How Stacker distributes sponsored content to thousands of publishers

The startup devised a unique business model for its newswire service.

Most people are familiar with newswires like the Associated Press and Reuters, but a much newer upstart called Stacker has devised a new business model for syndicating content. Rather than charging for access to its articles, it instead gives away its data journalism to any publisher that wants it. It then charges brands a fee to create and distribute sponsored content across the thousands of media outlets that subscribe to its service.

In a recent interview, co-founder Noah Greenberg explained how Stacker works with publishers, its process for creating sponsored content, and why he has no interest in driving an audience to Stacker’s owned and operated website:

I think we've seen that there's a huge trend of brands realizing that they need to build a lot more brand authority and credibility in their space. And a great way to do that is to put out really interesting research in their space. And depending on the organization and their business model and what type of customer they're going after. Sometimes that's just, we need to build really strong brand recognition. So we work with Lyft. Lyft recognizes that everyone has two apps in their phone to call a ride with. And if you've recently read an article that morning in your hometown paper about commuting trends from Lyft data, you're a little bit more likely to pull out the Lyft app. We also work with organizations that help operate marketplaces for life insurance. It's just a really big, highly considered decision. And they know that if you've never heard of their organization or you don't trust them, you're probably not going to look to them to pick a life insurance policy. And so organizations like that, it's less about being top of mind and more about really building trust and authority in your space.

Watch the interview in the video embedded below: