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The ad companies making money off of obituary spam


A new report tracks down the ad firms that profit from junk.

As The Verge reported in February, the obituaries — which often appear to be AI-generated — target everyday people, not just celebrities, and are written to extract clicks and subsequent ad revenue from readers. Sylver’s mother, Nancy Arnold, told Check My Ads that she discovered dozens of similar sites with fake obituaries — including some that reported inaccurate details about where her son grew up, what his hobbies were, and how he died. Ryan Levitt, TripleLiftʼs vice president of communications, told Check My Ads the company plans to update its terms to make clear AI obituary spam is prohibited.

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