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Are you a publisher with newsletters or podcasts? Then you absolutely must have Wednesday June 12th in your diary. It’s going to be big! You can check the just-revealed early agenda here.


Meet AdVon, the AI-powered content monster infecting the media industry

Our investigation into AdVon Commerce, the AI contractor at the heart of scandals at USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

 

Now that is a headline. Remember a few months back, when it was discovered by some diligent journalists that Sports Illustrated was running product reviews under fake bylines, using GenAI profile pictures? Well, just as we suggested at the time, Sports Illustrated has turned out to be far from the only title that has been embroiled in the practice, the development of which has been led by a company called AdVon Commerce. Frankly that name alone smacks of ‘evil sci-sci corporation’, but Futurism has done further digging:

“Basically, AdVon engages in what Google calls ‘site reputation abuse’: it strikes deals with publishers in which it provides huge numbers of extremely low-quality product reviews — often for surprisingly prominent publications — intended to pull in traffic from people Googling things like ‘best ab roller.’”

Futurism says that Dotdash Meredith, Hearst, and Ziff Davis are among the media companies implicated in the use of AdVon’s scheme. That — if true — would make them guilty of hypocrisy when they purport to be ‘quality’ publishers. What could be lower quality than articles created using GenAI, without disclosure, in order to effectively game the search ecosystem at the expense of audiences? Answers on a postcard please.


 

Refinery29 will take over Beautycon

Refinery29 is taking over Beautycon, the country’s largest beauty trade show.

Maybe it’s because I used to report on Refinery29’s content marketing model fairly regularly, but my ears always prick up when I hear about how the beauty-focused publisher is adapting to new circumstances. Following its sale from Vice last month, the brand is now taking over the largest beauty trade show in the US. It’s a fascinating move from a brand that has, in a relatively short span of time, adhered to a variety of different business models — and a great example of diversification as well.


 

OpenAI’s deal streak with publishers continues

Questions remain around how much leverage publishers have in licensing negotiations and whether they’re essentially taking whatever they can get.

In this slot in yesterday’s newsletter, Peter linked to a piece by Jacob Donnelly in which he argued that publishers should license their content to AI companies rather than sue them for unauthorised use of it. His reasoning that one is a source of repeat revenue rather than a one-off payment is very sound — and this Toolkits article demonstrates that at least Dotdash Meredith is taking it to heart.


 

New York Times adds 210,000 digital subscribers in quarter

Adjusted operating profit was $76.1 million, an increase of about 41 percent from a year earlier.

Finally — the NYT isn’t your typical newspaper business, but you can use its subscriber growth figures as a sort of bellwether for how the US public is happy to pay for digital products. In its latest quarterly earnings report the paper advised it has added 210,000 digital subscribers last quarter — many of whom have signed up for its games and sports coverage through The Athletic, the company said on Wednesday. Peter won’t be pleased.


More from Media Voices

 

First sessions and workshops revealed for the Publisher Podcast and Newsletter Summits

Are you a publisher with newsletters or podcasts? Then you absolutely must have Wednesday June 12th in your diary. We’re …

 

Where will the leaders and readers of the future come from?

Magazine publishing is not for the fainthearted. But we must accentuate the positives to attract young people and secure the future of magazines

 

What happened to The Atlantic’s newsletters for subscribers scheme?

“The risk of losing people in the newsletter world has declined,” CEO Nicholas Thompson told Media Voices.

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