Consumerist.com is dead

Farewell, website:
https://consumerist.com/2017/10/30/please-pardon-the-interruption/

We here at Manic News will NEVER shut down. Not until the sun turns into a red giant and swallows the Earth whole.  Then we'll shut down.

The Mystery of Semanal Media

Yesterday, news emerged that LA Weekly will be sold to Semanal Media, LLC. No one seems to know who's behind Semanal Media, although I'm more curious about who registered the domain "SemanalMedia.com."

The domain was registered last night between 9 and 10 P.M. EST, and for a few hours Google Domains included a name, e-mail address, physical address and phone number which corresponded to a specific person in California.

I e-mailed the supposed registrant and jokingly congratulated him on buying LA Weekly, and he responded with: "???"  I recapped the situation, and he said in a reply that "Weekly" was not his, and that he had "no idea about that."

I then pointed out that a couple other domains had been registered using the same name, e-mail address and phone number as were used for SemanalMedia.com, and I asked if he had registered those two earlier domains.  (For the record, I realize the information supplied on WhoIs forms is not 100% reliable, but if we're going to solve this mystery then we should all work together.)

He replied: "Weird.. thanks for the heads up"

The Newsweek network, part 6: The 33 Universal sites

33 Universal is the publisher of a variety of niche-interest websites  The company has a very "Marketing 101" feel to it, because each property is aimed at a different demographic.  And the company homepage (33Universal.com) appeals directly to advertisers:

"Highly-Related Brands" 

"Serving Loyal Consumer Audiences" 

"Reach Targeted Visitors Using High Impact Units and More"

In a 2014 essay on Medium, Ben Reeves described his experience working at IBTimes, and he said IBTimes "acquired" 33 Universal back in 2012.  Reeves didn't go into detail about which brands were part of the 33 Universal portfolio.  He only mentioned that there were 19 brands.  Of course, I wanted to figure out which brands are (or were) part of the 33 Universal portfolio.

One strategy would have been to look at the domains that used "info@33universal.com" as their administrative or registrant contact address.  The drawback with that strategy is that it could result in false positives.  For instance, TechTimes.com (profiled in Part 1) used "info@33universal.com" as its admin e-mail address in early 2013, but I don't think the website officially launched until the fall of 2013, which was after Tech Times LLC was formed.  Another website that used "info@33universal.com" was ChesterCo.com, which is the homepage for a construction company in upstate New York.  Clearly, a construction company is not the same thing as a niche-interest news site.

Instead, I looked at archived pages of 33Universal.com and copied down the exact URLs from the "Properties" page as well as from the homepage.

Two of the sites were already mentioned in Part 2:  DesignNTrend.com and FashionNStyle.com (as part of Fashion Times LLC).  Another site was mentioned in Part 3:  Latinospost.com (as part of Latin Post Company LLC).

Here are the 21 others:

1. AutoWorldNews.com -- No updates since August, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is: One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 750, San Francisco.

2. BooksNReview.com -- The "Featured Articles" on the homepage are from December, 2016.  However, the site's archives are packed with hundreds of posts from 2017 containing Amazon links.

3. CounselHeal.com -- No updates since August, 2017.  Articles are embedded with videos from Newsweek Media Group.  The address on the Contact page is 30 Broad Street,14th Floor.

4. FoodNRecipe.com  -- The articles on the homepage are from September, 2012.  The address on the Contact page is: 7 Hanover Square, 6th Floor, New York.

5. FoodWorldNews.com -- Articles on the homepage are from May, 2016, however the archives contain SEO articles on various topics.  The articles on FoodWorldNews.com are embedded with videos from Vuuo, which is a video-hosting platform created in 2015.  When I checked these sites last month, every single "Vuuo" video played a short ad for Joy, the 2015 movie starring Jennifer Lawrence.  It was like entering a time warp.  But as of yesterday, the Vuuo boxes were glitching, and they all showed a static screenshot from Selena Gomez's music video "Bad Liar."

6. FranchiseHerald.com -- Articles on the homepage are from February, 2017, and they are embedded with Vuuo boxes.  The address on the contact page is: 1133 Broadway, New York.  Franchise Herald is partners with Uwannit, which is a commerce site filled with links to Amazon.com products.  The archives section contains a bunch of SEO articles.     

7. GamenGuide.com -- No updates since August, 2017.  Articles are embedded with videos from Newsweek Media Group.  The address on the Contact page is: 115 E 57th Street, 11th Floor, New York City.

8. HNGN.com -- No updates since August, 2017.  Articles are embedded with videos from Newsweek Media Group.  The address on the About page is: 40 Wall Street, Flr 28, New York.

9. JobsNHire.com -- No updates since March, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is: 1350 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York City.

10. LawyerHerald.com -- No updates since April, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is: 40 Wall St., New York, NY 10005

11. MobileNApps.com -- No updates since May, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is: 30 Broad Street, 14th Floor, New York.

12. MomIsBest.com -- Defunct site.

13. NatureNPlanet.com  -- Defunct site.  The address on an archived Contact page from 2012 was 33 Whitehall Street, 7th Floor New York.

14. NatureWorldNews.com -- No updates since September, 2017.  Articles are embedded with videos from Newsweek Media Group.  The address on the Contact page is: 1441 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York City.

15. ParentHerald.com -- No updates since May, 2017.  Articles are embedded with videos from Newsweek Media Group.  The address on the Contact page is: 1441 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York City.

16. RealEstateNNews.com -- Defunct site.  In 2012, the URL would automatically redirect to iRealtyTimes.com.

17. ScienceNReview.com -- Defunct site.  From 2012 to 2014, the URL would automatically redirect to ScienceWorldReport.com.

18. ScienceWorldReport.com -- No updates since July, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is 1350 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York City.

19. SportsWorldReport.com -- Articles in the "Latest News" section are from January, 2017, however the Archives section contains several SEO articles--some posted as recently as September.  The articles on SportsWorldReport.com are embedded with Vuuo boxes.  Furthermore, the posts in the "Latest News" section just consist of short excerpts taken from other news sites, followed by a link to the full article:

20. TravelersToday.com -- No updates since June, 2017.  The address on the Contact page is: One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 750, San Francisco.

21. UniversityDailyNews.com -- Defunct site.  The address from a Contact page in 2012 was 33 Whitehall street, 7th Floor, New York.  In 2013 and 2014, the URL would automatically redirect to UniversityHerald.com.

Rdbee.com

Come on, Rdbee.com, who are you trying to fool?

Your post from October 14 is titled: "Glasgow scientists launch teacake into space."

A BBC article from October 13 is titled: "Glasgow scientists launch teacake into space."

Your opening:

Thousands of people have watched a teacake voyage into space in a fun experiment. 

The launch was carried out by a team at Glasgow Science Centre (GSC), aimed at sparking people’s “imagination” in science and technology.

A camera attached to a hydrogen weather balloon broadcast Facebook Live images that were watched 33,000 times.

The opening from BBC:

Thousands of people have watched a teacake voyage into space in a fun experiment. 

The launch was carried out by a team at Glasgow Science Centre (GSC), aimed at sparking people's "imagination" in science and technology. 

A camera attached to a hydrogen weather balloon broadcast Facebook Live images that were watched 33,000 times.

You're using somebody else's content, combined with AdChoices?  That's just sketchy.

Techhgee.com

Come on, Techhgee.com, who are you trying to fool?

Your post from October 14 is titled: "Abortion should not be crime, says doctors’ union."

A BBC article from June 27, 2017, is titled: "Abortion should not be crime, says doctors' union."

Your opening:

Doctors have backed decriminalizing abortion, as momentum gathers to overhaul the 1967 Abortion Act. 

Currently women in England and Wales have to prove to a doctor that carrying on with the pregnancy is detrimental to health or well being to get permission for a termination.

Without permission, abortion is a criminal offence.

The opening from BBC:

Doctors have backed decriminalising abortion, as momentum gathers to overhaul the 1967 Abortion Act. 

Currently women in England and Wales have to prove to a doctor that carrying on with the pregnancy is detrimental to health or wellbeing to get permission for a termination. 

Without permission, abortion is a criminal offence. 

You're using somebody else's content, combined with AdChoices?  That's just sketchy.

Peqons.com

Come on, Peqons.com, who are  you trying to fool?

Your article from earlier in October is titled: "This 22-Year-Old Is Already An Engineer With NASA."

A HuffPost article from February 3 is titled: "This 22-Year-Old Is Already An Engineer With NASA.'

Your opening:

Tiera Guinn is just 22 years old and she’s already working with NASA.  

As a Rocket Structural Design and Analysis Engineer for the Space Launch System that aerospace company Boeing is building for NASA, Guinn designs and analyzes parts of a rocket that she said will be one of the biggest and most powerful in history. 

The opening from HuffPost:

Tiera Guinn is just 22 years old and she’s already working with NASA.  

As a Rocket Structural Design and Analysis Engineer for the Space Launch System that aerospace company Boeing is building for NASA, Guinn designs and analyzes parts of a rocket that she said will be one of the biggest and most powerful in history. 

You're using somebody else's content, combined with AdChoices?  That's just sketchy.

BloomsMag.com

Come on, BloomsMag.com, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from October 10, 2017, is titled: "A Philosopher’s 350-Year-Old Trick To Get People To Change Their Minds Is Now Backed Up By Psychologists."

A Quartz article from September 11, 2016, is titled: "A philosopher’s 350-year-old trick to get people to change their minds is now backed up by psychologists."

Your first paragraph:

The 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal is perhaps best known for Pascal’s Wager which, in the first formal use of decision theory, argued that believing in God is the most pragmatic decision. But it seems the French thinker also had a knack for psychology. As Brain Pickings points out, Pascal set out the most effective way to get someone to change their mind, centuries before experimental psychologists began to formally study persuasion:

The first paragraph from Quartz:

The 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal is perhaps best known for Pascal’s Wager which, in the first formal use of decision theory, argued that believing in God is the most pragmatic decision. But it seems the French thinker also had a knack for psychology. As Brain Pickings points out, Pascal set out the most effective way to get someone to change their mind, centuries before experimental psychologists began to formally study persuasion:

You're using someone else's content, and you've got ads from AdChoices on your site, too?  That's just sketchy.

StarlingCity.co.uk

Come on, StarlingCity.co.uk, who are you trying to fool?

Your post from October 9 is titled: "J.J. Watt apologizes to Texans fans, Houston after devastating leg injury."

A CBS Sports article from October 9 is titled: "J.J. Watt apologizes to Texans fans, Houston after devastating leg injury."

Your first paragraph:

J.J. Watt was injured in the first quarter of the Houston Texans’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. While attempting to tackle Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, Watt went down with a knee injury that we later learned was a tibial plateau fracture. He was carted off the field and eventually taken to the hospital. 

The first paragraph from CBS Sports:

J.J. Watt was injured in the first quarter of the Houston Texans' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. While attempting to tackle Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, Watt went down with a knee injury that we later learned was a tibial plateau fracture. He was carted off the field and eventually taken to the hospital.

You're using someone else's content, and you've got ads from AdChoices on your site, too?  That's just sketchy.

SouthernMirror.com

Did you hear about the doomsday prepper in Blue Springs, Missouri, who died after accidentally setting off his own booby trap?  What about the doomsday prepper in Monroe, Tennessee, who died after accidentally set off his own booby trap?

Both stories appeared on SouthernMirror.com.  In each story, the prepper was a  46-year-old man named Doug Curtis.  The same story also appeared on JacksonTelegraph.com, although the setting for that version was Jackson, Mississippi.

Obviously, SouthernMirror.com is a fake news site.  It's one in a long string of them.

StarlingClubs.info

Come on, StarlingClubs.info, who are you trying to fool?

Your article from October 10 is titled, "Star Trek: Discovery Cast Want Trump to Watch the Series."

A ScreenRant post from October 10 is titled, "Star Trek: Discovery Cast Want Trump to Watch the Series."

Your opening:

The cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery is keen for President Donald Trump to watch their show, as it turns out. It’s easy to imagine the POTUS finding an affinity for Jason Isaacs’ Captain Lorca, the morally questionable “wartime leader” who leads the eponymous U.S.S. Discovery. 

Some have questioned what Lorca is hiding, and wondered whether he is the true villain of the piece, despite his status as an authority figure on the side of the supposed good guys.

The opening from ScreenRant:

The cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery is keen for President Donald Trump to watch their show, as it turns out. It’s easy to imagine the POTUS finding an affinity for Jason Isaacs’ Captain Lorca, the morally questionable “wartime leader” who leads the eponymous U.S.S. Discovery. Some have questioned what Lorca is hiding, and wondered whether he is the true villain of the piece, despite his status as an authority figure on the side of the supposed good guys.

You're using someone else's content, and you've got AdChoices to boot?  That's just sketchy.