Red Ventures pressured writers to appease advertisers, workers allege
Marketing firm Red Ventures pressured writers at CNET and other websites to go easy on advertisers, former workers now allege.
CNET
CNET is a consumer-oriented technology publication owned by marketing firm Red Ventures. The publication’s flagship product is a website that was launched in the mid-1990s. It was acquired by CBS Interactive in 2008 and sold off by what is now Paramount Global to Red Ventures for $500 million in 2020.
CNET editor unapologetic over use of error-prone robot
CNET’s editor-in-chief is unapologetic about the company’s use of a robot that wrote content filled with errors and plagiarized sentences.
CNET robot used to write articles committed plagiarism
A robot used by marketing firm Red Ventures for various publications committed acts of plagiarism that went largely unchecked for months.
CNET goes into damage control, pauses AI-written articles
CNET will stop publishing articles written entirely by robots after receiving a copious amount of negative attention over the practice during the last few weeks.
Robots wrote CNET content for more than a year
CNET parent Red Ventures used artificial intelligence and fake bylines in content that was designed to game Google and reap affiliate revenue for more than a year.
CNET rolls back AI-created articles over errors
Articles that were written by artificial intelligence bots had several errors in them before they were published on CNET’s website.
Red Ventures agreement called for job losses before CNET acquisition
An agreement between marketing firm Red Ventures and media giant ViacomCBS called for significant job cuts as part of a multi-million dollar acquisition of CNET Media Group.
ViacomCBS issues pink slips before Red Ventures acquisition
ViacomCBS is issuing pink slips to workers of companies that will be sold to Red Ventures in the coming months.
Marketing firm Red Ventures to acquire tech news site CNET
Marketing firm Red Ventures has reached an agreement with ViacomCBS to acquire technology news website CNET for $500 million.
