Ad-driven media doesn’t care about the truth, and that isn’t going to change

Ad distribution company Revcontent uses so-called ‘content recommendation’ widgets to place paid-for content on websites. Recently, they launched a ‘Truth in Media Initiative’ to “continue the fight against fake news”. What this involves thus far is a feature in their widget for users to give feedback on content, with one option being to report articles they believe to be ‘fake news’. So why is Revcontent claiming to fight fake news?

Sincerity in question

Defining ‘fake news’ can be challenging, but we’re basically talking about misinformation: content designed to look like reputable journalism that has no basis in fact. Why is Revcontent suddenly concerned about it? Well, a lot of ‘fake news’, and its cousin clickbait, have historically been distributed through ad distribution networks like Revcontent, along with the two main players Taboola and Outbrain. Read the rest of this article on Medium here.