People Inc. acquires Feedfeed
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People Inc. on Wednesday said it has acquired Feedfeed, a 12-year-old food publisher and creator network with more than 7 million followers on social media and roughly 1,000 influencer partners.
Why it matters: It marks the company's first acquisition since it was created through Dotdash's parent, IAC, acquiring Meredith's National Media Group in 2021.
- Dotdash Meredith rebranded to People Inc. in July.
Zoom out: The acquisition of Feedfeed will not only deepen People Inc.'s existing dominance in food publishing, but will also give it exposure to the vast world of creator partnerships.
- When Dotdash previously did acquisitions — before merging with Meredith — it would buy niche publishers and fold them into Dotdash's existing monetization and growth engine.
- This deal is different, People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel tells Axios.
- People Inc. will instead be taking Feedfeed's model of leveraging a strong network of top social influencers for distribution and monetization, and bringing it to other categories within the People Inc. portfolio, such as beauty, style, travel, home, entertainment and possibly health and finance.
- "We're buying Feedfeed in part because we have a lot to learn from them," Vogel says.
How it works: Feedfeed will retain its branding with the deal, Vogel notes.
- All of Feedfeed's roughly dozen employees will become People Inc. employees, and all of its media assets will be owned by People Inc.
- Feedfeed will roll up under People Inc.'s food and drink vertical, which is led by group manager and senior vice president Eric Handelsman.
- Bringing it closer to People Inc.'s portfolio will help to expand its lead in cooking content, he said.
- Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Between the lines: Handelsman oversees People Inc.'s existing portfolio of food and drink publishers — one of the largest in the country — which includes household brands such as Allrecipes, Food & Wine, and Serious Eats.
- "We are the largest publisher of food content online, and Feedfeed instantly strengthens our reach and influencer marketing capabilities, providing a proven playbook to enhance social and influencer offerings across People Inc.," Handelsman said in a statement.
The big picture: Over the past few years, People Inc. has expanded to rely less on print and traditional search advertising and lean more heavily into new business lines, such as social media advertising and partnerships, email, and live events.
- That strategy has proven effective, as the company's profits have nearly doubled between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2025.
- People Inc. now accounts for more than 70% of the revenue for its parent company IAC.
