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Restructuring Costs
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Restructuring Costs [Abstract]  
Restructuring Costs Restructuring Costs
On February 6, 2025, the Company announced plans to reduce expenses by implementing an approximately 5% reduction in our then-current workforce. Refer to Note 22 herein for additional details.
On February 21, 2024, the Company announced plans to reduce expenses by implementing an approximately 16% reduction in the then-current workforce (after the Complex Disposition, as discussed within Note 21 herein). In doing so, the Company reduced the size of its centralized operations to enable our individual brands to operate with more autonomy and deliver against their differentiated value propositions for advertisers. The reduction in workforce plan was intended to position us to be more agile, sustainable, and profitable. The Company incurred approximately $2.9 million of restructuring costs for the year ended December 31, 2024, comprised mainly of severance and related benefits costs, of which $1.2 million were included in cost of revenue, excluding depreciation and amortization, $1.5 million were included in sales and marketing, and $0.2 million were included in general and administrative.
Additionally, in accordance with the Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Complex Sale Agreement;” refer to Note 21 herein for additional details), dated as of February 21, 2024 between a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and Commerce Media Holdings, LLC., pursuant to which the Complex Disposition was consummated, Commerce Media reimbursed the Company for approximately $1.8 million in payments related to “Non-Transferring Employees” (as defined in the Complex Sale Agreement), including severance. The amount of these severance and related charges are not included within the restructuring charges noted above. The Company treated the reimbursement as an expense reimbursement.
In April 2023, the Company announced plans to reduce expenses by implementing an approximately 15% reduction in the then-current workforce. The reduction in workforce plan was part of a broader strategic reprioritization across the Company in order to improve upon profitability and cash flow. The Company incurred approximately $6.8 million of restructuring costs for the year ended December 31, 2023, comprised mainly of severance and related benefit costs, of which $4.3 million were included in cost of revenue, excluding depreciation and amortization, $1.3 million were included in sales and marketing, $0.4 million were included in general and administrative, and $0.8 million were included in research and development.
In December 2022, the Company’s board of directors authorized a reduction in workforce plan, which included a reduction of our then-current global employee headcount by approximately 12%. The reduction in workforce plan was intended to reduce the Company’s costs in response to a combination of factors, including: (i) challenging macroeconomic conditions; (ii) completing the integration of Complex Networks and eliminating redundancies where they existed; and (iii) an ongoing audience shift to short-form, vertical video, which was still developing from a monetization standpoint. The Company incurred approximately $5.3 million of restructuring costs related to these actions.
In March 2022, in connection with the acquisition of Complex Networks, the Company approved certain organizational changes to align sales and marketing and general and administrative functions as well as changes in content to better serve audience demands. Additionally, in June 2022, as part of a strategic repositioning of BuzzFeed News, the Company entered into a voluntary buyout proposal covering certain desks which was negotiated as part of collective bargaining between the Company and the BuzzFeed News Union. The Company incurred approximately $4.9 million of restructuring costs related to these actions.
As a result of the 2022 restructuring actions, the Company incurred approximately $10.2 million of aggregate restructuring costs for the year ended December 31, 2022, comprised mainly of severance and related benefit costs. For the year ended December 31, 2022, approximately $5.7 million were included in cost of revenue, excluding depreciation and amortization, $1.6 million were included in sales and marketing, $0.9 million were included in general and administrative, and $2.0 million were included in research and development.