How Google is killing independent sites like ours – HouseFresh

Google regularly launches updates to its algorithm to continuously improve search results quality. Think of these updates as a refresh of the system where rankings change: some websites see an improvement while others see a decline. At HouseFresh, we keep an eye on Google’s news and documentation because these updates can literally make or break…

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The Metaverse, Zuckerberg’s Tech Obession, Is Officially Dead. ChatGPT Killed It.

The Metaverse, the once-buzzy technology that promised to allow users to hang out awkwardly in a disorientating video-game-like world, has died after being abandoned by the business world. It was three years old. The capital-M Metaverse, a descendant of the 1982 movie “Tron” and the 2003 video game “Second Life,” was born in 2021 when…

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AI Chatbots Have Been Used to Create Dozens of News Content Farms – Bloomberg

The news-rating group NewsGuard has found dozens of news websites generated by AI chatbots proliferating online, according to a report published Monday, raising questions about how the technology may supercharge established fraud techniques. The 49 websites, which were independently reviewed by Bloomberg, run the gamut. Some are dressed up as breaking news sites with generic-sounding names…

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Mediating Consent

When theologian Martin Luther debuted his Ninety-five Theses in 16th-century Germany, he triggered a religious Reformation — and also a media revolution. 1630 map of the Maluku Archipelago (Moluccas, or Spice Islands) The printing press, invented approximately 50 years before the 95 Theses,  extended Luther’s reach from the door of the cathedral to the entirety…

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Deadspin Resignations Threaten New Owner’s Turnaround – WSJ

data-module-name=”article.app/lib/module/wsj/breadcrumbs” The sports website Deadspin lost all of its editorial staff this week in an exodus that complicates its new owner’s effort to turn around the former Gawker Media properties acquired a little over six months ago. The new parent company, G/O Media Inc., which comprises about a dozen sites including Gizmodo and the Onion,…

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ThinkProgress, a Top Progressive News Site, Has Shut Down

A search had been underway for a new publisher. But none was found. Updated 09.06.19  4:53PM ET  / Published 09.06.19  1:15PM ET     Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast ThinkProgress, the influential news site that rose to prominence in the shadow of the Bush administration and helped define progressivism during the Obama years, is shutting down….

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Facebook Offers News Outlets Millions of Dollars a Year to License Content – WSJ

ABC News was among the news outlets that received a pitch from Facebook to license their content. Photo: Kena Betancur/Getty Images Updated Aug. 8, 2019 4:31 pm ET Facebook Inc. FB 2.71% is offering news outlets millions of dollars for the rights to put their content in a news section that the company hopes to…

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