Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Financial Statements and Principles of Consolidation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding interim financial reporting. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. As such, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and these related notes should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. The condensed consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly the results for the interim periods presented. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year ended December 31, 2024. The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of BuzzFeed, Inc., and its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, and any variable interest entities for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Reverse Stock Split The Company held its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders on April 25, 2024 (the “2024 Annual Meeting”), and, at the 2024 Annual Meeting, the Company’s stockholders approved the grant of discretionary authority to the Company’s board of directors to (1) amend the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), to combine outstanding shares of each of the Company’s Class A common stock and the Company’s Class B common stock into a lesser number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, as the case may be, at a specific ratio within a range of one-for-two (1-for-2) to a maximum of a one-for-twenty five (1-for-25), with the exact ratio to be determined by the Company’s board of directors in its sole discretion; and (2) effect such reverse stock split, if at all, within one year of the date the proposal was approved by the Company’s stockholders (i.e., by April 25, 2025). The Company’s board of directors subsequently approved effecting a reverse stock split, effective as of May 6, 2024, and fixed a ratio for the reverse stock split at one-for-four (1-for-4). On April 26, 2024, the Company filed an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the “Certificate of Amendment”). The Certificate of Amendment effected a reverse stock split of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock at a ratio of one-for-four (1-for-4) (the “Reverse Stock Split”), effective as of 12:01 a.m., Eastern Time, on May 6, 2024. The Class A common stock began trading on a split-adjusted basis on Nasdaq on May 6, 2024, under the existing symbol “BZFD,” but the security has a new CUSIP number of 12430A300. The Public Warrants (as defined in Note 4 herein) continued to be traded under the symbol “BZFDW” and the CUSIP identifier for Public Warrants remain unchanged. As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every four shares of the Company’s Class A common stock and the Company’s Class B common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Reverse Stock Split were converted into one share of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, as the case may be, after the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split applied uniformly to all holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, and did not alter any stockholder’s percentage interest in the Company, except to the extent that the Reverse Stock Split would have resulted in some stockholders owning a fractional share. No fractional shares were issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split, as all fractional shares were rounded up to the nearest whole share. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement governing the Public and Private Warrants, fractional shares of Class A common stock will not be issued upon exercise of a warrant, and if a holder of a warrant would be entitled to receive, upon the exercise thereof, a fractional interest in a share of Class A common stock, the Company will round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued to such holder. Unless otherwise noted, all shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, including shares of Class A common stock underlying the Public Warrants and Private Warrants (as defined in Note 4 herein), stock options, restricted stock units, and the Notes, shares of Class A common stock available for grant under the Company’s equity incentive plans, shares of Class A common stock sold and available for sale under the Company’s at-the-market offering, and all conversion ratios, exercise prices, and per share information with respect thereto in the condensed consolidated financial statements have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the one-for-four (1-for-4) Reverse Stock Split, as if the split occurred at the beginning of the earliest period presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Discontinued Operations and Held for Sale A business is classified as held for sale when management having the authority to approve the action commits to a plan to sell the business, the sale is probable to occur during the next 12 months at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value, and when certain other criteria are met. A business classified as held for sale is recorded at the lower of (i) its carrying amount and (ii) estimated fair value less costs to sell. When the carrying amount of the business exceeds its estimated fair value less costs to sell, a loss is recognized and updated each reporting period as appropriate. The results of operations of businesses classified as held for sale are reported as discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that will have a major effect on the entity’s operations and financial results. When a business is identified for discontinued operations reporting: (i) results for prior periods are retrospectively reclassified as discontinued operations; (ii) results of operations are reported in a single line, net of tax, in the condensed consolidated statement of operations; and (iii) assets and liabilities are reported as held for sale in the condensed consolidated balance sheets in the period in which the business is classified as held for sale. The Company concluded the assets of the Complex Networks business, excluding the First We Feast brand, met the criteria for classification for held for sale as of December 31, 2023. Additionally, the Company determined the disposal (i.e., the Disposition), which took place on February 21, 2024, represented a strategic shift that had a major effect on our operations and financial results. As such, the results of Complex Networks, excluding First We Feast, are presented as discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. Prior periods have been adjusted to conform to the current presentation. The assets of Complex Networks have been reflected as assets of discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2023. Refer to Note 19 herein for additional details. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported results of operations during the reporting period. Due to the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. Key estimates and assumptions relate primarily to revenue recognition, fair values of intangible assets acquired in business combinations, valuation allowances for deferred income tax assets, allowance for doubtful accounts, useful lives of fixed assets, and capitalized software costs. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents. The Company considers instruments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents consist of demand deposits with financial institutions and investments in money market funds. Deposits held with these financial institutions may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits. The associated risk of concentration is mitigated by banking with creditworthy institutions. The Company classifies all cash the use of which is limited by contractual provisions as restricted cash. In the first quarter of 2024, the Company cash collateralized the $15.5 million letters of credit then-outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility (as defined in Note 8 herein) in the amount of $17.1 million. As such, the $17.1 million was classified as restricted cash within the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2024. However, during the second quarter of 2024, the Company terminated the letters of credit outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility and therefore there is no restricted cash classification on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2024. Accounting Pronouncements The Company, an emerging growth company, has elected to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period provided for in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act, as amended, for complying with new or revised accounting standards which allows the Company to defer adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures,” which is intended to improve reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses, allowing financial statement users to better understand the components of a segment’s profit or loss to assess potential future cash flows for each reportable segment and the entity as a whole. The amendments expand a public entity’s segment disclosures by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), clarifying when an entity may report one or more additional measures to assess segment performance, requiring enhanced interim disclosures, providing new disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment, and requiring other new disclosures. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this new standard to have a material effect on its condensed consolidated financial statements. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures,” which is intended to enhance the transparency, decision usefulness, and effectiveness of income tax disclosures. The amendments in this ASU require a public entity to disclose a tabular tax rate reconciliation, using both percentages and currency, with specific categories. Public companies are also required to provide a qualitative description of the states and local jurisdictions that make up the majority of the effect of the state and local income tax category and the net amount of income taxes paid, disaggregated by federal, state and foreign taxes and also disaggregated by individual jurisdictions. The amendments also remove certain disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial. The amendments are effective prospectively for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and early adoption and retrospective application are permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance on the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding interim financial reporting. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. As such, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and these related notes should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly the results for the interim periods presented. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year ended December 31, 2024.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of BuzzFeed, Inc., and its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, and any variable interest entities for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The Company held its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders on April 25, 2024 (the “2024 Annual Meeting”), and, at the 2024 Annual Meeting, the Company’s stockholders approved the grant of discretionary authority to the Company’s board of directors to (1) amend the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), to combine outstanding shares of each of the Company’s Class A common stock and the Company’s Class B common stock into a lesser number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, as the case may be, at a specific ratio within a range of one-for-two (1-for-2) to a maximum of a one-for-twenty five (1-for-25), with the exact ratio to be determined by the Company’s board of directors in its sole discretion; and (2) effect such reverse stock split, if at all, within one year of the date the proposal was approved by the Company’s stockholders (i.e., by April 25, 2025).

The Company’s board of directors subsequently approved effecting a reverse stock split, effective as of May 6, 2024, and fixed a ratio for the reverse stock split at one-for-four (1-for-4). On April 26, 2024, the Company filed an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the “Certificate of Amendment”). The Certificate of Amendment effected a reverse stock split of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock at a ratio of one-for-four (1-for-4) (the “Reverse Stock Split”), effective as of 12:01 a.m., Eastern Time, on May 6, 2024. The Class A common stock began trading on a split-adjusted basis on Nasdaq on May 6, 2024, under the existing symbol “BZFD,” but the security has a new CUSIP number of 12430A300. The Public Warrants (as defined in Note 4 herein) continued to be traded under the symbol “BZFDW” and the CUSIP identifier for Public Warrants remain unchanged.

As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every four shares of the Company’s Class A common stock and the Company’s Class B common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Reverse Stock Split were converted into one share of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, as the case may be, after the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split applied uniformly to all holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, and did not alter any stockholder’s percentage interest in the Company, except to the extent that the Reverse Stock Split would have resulted in some stockholders owning a fractional share. No fractional shares were issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split, as all fractional shares were rounded up to the nearest whole share. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement governing the Public and Private Warrants, fractional shares of Class A common stock will not be issued upon exercise of a warrant, and if a holder of a warrant would be entitled to receive, upon the exercise thereof, a fractional interest in a share of Class A common stock, the Company will round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued to such holder.

Unless otherwise noted, all shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, including shares of Class A common stock underlying the Public Warrants and Private Warrants (as defined in Note 4 herein), stock options, restricted stock units, and the Notes, shares of Class A common stock available for grant under the Company’s equity incentive plans, shares of Class A common stock sold and available for sale under the Company’s at-the-market offering, and all conversion ratios, exercise prices, and per share information with respect thereto in the condensed consolidated financial statements have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the one-for-four (1-for-4) Reverse Stock Split, as if the split occurred at the beginning of the earliest period presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

A business is classified as held for sale when management having the authority to approve the action commits to a plan to sell the business, the sale is probable to occur during the next 12 months at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value, and when certain other criteria are met. A business classified as held for sale is recorded at the lower of (i) its carrying amount and (ii) estimated fair value less costs to sell. When the carrying amount of the business exceeds its estimated fair value less costs to sell, a loss is recognized and updated each reporting period as appropriate.

The results of operations of businesses classified as held for sale are reported as discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that will have a major effect on the entity’s operations and financial results. When a business is identified for discontinued operations reporting: (i) results for prior periods are retrospectively reclassified as discontinued operations; (ii) results of operations are reported in a single line, net of tax, in the condensed consolidated statement of operations; and (iii) assets and liabilities are reported as held for sale in the condensed consolidated balance sheets in the period in which the business is classified as held for sale.

The Company concluded the assets of the Complex Networks business, excluding the First We Feast brand, met the criteria for classification for held for sale as of December 31, 2023. Additionally, the Company determined the disposal (i.e., the Disposition), which took place on February 21, 2024, represented a strategic shift that had a major effect on our operations and financial results. As such, the results of Complex Networks, excluding First We Feast, are presented as discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. Prior periods have been adjusted to conform to the current presentation. The assets of Complex Networks have been reflected as assets of discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2023. Refer to Note 19 herein for additional details.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported results of operations during the reporting period. Due to the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates.

Key estimates and assumptions relate primarily to revenue recognition, fair values of intangible assets acquired in business combinations, valuation allowances for deferred income tax assets, allowance for doubtful accounts, useful lives of fixed assets, and capitalized software costs.

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents. The Company considers instruments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents consist of demand deposits with financial institutions and investments in money market funds. Deposits held with these financial institutions may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits. The associated risk of concentration is mitigated by banking with creditworthy institutions.

The Company classifies all cash the use of which is limited by contractual provisions as restricted cash. In the first quarter of 2024, the Company cash collateralized the $15.5 million letters of credit then-outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility (as defined in Note 8 herein) in the amount of $17.1 million. As such, the $17.1 million was classified as restricted cash within the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2024. However, during the second quarter of 2024, the Company terminated the letters of credit outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility and therefore there is no restricted cash classification on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2024.

The Company, an emerging growth company, has elected to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period provided for in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act, as amended, for complying with new or revised accounting standards which allows the Company to defer adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures,” which is intended to improve reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses, allowing financial statement users to better understand the components of a segment’s profit or loss to assess potential future cash flows for each reportable segment and the entity as a whole. The amendments expand a public entity’s segment disclosures by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), clarifying when an entity may report one or more additional measures to assess segment performance, requiring enhanced interim disclosures, providing new disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment, and requiring other new disclosures. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this new standard to have a material effect on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

disclosures. The amendments in this ASU require a public entity to disclose a tabular tax rate reconciliation, using both percentages and currency, with specific categories. Public companies are also required to provide a qualitative description of the states and local jurisdictions that make up the majority of the effect of the state and local income tax category and the net amount of income taxes paid, disaggregated by federal, state and foreign taxes and also disaggregated by individual jurisdictions. The amendments also remove certain disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial. The amendments are effective prospectively for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and early adoption and retrospective application are permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance on the condensed consolidated financial statements.