Vinepair Wants to Be Your Essential Guide to Booze
*By Madison Alworth*
Vinepair wants to be the premier source for all things booze, and since the website's founding in 2014, it has advised millennials on what and where to drink, as well as how to mix the latest concoctions.
"Eater already existed for the food world. So we figured why not create Vinepair for the drinks world," said Adam Teeter, co-founder and CEO of Vinepair.
"Millennials are looking for content that is informative and teaches them something," Teeter said in an interview Monday with Cheddar.
Vinepair includes editorial articles and sponsored content and sells merchandise online. But in Teeter's view, all content is created equal, even the sponsored pieces.
"We see some sponsored content perform as well, if not better, than some of our editorial content," he said. "It gets the same treatment, it goes to our homepage. It gets tested on social, just like all of our other content."
He may have a point: according to [a recent study](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/01/21/millennials-hate-ads-but-58-of-them-wouldnt-mind-if-its-from-their-favorite-digital-stars/#2b5e536259ca) by the McCarthy Group, a brand strategy firm, 84 percent of millennials don't like traditional marketingーand many don't trust it.
The strategy may be working. Vinepair, with an audience of 24 million, says it's on track to generate $1.5 million in ad revenue this year. In Teeter's mind, it's all about the data.
"We are hyper-focused on data. I think that's also why we've grown so quickly. In that regard, we're focused on making sure the sponsored content performs well too, but it's not getting a ton more exposure than any of our normal content would get."
As for the ["drink of the summer"](https://www.newsday.com/business/how-the-aperol-spritz-became-summer-s-1-cocktail-1.20140467), Teeter thinks one liqueur in particular can claim victory.
"You could say Campari has had a huge success with pushing the Aperol Spritz."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/vinepair-the-media-company-for-people-who-feel-drinking-is-culture).
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."