The Rise of AI Zombie Blogs

Between 2004 and 2015, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) was one of the most popular sources of news about Apple. Its closure by AOL was a sad moment for many in the tech world.

However, as Jason Koebler at 404 Media reported in a recent article, the site has unexpectedly returned. Unfortunately, it’s not because a new buyer has decided to resurrect the brand. Instead, it’s because an advertising company purchased it and has filled it with AI-generated “rewrites” of the original content.

According to the new site’s About Us page, Web Orange Limited purchased the domain and the name from Yahoo IP Holdings this year. However, by their admission, the deal was “without its original content.” Unfortunately, that has not stopped them from using the content, albeit with AI rewriting.

The news is even worse for the reporters who worked on the site. Though the new site features AI-generated images, the names of the reporters are still included in the bylines.

This particularly angered Christina Warren, who took To Threads to vent her frustration:

Post by @film_girl

View on Threads

However, it’s not just TUAW. Jay Peters and Sean Hollister at The Verge noted that iLounge has received similar treatment. iLounge is similar to TUAW in that it’s an unofficial Apple news site. It, too, has been brought back by Web Orange Limited and is similarly filled with AI writing.

So what is going on and why? The answer is remarkably simple: Money

How do Zombie Blogs Work?

The Verge article highlights an example of how the new version of TUAW rewrote the original content. When discussing a change to the iOS keyboard layout, the original article by Erica Sadun read as follows:

Today, as 7.1 rolled in, major complainage could be heard echoing through the TUAW back channels. “OMG,” the afflicted cried, “The world is at an end — Apple has redesigned the shift key icons!” Our very own Dave Caolo even wrote about the change, saying that “It’s a good change overall but will take some getting used to.”

Original TUAW Article, Archived on Engadget

Now, here’s the “new” version, attributed to “Matthew Wilson”:

As version 7.1 was unveiled today, there was a noticeable stir among the TUAW team. “OMG,” they exclaimed, “The end is nigh — Apple has revamped the shift key icons!” Our colleague Dave Caolo commented on the update, noting, “It’s a positive adjustment but it’ll require some getting used to.”

New, AI-Rewritten Version

The rewrite is pitifully obvious. The “new” article feels closer to a spun article than a rewritten one, AI or otherwise. It’s so close that it is clearly a derivative work of the original, likely amounting to a copyright infringement. However, even if it isn’t an infringement, it is definitely plagiarism.

However, spam blogs, including AI-generated blogs, are a dime a dozen. Why go through the extra trouble to purchase a once-popular but long-defunct domain? The answer is that it works.

Why Revive Dead Blogs?

To be clear, there’s no universal way that spam blogs seek to make money. Some use display ads, some try to game search engine ranking with outgoing links, and others use affiliate programs. There are as many schemes as spam blogs.

But the vast majority of spam blogs don’t revive dead websites. Or, if they do, they seek lesser-known ones. Why revive beloved brands like TUAW and iLoader?

As many have guessed, much of the motivation is likely search engine optimization (SEO). Google and other search engines still likely have some trust for these domains, even if they’ve been defunct for years.

Though Google has repeatedly said it is cracking down on AI spam, a report earlier this month by Reece Rogers at Wired shows that, at the very least, it’s not going according to plan. As we saw in September, that is nothing new.

Buying a well-loved and trusted name like TUAW or iLoader gives you an edge over the other AI spammers. With SEO, even small edges can make a big difference.

But it likely goes beyond just the domain. TUAW was alive during the heyday of RSS reading and RSS linking. When I analyzed some articles from the site, I noticed that the latest TUAW articles are getting links from sites like this or this, long-dormant sites that use RSS to update outbound links in the sidebar.

While there doesn’t appear to be many of these sites, once again, even a slight advantage can make a big difference.

That leads to the most critical question: What can be done about it?

What Can Be Done About It?

We’ve already established that the “new” version of TUAW likely violates the original’s copyright. The obvious solution would be to file a takedown notice or, failing that, a lawsuit.

Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen.

Though Warren and others have every right to be frustrated, they were employees when they wrote the articles and were never the copyright holders. Though it’s difficult to know who it is, Yahoo is most likely the owner. They both own Engadget, where the content is hosted, and are where Web Orange Limited claims to have purchased the name.

However, Yahoo is unlikely to invest much energy in protecting the content from a site that went defunct nearly a decade ago. To make matters worse, the new version of TUAW uses Cloudflare. That makes it impossible to know where it is hosted without filing a takedown notice.

According to 404 Media, Web Orange Limited is based in Hong Kong. This makes filing a lawsuit expensive and time-consuming. Once again, Yahoo would unlikely pick such a fight.

The reporters may be able to sue over the use of their names. However, the site has already changed some names, including changing “Christina Warren” to “Mary Brown.” Even if the site doesn’t change the names, reporters would face the same issues of trying to sue a company based in Hong Kong.

As Warren told The Verge, “You have to choose your battles.”

Bottom Line

In an ideal world, this would not be a problem. Sites like this would pop up but never gain traction or earn any money. They would quietly disappear with no one the wiser.

However, as we’ve seen, the world is far from ideal. Google has proven either unwilling or unable to address the issue. As such, sites like this have a good shot at turning a profit.

That, ultimately, is the problem. As long as there is a path to profit, sites like this will crop up regularly. The legality and the ethics do not matter.

However, that is nothing new. Spam websites and spam blogs have been around for decades. One of the first articles I wrote for this site in 2005 was about spam blogs. The only thing that has changed is that generative AI has made it easier to create such sites and harder to detect and stop them.

These tactics aren’t new. They are just more emboldened and more harmful, thanks to generative AI.

That isn’t likely to change any time soon.