Business Insider is all over my feed with “news articles” about people who start with $0-$10 out of their bedroom or dorm room and quickly ramp up a half-billion-dollar business, always through online commerce. Other companies have similarly promoted stories, but BI is the worst offender.
Some are focused on varieties of “passive income” instead of e-commerce: classes, content, real estate. They always imply that you, the reader, could also be making incredible money with little more than an internet connection.
Any question I Google that lands me on Quora will inevitably have sponsored content about successful side-hustles, too.
These don’t link out to scams. They just want you to read them, apparently. BI gets as revenue when you visit their site, but half the paid posts on Quora have no links out. They seem to just want individuals to start reselling crap on eBay or drop-shipping on Amazon. And the same ‘article’ doesn’t always care which selling platform someone uses!
So who’s funding this, and why?