Newspaper large Gannett is shutting down Reviewed, its product opinions website, efficient November 1st, in keeping with sources aware of the choice. The positioning affords suggestions for merchandise starting from sneakers to house home equipment and employs journalists to check and evaluate gadgets — however has additionally been on the middle of questions round whether or not its work is definitely produced by people.
“After cautious consideration and analysis of our Reviewed enterprise, we’ve determined to shut the operation. We lengthen our honest gratitude to our workers who’ve supplied customers with trusted product opinions,” Reviewed spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón instructed The Verge in an electronic mail.
However the website extra lately has been the topic of scrutiny, at instances by its personal unionized workers. Final October, Reviewed employees publicly accused Gannett of publishing AI-generated product reviews on the positioning. The articles in query had been written in a wierd, stilted method, and employees discovered that the authors the articles had been attributed to didn’t appear to exist on LinkedIn and different platforms. Some questioned whether they were real in any respect. In response to questions, Gannett stated the articles had been produced by a third-party advertising firm known as AdVon Commerce and that the unique opinions didn’t embody correct disclosure. However Gannett denied that AI was concerned.
As The Verge reported final fall, the advertising agency behind the Reviewed content material is similar firm that was accountable for the same dust-up at Sports activities Illustrated, wherein remarkably related product opinions had been revealed and attributed to freelancers. However within the case of Sports activities Illustrated, the proof that AI was concerned was apparent: authors’ headshots were for sale on AI image websites. Sports activities Illustrated maintained that although authors’ names had been certainly not actual, AdVon had assured the corporate that actual people wrote the content material.
However an investigation by The Verge into AdVon confirmed that the corporate has spammed the net with advertising content material, a few of which former workers say was certainly AI-generated. Ben Faw, CEO and cofounder of AdVon, has for years used his connections in media to land contracts with information shops, typically establishing elaborate advertising schemes to counterpoint himself. AdVon’s advertising content material appeared in all places from small blogs to shops like Us Weekly and the Los Angeles Instances. In response to The Verge’s reporting, Faw stated in an emailed assertion that the corporate “generate[s] affiliate income which publishers use to fund newsroom operations and salaries.” He additionally stated AdVon affords “human-only, AI-enhanced, and hybrid options” to clients hiring the agency.
In a follow-up electronic mail, Antón stated Reviewed was closing attributable to Google.
“The closure is a enterprise determination influenced considerably by the truth that Reviewed depends closely on search visitors and Google’s fixed algorithm modifications have degraded our present enterprise mannequin,” Antón stated She added that the choice would “impression” 73 workers, and that the corporate’s workplace and lab in Cambridge would additionally shut.
Product opinions are sometimes seen as a profitable enterprise for publishers, who can draw readers in search of buying recommendation on serps and make cash when readers purchase gadgets from the articles. In latest months, different information organizations, together with The Related Press, have announced similar ventures. However even content material that has traditionally made information shops cash is weak to modifications in Google Search, the place a bulk of visitors comes from. Some impartial websites have stated their search traffic has steadily evaporated, and Google’s pivot to AI search instruments threatens to eat into revenue even further.
Unionized staff at Reviewed have gone on restricted strikes a number of instances after impasses with Gannett administration. Most lately, in July, staffers staged a temporary work stoppage, saying they had been anticipated to tackle further work with out changes to compensation. Gannett didn’t touch upon whether or not employees at Reviewed can be supplied new roles on the firm or whether or not they could be laid off.
Correction, August twenty sixth: This story beforehand acknowledged that Reviewed employees got further work with changes to pay. Their compensation was not adjusted.
Replace, August twenty seventh: Added feedback from a Gannett spokesperson in regards to the variety of workers affected and the corporate’s reasoning for closing Reviewed.
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