The outlet has been nominated for several awards, but has also been criticized for using factually incorrect clickbait headlines to attract viewership.

[16] In 2018, staff members were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement that included a nondisparagement clause requiring them not to criticize the site during or after their employment.

[17] Early in 2020, CEO Henry Blodget convened a meeting in which he announced plans for the website to acquire 1 million subscribers, 1 billion unique visitors per month, and over 1,000 newsroom employees.

[18] The parent companies of Business Insider and eMarketer merged in 2020 in connection with the proposed purchase of Axel Springer by KKR, an American private equity firm.

[19] In October 2020, BI's parent company purchased a majority position in Morning Brew, a newsletter.

[21][22] The piece, composed as a series of comics that told the story of one woman's experience escaping China's persecution of Uyghurs, was created by illustrator Fahmida Azim alongside art director Anthony Del Col, writer Josh Adams, and editor Walt Hickey.

[5] Business Insider operates a paid division titled BI Intelligence, established in 2013.

[35] Glenn Greenwald has critiqued the reliability of Business Insider, along with that of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo!

[49] In January 2014, The New York Times reported that Business Insider's web traffic was comparable to that of The Wall Street Journal.

[50] In 2017, Digiday included imprint Insider as a candidate in two separate categories—"Best New Vertical" and "Best Use of Instagram"—at their annual Publishing Awards.