A reviews site embroiled in AI scandal is back from the dead

Last summer, the unit astatine Gannett’s user reviews tract Reviewed received unspeakable news: the media elephantine was shuttering the full vertical and would beryllium laying disconnected dozens of employees. Effective November 1st, Reviewed would cease operations. Gannett blamed Google’s changing hunt algorithm, which had “degraded [its] business model.” The shuttering was a rustle to the much than 70 employees, who, successful Gannett’s words, would beryllium “affected” by the decision. The closure came aft an already tumultuous period: successful 2023, the NewsGuild of New York, which represents unionized Reviewed workers, publicly accused Gannett of moving AI-generated merchandise reviews connected the site. The contented was pulled aft unit outcry.

You wouldn’t cognize immoderate of this backstory — aliases that Reviewed is technically unopen down — if you were browsing the tract today: a smattering of articles connected the homepage tout the best rakes, slow cookers, and video doorbells of 2025. Reviewed published nearly 2 twelve articles during 2025’s CES, and its Instagram page posted intermittent updates from the waste and acquisition show event. The homepage appears unchanged — there’s nary announcement for readers that the tract is expected to beryllium dead. It trudges connected for illustration a zombie, promising thousands of hours of merchandise testing by trustworthy experts.

Many of the articles promising “the best” products of 2025 are, successful fact, aged stories retrofitted pinch new, timely headlines. An article for the champion patio heaters, for example, indicates the communicative was really past updated 2 years agone successful January 2023 and written by a unit personnel who nary longer useful astatine Reviewed.

When the shuttering of the tract was announced, the knowing of erstwhile unit was that the website would stay online for a play of time. What they didn’t expect was that their existing activity would beryllium updated and that Reviewed would proceed connected arsenic if thing had happened.

“As acold arsenic we were aware, the tract was going to unopen down permanently, and aggregate writers were redeeming PDFs of their activity successful lawsuit the tract went wholly offline,” says a erstwhile staffer, who requested anonymity owed to separation agreements they signed. “None of america were alert that the tract was going to proceed being updated, nor that our bylines would beryllium updated and promoted connected the site.”

So what precisely is going connected astatine Reviewed, a tract that’s expected to beryllium unopen down? Even erstwhile unit members person been unsure but person watched arsenic their erstwhile workplace trudges on.

One sanction reappears crossed different pages: StackCommerce, an online shopping level that useful pinch publishers to create connection trading content. Some of the stories from CES connected Reviewed are authored by group who opportunity they activity astatine StackCommerce. A page for unfastened jobs redirects to StackCommerce’s careers page, arsenic does Reviewed’s privateness argumentation page. StackCommerce’s main operating serviceman is the erstwhile wide head of Reviewed, according to LinkedIn. Gannett did not respond to The Verge’s questions and alternatively directed america to StackCommerce.

Reached for comment, StackCommerce CEO Karl House confirmed to The Verge via email that the institution acquired Reviewed on December 1st, including the brand, IP, domain, and content, but declined to supply position of the sale.

“StackCommerce engaged pinch Gannett aft they announced they were shutting down Reviewed successful August 2024,” House said. “StackCommerce has since hired 5 erstwhile Reviewed employees.”

The acquisition was mostly kept quiet. There appears to person been nary general announcement by either statement — until The Verge reached retired to StackCommerce successful January. Shortly after, StackCommerce shared a blog post announcing the acquisition.

Readers who relied connected Reviewed recommendations person apt not realized that the tract has changed hands. It’s besides not clear really reviews and recommendations are carried retired fixed the caller ownership. Many of Reviewed’s editorial promises stay connected the site, for illustration the declare that the tract spends “thousands of hours” connected “tough, objective, hands-on testing” of products. StackCommerce did not respond to questions astir the company’s testing process.

“Testing was hands-on and conducted by either dedicated testers from the labs, aliases knowledgeable experts that would usually trial the merchandise (whether it beryllium an appliance aliases a brace of sneakers) for a important magnitude of time, sometimes up to a week aliases more,” the erstwhile Reviewed employee said. It’s not clear really the outlet is deciding the “best” products of 2025 — and from the reader’s perspective, the tract looks unchanged. For example, by Gannett’s ain admission, the merchandise testing laboratory successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, closed past year, yet the website still references an in-lab testing process.

Complicating the matter is that galore of the Reviewed staff members who mislaid their jobs past autumn were unionized workers (some labor successful elder positions were reassigned elsewhere successful USA Today). The narration betwixt Gannett and Reviewed was contentious: staff had antecedently walked disconnected the job aft they were incapable to unafraid bargaining dates pinch management.

At the clip of the AI saga, the national raised concerns astir their members’ futures astatine Gannett that now look prescient.

“It’s an effort to undermine and switch members of the national whether they’re utilizing AI, subcontractors of a trading firm, aliases immoderate operation of both,” the national antecedently told The Verge in a statement.