Last summer, employees of the Gannett’s Consumer Reviews website Proven I received terrible news: the media giant closed the whole pawn and slows down dozens of employees. Applicable on November 1, Proven He would stop surgery. Gannett blamed the changing Google search algorithm, which “degraded [its] Business model. “Closing was a blow to over 70 employees who, according to Gannett, would have a” impact “decision. The closure took place after the already turbulent period: in 2023 Proven Employees, publicly accused Gannett of conducting reviews of products generated by AI on the website. The content was pulled out after the staff were outraged.
You would not know any of this story – or there Proven It is technically closed – if you are browsing today: a bit of articles on the advertising main page The best rakeIN Slow chefsAND Video doorbells from 2025 Proven published Almost two dozen articles during CES 2025 and pages on Instagram Published intermittent updates From the market event. The main page seems unchanged – there is no attention for readers that the site is to be dead. He floats like zombies, promising thousands of hours of product testing by trustworthy experts.
Many articles promising “best” products from 2025 are actually senior stories modernized with up-to-date, timely headlines. Some Article for the best patio heatersFor example, it indicates that the story was recently updated two years ago in January 2023 and written by a member of a staff who is no longer working Checked.
When the closing of the site was announced, the understanding of the former staff was such that the website would remain online for some time. They did not expect that their existing work would be updated and that Proven He would continue as if nothing had happened.
What exactly is happening in Reviewed, the site to be closed?
“If we believed us, the site intended to close permanently, and many writers wrote down their work in case the site passed completely offline,” says a former employee who asked for anonymity due to signed separation agreements. “None of us was aware that the site would continue to update or that our complementary lines would be updated and promoted on the website.”
So what exactly is happening Proven, A site to be closed? Even the former employees were uncertain, but they watched their former tough place in the workplace.
One name appears on different pages: stackcommerce, online shopping platform, which works with publishers to create partner marketing content. Some stories from CES Proven They are authorized by people who say they work in stackcommerce. The page for open tasks is redirected to the Stackcommerce career website, just like ProvenPrivacy policy page. The Operational Director of StackCommerce is the former CEO Proven, According to LinkedIn. Gannett did not answer The VergeQuestions and instead I directed us to stackcommerce.
He arrived for a comment, confirmed the CEO of Stackcommerce Karl House The Verge via the e -mail mail, which was purchased by the company Proven On December 1, including brand, IP, domain and content, but refused to provide sales conditions.
“Stackcommerce got involved with Gannett after announcing that they are closing Proven In August 2024, House said. “Since then, he has hired five former stackcommerce Proven employees.”
The takeover was mostly silent. It seems that neither party has announced a formal The Verge He contacted Stackcommerce in January. Shortly thereafter, he shared stackcommerce Blog post Advertisement of the takeover.
Readers who relied Proven Recommendations probably did not realize that the site changed her hands. It is also not clear how reviews and recommendations are carried out, taking into account the new property. Many Proven‘S Editorial promises Stay on the site, as well as the claim that the site spends “thousands of hours” for “challenging, objective, practical testing” of products. Stackcommerce did not answer questions about the company’s testing process.
“The tests were practical and conducted by dedicated testers from laboratories or competent experts who would usually test the product (whether this device or pair of sneakers) for a significant time, sometimes up to a week or week or week more”, the first one Proven The employee said. It is not clear how the outlet decides about the “best” products from 2025 – until the reader’s perspective, the site looks unchanged. For example, according to your own party Gannett, the product testing laboratory at Cambridge, Massachusetts, closed last year, but the website is still reference Testing process in Lab.
Complication of the case is that many of Proven Employees who lost their jobs last autumn were trade union employees (some employees in higher positions were again assigned USA Today). Relationship between Gannett and Proven He was disputed: The staff left work earlier After they were unable to secure the dates of negotiations with management.
In the time of Saga AI, the Union aroused concerns about the future of its members in Gannett, which now seems to be producer.
“It is an attempt to undermine and replace union members, regardless of whether they operate AI, subcontractors of the marketing company or combinations of both,” said the union earlier The Verge in a statement.