Your first headline may be dry, but headlines like "6 Unbelievable Techniques Two College Students Used to Get a $4B Buyout Offer from Facebook!" sound like spam to me.
Sensationalism will always work to grab eyes but I don't think that particular brand of headline sensationalism is going to work forever.
Having a reputation for quality journalism makes a news business sustainable, not headline tricks.
"One weird trick to make $4b! See why entrepreneurs hate him!"
Just to amplify your point, I'm actually seeing a lot of faux-content that's exactly like this, and I'm sick of it already. I've never clicked on it and every time I see them my resolve hardens further.
They don't sound like traditional ads, as they're maybe one or two shades away from "one weird trick." They're just too on-the-nose. "One thing which makes alzheimer's worse," "what cruise lines do to fill empty cabins," "10 signs of an affair." I feel dirty just typing these.
The book http://trustmeimlying.com/ talks about this and the financial motivations behind this. In the age of the pageview journalism the main distribution channels are social networks and Google News, and on those channels headlines are the only thing that people pay attention to.
Sensationalism will always work to grab eyes but I don't think that particular brand of headline sensationalism is going to work forever.
Having a reputation for quality journalism makes a news business sustainable, not headline tricks.
"One weird trick to make $4b! See why entrepreneurs hate him!"