Vox Media

Walmart-backed gaming site lays off editorial team

Restart.run, a gaming news site launched in December 2024 by agency Moonrock with disclosed funding from Walmart, laid off its entire editorial team in mid‑August 2026 (reported by editor‑in‑chief Brandy Berthelson via social posts around August 12–13). The exact number affected is unclear: the site's staff page lists ten names but appears to include freelancers. Restart used partner‑tracking purchase links that point to Walmart’s e‑commerce site and says those links provide 0% commission while enabling referral tracking. Walmart and Moonrock did not respond to requests for comment. The companies have not confirmed whether the cuts were due to underperformance, a funding withdrawal, or other reasons; industry observers cited broader pressures on games journalism, including AI‑driven search changes and publishers’ direct‑to‑consumer strategies.

Publishers Pull Back from Google AI Search

Publishers and creators are reacting differently to the rise of AI-driven search: several publishers and publisher-facing services are preparing to block or delist crawlers used for search indexing and AI training, while some creators are leaning into AI search exposure. Beginning September 15, Cloudflare’s site-security software will default to blocking such crawlers for new publishers and free-tier users; publishers using Cloudflare include Financial Times, Condé Nast and The Atlantic. USA Today and creator network Beehiiv told Adweek they were preparing to delist Google. Google has been increasing AI investment even as its search and ads arm still grows; the company reported roughly $5.9 billion negative free cash flow. Studies cited show publishers receive a small share of AI-referral traffic, and companies including OpenAI and Microsoft are licensing publisher content or building publisher marketplaces.

DOOH Opportunities in Women’s Sports

The article (and accompanying The Big Story podcast episode) discusses rising viewership in women’s sports and growing interest from publishers, advertisers and tech vendors to capitalize on that momentum via channels like digital out-of-home (DOOH). It highlights the Women’s Sports Index — created by sports agency Deep Blue and data analytics platform Mondo Metrics — as a tool for brands to track engagement and purchase intent. Examples cited include Sweetgreen running ads via Atmosphere TV during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Blacksheep using digital billboards to criticize Google, and HelloFresh running AI-driven creative on Times Square digital billboards. The piece frames women’s sports fans as community-driven and different from men’s sports fans.