Distractify

Distractify is an online publication and Internet media company launched in 2013 by Quinn Hu (also known as the YouTuber 2 Bucks), Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner. The company started as a social media startup for viral content and later branched out into news about pop culture.

Distractify

Type of site	Online publication
Available in	English
Founded	2013; 11 years ago (2013)
URL	distractify.com
Commercial	Yes
Registration	No
Launched	2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Current status	Active

History

Founded by Quinn Hu, Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner, Distractify began in 2013 as a social media startup for viral content. The site reached 21 million unique visitors in November 2013. In 2013, 90% of traffic to the site came from Facebook. Distractify competes with BuzzFeed, Upworthy, and ViralNova.^[1]

In 2014, Distractify saw a drop in Facebook traffic after Facebook began to lower reach for meme-related posts.^[2] The site received $7 million in funding that year.^[3]

In 2017, Distractify filed a federal lawsuit against Brainjolt, which owns "22 Words", for publishing content which was similar to some of Distractify's content.^[4] Distractify has been sued in the past on behalf of photographers for alleged copyright violations concerning the use of their photographs.^[5]

References

1. Dickey, Megan Rose (November 22, 2013). "This 20-Year-Old Is The Mastermind Behind Distractify, A Fast-Growing Media Startup". Business Insider. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
2. Reinemann, Beverly (May 2, 2014). "How startups can leverage Facebook's new algorithm". Startupdaily. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
3. FinSMEs (June 25, 2014). "Distractify Raises $7M in Series A Funding". FinSMEs. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
4. Maddaus, Gene (June 29, 2017). "Distractify Accuses 22 Words of Stealing Its Viral Facebook Posts". Variety. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
5. Victor, Daniel (July 6, 2017). "51 Times That the Aggregator Distractify Says Its Copyright Was Violated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2021.