Via NiemanLab, this is a good piece of reporting on a sneaky and obscure part of the tech world. A company called Clickout Media is acquiring many of the sites that write about videogaming. After it acquires a site, Clickout turns it into a front for bitcoin and gambling.
Clickout’s specialty has a revealing name:
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The ‘gamblification’ of video game and e-sports websites takes advantage of a practice known as “Parasite SEO”, which is a way to “leverage the authority of an established website to rank for competitive keywords” on Google. In short, a company purchases or partners with high-ranking, trustworthy domains that Google surfaces in prominent spots of its search rankings. It begins adding lists and articles of the company’s choosing; in the case of GamesHub and other sites associated with Clickout Media, lists of gambling and crypto casinos.
The original website — the host — provides all of the benefits of high authority on Google, and the parasite gets a free ride. What that means is, depending on where you are in the world, when searching for “crypto casino”, you might find GamesHub on the first page of results, despite it having been a video games focused website for five years.
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It’s the tech equivalent of old Mafia fronts and shells. You get accustomed to seeing Joe’s Shoe Repair or Lee Ming’s Nail Parlor, so you’re not aware that the stores are really selling drugs or stolen stuff.
Substack seems to be following this path after a major “connection” with the Polymarket casino. A site with a reputation for literary sophistication becomes a money laundering front for insider trading on war. Not coincidentally, lots of neocons including Great Satan Bush himself have recently joined.
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Derived thought:
The article roused my curiosity about an odd difference. According to the article there are only a few gaming writers, so a company like Clickout can dominate the field more easily than the huge realm of football or soccer media.
Gaming is hugely popular. Football is hugely popular. Why the difference in media?
Participation. A large majority of kids and adults under 60 actively play videogames. Football is a pure spectator sport. Except for a few hundred employees of a dozen teams, nobody plays football. When you’re involved in playing a game or doing a job, you don’t need to learn about it by reading websites or watching TV.
Why is gaming more participative? First thought is inside vs outside. Second thought, that’s not the important variable.
Lots of people play basketball casually. The nearby school has a basketball hoop, and several neighbors have foldable hoops in front of their houses. I hear the bong of balls hitting a backboard all the time, and I hear balls dribbling down the street all the time. I’ve never seen a baseball bat or football. Nobody has a football goal or soccer net in their yard.
Why is basketball amenable to casual one-ended play in a yard or street while the other big games aren’t?
Vertical vs horizontal. Basketball is mainly a vertical game. It’s possible to have fun without running 300 feet or hitting a ball 300 feet. Long horizontal moves put the runner into someone else’s yard or the ball into someone else’s window.
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