Fate of “Free“ Online Publishers: BuzzFeed’s Existential Crisis

Due to the advertising world not being like it used to be, these authors won't get paid. And, this isn't over, in 2023 a US recession is inevitable so chances are with the rest of the world's stock going down it isn't likely that Buzzfeed stock will go up.

Therefore, the tale of free online publishers is over. Ad tech has made sure that free cannot be possible, so chances are here's what going to happen:

Authors will stop their free models, and start charging. Who would want to pay for a book unless they know it's good? And very few will even have enough from this business to make a living.