Distractify
Type of site
Online publication
Available inEnglish
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
URLdistractify.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
Launched2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Current statusActive

Distractify is an online publication and Internet media company launched in 2013 by Quinn Hu (also known as the YouTuber 2 Bucks), Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner. The company started as a social media startup for viral content and later branched out into news about pop culture.

History

Founded by Quinn Hu, Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner, Distractify began in 2013 as a social media startup for viral content. The site reached 21 million unique visitors in November 2013. In 2013, 90% of traffic to the site came from Facebook. Distractify competes with BuzzFeed, Upworthy, and ViralNova.[1]

In 2014, Distractify saw a drop in Facebook traffic after Facebook began to lower reach for meme-related posts.[2] The site received $7 million in funding that year.[3]

In 2017, Distractify filed a federal lawsuit against Brainjolt, which owns "22 Words", for publishing content which was similar to some of Distractify's content.[4] Distractify has been sued in the past on behalf of photographers for alleged copyright violations concerning the use of their photographs.[5]

References

  1. ^ Dickey, Megan Rose. "This 20-Year-Old Is The Mastermind Behind Distractify, A Fast-Growing Media Startup". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  2. ^ Reinemann, Beverly (2 May 2014). "How startups can leverage Facebook's new algorithm". Startupdaily. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ^ FinSMEs (2014-06-25). "Distractify Raises $7M in Series A Funding". FinSMEs. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  4. ^ Maddaus, Gene (2017-06-29). "Distractify Accuses 22 Words of Stealing Its Viral Facebook Posts". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  5. ^ Victor, Daniel (2017-07-06). "51 Times That the Aggregator Distractify Says Its Copyright Was Violated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-29.


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