Red Ventures is an American media company that owns and operates brands such as Lonely Planet, The Points Guy, Healthline, and Bankrate.

[26] This gave the company ownership of publications including GameSpot, Metacritic, TV Guide, Chowhound, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, Cord Cutters News, Comic Vine, and ZDNET.

[36] In May 2023, Red Ventures agreed to pay the United States $2.75 million to resolve a whistleblower's allegations that they violated the False Claims Act[37] by underpaying on contracts connected to the USPS change-of-address process.

[38] On August 6, 2024, The New York Times reported that Red Ventures was selling the CNET Media Group for $100 million to Ziff Davis, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.

[39] In 2023, The Verge described the business model of the company as "publish[ing] content designed to rank highly in Google search for "high-intent" queries and ... monet[izing] that traffic with lucrative affiliate links".

[41] The characterization came after the website Futurism found several articles published by Red Ventures properties, including CNET, were quietly written by artificial intelligence software,[42] with the stories containing numerous inaccuracies and instances of plagiarism.

[44][45] Futurism additionally highlighted undisclosed AI-generated, SEO-focused content produced by Red Ventures's education division (internally RV EDU).