ClickOut Media and the Replacement of Editorial Teams with AI Content: A PressGazette Investigation

PressGazette: ClickOut Media (Finixio) acquires entire networks of websites from respected publications and replaces the entire editorial team with AI-generated content

The authoritative British publication PressGazette delves into the concept of parasitic SEO in its investigation.

Journalists refer to testimonies from former employees of well-known publications recently acquired by ClickOut Media.

Former employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that after the acquisition, news portals typically follow a similar funnel: initially, content continues to be produced by editors who transitioned to the new company with the project, but later the entire editorial team is replaced with AI-generated content, and people are simply laid off.

Moreover, negotiations for media acquisitions are often conducted under conditions of total secrecy. Even the seller does not know until the last moment who they are selling their creation to.

According to former employees, the company currently operates around 300 active websites, including the well-known iGaming media GamblingInsider.com (now Global Gaming Insider), acquired last November for £12-14m. Since then, one of the most respected and oldest publications in the industry has undergone rebranding, adding top lists with forecast platforms and unlicensed online casinos focusing on the states.

A similar fate awaited the projects CasinoBeats and Esport Insider, acquired from SBC in 2024. Their current status can be assessed at least through Ahrefs.

ClickOut Media is no longer hunting for drops at auctions but is acquiring entire media companies and editorial teams for its purposes.

It is evident that sooner or later, Google will eliminate such sites, albeit quite slowly. As a result, long-established, reputable media outlets die within a few months, while ClickOut Media leaves them behind and moves on to other sites.

According to employees, at the time of transitioning to ClickOut, their salary was around $1,200 per month for 8 articles a day. This is, of course, a pittance for such a workload, but even this stability for editorial staff turned out to be short-lived.