Gannett Shuts Down Site Accused of Publishing AI Product Reviews

Newspaper giant Gannett closes operations Reviewedits product review site, effective Nov. 1, according to sources familiar with the decision. The site offers recommendations for products from shoes to home appliances and employs journalists to test and review products — but it has also been at the center of questions about whether its work is actually done by humans.

“After careful consideration and evaluation of our Reviewed business, we have decided to close down. We extend our sincere gratitude to our employees who have provided consumers with trusted product reviews,” said Reviewed spokeswoman Lark-Marie Antón Edge in the email.

But recently the site has come under scrutiny, sometimes by its own unionized employees. In October of last year Reviewed employees publicly accused Gannett of publishing AI-generated product reviews on the site. The articles in question were written in a strange, artificial manner, and employees discovered that the authors credited with the articles apparently did not exist on LinkedIn and other platforms. Some questioned were they real at all. In response to questions, Gannett said the articles were produced by an outside marketing firm called AdVon Commerce and that the original reviews did not contain relevant information. But Gannett denied that AI was involved.

How Edge As reported last fall, the marketing company behind Reviewed the content is the same company that was responsible for a similar scandal in Sports Illustrated, where extremely similar product reviews were published and attributed to freelancers. But in the case of Sports Illustrated, The evidence that AI was involved was clear: portrait photos of the authors were for sale on AI-image websites. Illustrated Sports maintained that while the names of the authors were indeed not real, AdVon assured the company that the content was written by real people.

But the investigation conducted by Edge into AdVon revealed that the company was spamming the web with marketing content, some of which former employees claimed was actually generated by artificial intelligence. Ben Faw, CEO and co-founder of AdVon, has used his media contacts to win deals with news outlets for years, often creating elaborate marketing schemes to enrich himself. AdVon’s marketing content has appeared everywhere from compact blogs to sites like Us Weekly and Los Angeles Times reporter. In response to EdgeIn an emailed statement, Faw said the company was “generating[s] revenue from affiliate programs that publishers employ to fund editorial operations and salaries.” He also said AdVon offers “hybrid, AI-powered, and human-only solutions” to clients who hire the company.

Antón did not give a reason for the closure. Reviewed. Product reviews are often seen as a lucrative venture for publishers, who can attract readers looking for shopping advice on search engines and make money when readers buy articles from the articles. In recent months, other news organizations, including Associated Press Press Agency To have similar projects have been announcedBut even content that has historically brought in money for news outlets is vulnerable to changes in Google Search, where most of its traffic comes from. Some independent sites have said search traffic is steadily evaporating, and Google’s shift toward AI search tools threatens to further dent revenue.

Unionized employees Reviewed have repeatedly held limited strikes after standoffs with Gannett management. Most recently, in July, workers a momentary work stoppage was organizedsaying they were expected to take on the extra work with no change in pay. Gannett did not comment on whether the employees Reviewed will they be offered novel positions within the company or will they be laid off.

Aug 26 patch: It has been mentioned earlier in this story that Reviewed staff were assigned additional work with salary adjustments. Their salary was not adjusted.