revenue to supplement its advertising business. 

“One of the biggest challenges we see is that many brands are quick to exclude polarizing news content in the interest of brand safety,” said Michelle Chong, the planning director at the media agency Fitzco.

HuffPost has mitigated these concerns, in part, through its variety of content and its sheer scale. And compared to the expense of news-gathering at BuzzFeed News, HuffPost leans on aggregation to keep its costs of content production lower. 

These factors produce better margins for HuffPost, which has helped it achieve profitability, sources said. 

In 2021, the publisher generated roughly $30 million in revenue in 11 months, according to earnings reports.

But much of its content is undifferentiated and its ad load skews toward the obtrusive, both of which could trouble any future plans for generating reader revenue. 

And as traffic from social platforms continues to dwindle, HuffPost could see less traction from articles designed for virality, such as The 1 Habit Doctors Say Is Secretly Making You Tired the Next Day.

“Quality news is expensive to produce if monetized solely through attention and advertising, especially as social platform engagement isn’t a reliable distribution option,” Milicevic said.