Ben Touati left Esports Insider in March. Months later, 28 casino articles appeared under his byline, and he says he did not write them.
Press Gazette reported that the articles ran on Esports Insider’s German-language sites. Their last-updated dates ranged from May 15 to July 14, 2026.
Touati said Clickout Media revoked his access March 9. He said he was no longer employed after March 23.
“I never wrote or touched any of it, and couldn’t have,” Touati told Press Gazette.
The case sits within a broader investigation into Clickout Media and websites linked to the U.K.-based search engine optimization company. Clickout told Press Gazette that it does not own Esports Insider.
However, multiple employees told the publication that Clickout ran the site. Online material also connects Esports Insider with Clickout and its legal entity, Finixio.
At least five Esports Insider writers appear to have lost jobs or freelance positions, according to Press Gazette. Their work was replaced in part by an “ESI Editorial Team” byline.
Articles under that byline received 100% AI-generated scores from Pangram. AI detectors are probabilistic and cannot independently prove how a story was produced.
The byline description says the newsroom uses “automation, data tools, and emerging reporting technologies.” It says those tools support research, monitoring, verification and faster coverage.
Press Gazette also examined Gambling Insider, another publication associated with Clickout. Journalists there described staff cuts after Google penalized the site in September.
The publication also carries promotional casino articles that appear to contain AI-generated material. Some include human-written introductions, according to the report.
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Clickout’s business model centers heavily on search traffic and gambling affiliate revenue. Press Gazette reported that Gambling Insider may have cost as much as £14 million.
Affiliate operators can receive a share of gambling losses from customers they refer. That makes search visibility particularly valuable for sites publishing casino-related content.
The report also describes the use of established websites to rank affiliate material highly in search results. The practice is often called parasite SEO.
Finixio’s financial filings provide additional context on the company’s recent performance. It reported turnover of £1.97 million for the year ending September 2025, down sharply from earlier levels.
The company also reported a £1.7 million loss. Its accounts said all employees were terminated at the end of 2024.
Those figures do not establish why individual journalists lost work or why AI-generated material appeared on particular sites.
Touati’s case raises a separate issue around bylines and attribution. He objected to material appearing under his name after his departure.
The source does not describe what legal or contractual options former writers have in such situations.
For editors and reporters, the practical lesson is narrower. A byline may not always guarantee that the named journalist wrote or approved the current version of an article.
That makes it worth checking publication dates, update histories and whether the journalist still works for the outlet.
