MEL Magazine lays off editorial staff

Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising for March 25. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

• MEL Magazine lays off editorial staff.
• Influencers cash in on Clubhouse.
• Medium's editorial pivot.

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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@insider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

Dollar Shave Club has laid off all its staff at men's lifestyle site, MEL, and is looking for a rescue buyer

• Steven Perlberg reports that Dollar Shave Club laid off MEL Magazine's editorial team on Wednesday.
• The site became a media industry darling despite being owned by a razor brand.
• MEL does not run advertising but has recently launched paid newsletters.

Read the story.

How influencers have started making money on Clubhouse, from sponsored rooms to tips

• Sydney Bradley reports that Clubhouse is stirring up interest in the influencer-marketing industry. It has over 2 million users.
• Influencers are swiftly finding ways to make money using the audio-only app.
• Influencers like Lissette Calveiro charge a starting rate of $1,000 for sponsored 60-minute Clubhouse rooms.

Read the story.

Medium offers employees 'voluntary exit' weeks after failed union drive as it abandons yet another business model

• Medium CEO Ev Williams announced yet another major shift in the company's business strategy.
• The company said it was moving away from editorial and offered employees severance packages as part of its shift.
• This latest pivot - one of many - comes weeks after employees' failed union drive.

Read the story.

More stories we're reading:

• Amazon's Prime and marketing boss writes heartfelt message to employees about anti-Asian attacks: 'I don't really know why there is ever any hate towards our differences' (Insider)
• Google hogs traffic for itself, according to data showing nearly two-thirds of searches ended without a click in 2020 (Insider)
• Microsoft is in talks to buy chat app Discord for more than $10 billion, according to reports (Insider)
• Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai said they're open to Section 230 reform, but some of their proposed changes look a lot like the protections tech firms already have (Insider)
• Inside the 'arms race' between teenage sneaker botters and the footwear powerhouses developing anti-bot technology to eradicate the controversial software (Insider)
• HuffPost taps Danielle Belton as new Editor in Chief after tearlong vacancy (The Daily Beast)
• Kargo unveils its new Fabrik publishing system (TechCrunch)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@insider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.