Last summer, the employee at the Consumer Review site in Janet Review Received terrible news: It was the media giant The entire vertical closure It will put dozens of employees. As of November 1, Review You will stop operations. Janet blames the changing search algorithm from Google, which “deteriorated [its] Employment model. “The closure was a blow to more than 70 employees, who, in the words of Ghanit, will be affected by the decision. The closure came after a noisy period already: in 2023, Newsguild in New York, which represents the union. Review Workers, In public, Ghanit was accused of running the products created from artificial intelligence On the site. The content was withdrawn after the employees protested.
You will not know any of these background stories – or that Review It is turned off technically – if you are browsing the site today: A set of articles on the home page promoting The best treesand Slow cookingAnd Video door video From 2025. Review Published Almost twenty articles During CES for the year 2025, its Instagram page Publish intermittent updates From the commercial exhibition event. The home page appears unchanged – there is no notification to the readers that the site is supposed to have died. He wanders like a coma, and he promised thousands of hours to test products by trustworthy experts.
Many articles that are with the titles of “Best” products “Best” in 2025 are, in fact, old stories updated with new addresses in time. and An article for the best annihilation heatersFor example, it indicates that the story was already updated two years ago in January 2023 and was written by one of the employees no longer working in Review.
When the site was announced, the understanding of the previous employees was that the site would stay on the Internet for a while. What they did not expect is that their current work will be updated and this Review You will continue as if nothing happened.
What is exactly happening in the review, and it is a site that is supposed to be closed?
“With regard to a shield, the site would have been closed permanently, and many writers were saved PDF from their work in the event that the site was not completely connected,” says one of the former employees, who asked not to be identified due to the separation agreements they signed. “None of us realized that the site would continue to update, nor will our graphs be updated and promoted on the site.”
So what is exactly what is happening in Review, A site that is supposed to be closed? Even the former employees were not sure, but they saw their previous workplace.
One name appears on different pages: Stackcommerce, online shopping platform works with publishers to create a continued marketing content. Some stories from Ces on Review They were composed by people who say they are working in Stackcommerce. The Open Jobs page returns to the StackCcommerce Jobs page, as well as as well ReviewPrivacy Policy page. Stackcommerce’s chief operating official is the former general manager of Review, According to the lingerin. Janet did not respond freedomQuestions and instead our direction to Stackcommerce.
I reached the comment, Stackcommer Karl House confirmed freedom Through the e -mail that the company obtained Review On December 1, including the brand, IP, field, and content, but refused to submit the terms of sale.
“Stackcommerce participated with Gannett after they announced that they were closing Review In August 2024, House said. Stackcommerce has rented five former former Review employees.”
The acquisition was mostly calm. It seems that there was no official announcement by either side – even freedom I arrived at Stackcommerce in January. Soon after, I shared Stackcommerce Blog post Announcing the acquisition.
Readers who adopted Review The recommendations are likely not to realize that the site has changed. It is also not clear how reviews and recommendations are implemented in view of the new ownership. a lot Review‘s Editorial promises Stay on the site, like the claim that the site spends “thousands of hours” on a “difficult, objective and practical test” for the products. StackCommerce did not answer questions about the company’s testing process.
“The test was practical and procedure either by two dedicated laboratories, or knowledge experts who usually test the product (whether it is a device or a pair of sports shoes) for a large period of time, and sometimes up to a week or more,” the previous one Review The employee said. It is not clear how the “best” producer for the year 2025 – and from the reader’s point of view, the site looks unchanged. For example, by accepting your GANNETT, closed the product test laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last year, however the website remains Reference Insolesal test.
What is the matter is that many Review The employees who lost their jobs last autumn were union workers (some employees have been resigned in senior positions elsewhere in USA today). The relationship between Janet and Review It was controversial: The employees have already deviated from the job After they were unable to secure the dates of bargaining with the administration.
At the time of the story of artificial intelligence, the Union has raised concerns about the future of its members in Janet, which now looks prescient.
“It is an attempt to undermine and replace the members of the union, whether they use artificial intelligence or subconscious contractors for a marketing company or a mixture of both,” the union previously He said freedom In a statement.
