Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry
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.
Thanks, I hate it.
Despite those ties, we continued investigating AdVon, and experienced zero interference from anyone at Recurrent. That said, AdVon's cofounder responded to questions about this story by pointedly informing us of his business and personal connections with Recurrent's CEO and the executive chairman of Recurrent's board, in what felt like an effort to hamper our reporting by implying access to a corridor of power over our jobs. As you're about to read: didn't work.
Sheash.
Damn. I had forgotten what actual journalism looks like. There was actual work done here to investigate and acquire facts. I've been reading "articles" that are just paraphrased PR statements for so long. This was a breath of fresh air.
...messages that included “I dream of breaking the siege,” “Come together in peace” and the number of Palestinian children killed in Gaza since war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October.
...the administration said the messaging was “threatening, intimidating and antisemitic,” according to an email from Eric Kaler, Case’s president.
Right... tell me again how afraid you are at looking at reality?
Wrong article?
Strange... I found the quoted article if anyone cares.
Oh, well that's interesting.
Oh man, I'm pretty sure I've read some of these fake reviews in the wild.
Fuck advon.
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And after we sent detailed questions about this story to McClatchy, a large publisher of regional newspapers, it also ended its relationship with AdVon and deleted hundreds of its pieces — bylined by at least 14 fake authors — from more than 20 of its papers, ranging from the Miami Herald to the Sacramento Bee.
An earlier, archived version of its site bragged that its publishing clients included the Ziff Davis titles PC Magazine, Mashable and AskMen (Ziff Davis didn't respond to questions about this story) as well as Hearst's Good Housekeeping (Hearst didn't respond to questions either) and IAC's Dotdash Meredith publications People, Parents, Food & Wine, InStyle, Real Simple, Travel + Leisure, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living (IAC confirmed that Meredith had a relationship with AdVon prior to its 2021 acquisition by Dotdash, but said it'd since ended the partnership.)
By the end of the video, the manager has produced an article identical in structure to the AdVon content we found at Sports Illustrated and other AdVon-affiliated publications: an intro, followed by a string of generically-described products with affiliate links to Amazon, a "buying guide" packed with SEO keywords, and finally an FAQ.
After the Gannett staff called out AdVon's work at USA Today — allegations that garnered scrutiny everywhere from the Washington Post to the New York Times — the fictional names on the company's reviews started disappearing.
He clicks the link on Google and it pulls up a Sports Illustrated product review by Damon Ward, the same fake writer whose Yoga Journal article the AdVon training video showed as being sourced via AI.
"Advon [sic] has and continues to use AI responsibly in combination with human writers and editors for partners who want increased productivity and accuracy in their commerce departments," Spurling wrote in a "declaration" provided to us by one of the company's attorneys.
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