Univision Buys A Stake In The Onion; A New Platform Lets Consumers "License" Their Data

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Bloomin’ Onion

Spanish-language Univision purchased a stake in The Onion and its various channels (like the A.V. Club and ClickHole). Read the release. The move is part of a broad effort to reach a younger audience, and follows Univision’s recent acquisition of The Root, a site focused on African-American readers. The Onion generates most of its revenue through Onion Labs, its sponsored content division. NPR has more.

Has Twitter Molted?

Twitter has been fighting for a spot on the influencer marketing podium, pitching Vine against the likes of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn. There’s no shame in not being an influencer platform (Facebook isn’t, and it does just fine), but the little blue bird is hoping it can change its market perception. An Adweek story from Marty Swant gets into how Twitter is leveraging Niche, a social media content-creation tool it acquired last year, for a cross-channel influencer campaign from Comcast. There’s also the company’s newest ad product, the “brand enthusiast gallery,” which aims to convince marketers that Joe Shmo on Twitter can push as much product as some Insta-famous teen.

Value Exchange

The Drum covers the launch of People.io, a platform that lets consumers “license” their data to brands. The UK-based service is positioned as an answer to ad blocking. “We believe that putting the consumer in control of their own data, fiercely protecting how their data is used to ensure privacy and rewarding them for the data they are willing to share helps create a fairer value exchange for the consumer and therefore greater engagement.” Read it. But! People.io isn’t the first to try this approach. Remember Enliken? Maybe the world is ready this time.

Welcome Back

Yahoo’s slow-motion trainwreck is now officially tabloid fodder. A duo of NY Post writers cover a “creepy message” they claim Marissa Mayer let slip at a companywide meeting this month: “She said there are going to be no layoffs ‘this week,’ and many of the employees laughed at her,” said one unnamed source. The article is laden with anonymous venom directed at Mayer, who’s coming back to work after having twins in December. Hopefully her newborn daughters keep this whole Yahoo thing in perspective.

But Wait, There’s More!