It's still relevant with mainstream news publications. If you find yourself reading a, e.g., WSJ article and it sounds like an advertisement, it most likely is, however indirectly.
For a modern and very transparent version of this, look for the term "coffee badging", which seems to have been invented sometime in mid-2023. Based on quotes in the (very similar) first articles mentioning the term, I think it came from a PR effort by Owl Labs, makers of an expensive camera/mic setup for Zoom.
6 comments
[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 20.6 ms ] threadIt's submitted a fair amount but only two submissions have any comments.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13993
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39903393
This did not age well! :)