---
title: "Guy Buys The Hairpin’s Domain, Proudly Turns It Into AI-Powered Zombie Content Mill"
description: "A Serbian deejay turned cybersquatter bought The Hairpin domain and is now using it to post AI-generated garbage content."
date: "2024-01-28"
modified: "2024-01-28"
authors:
  - name: "Sharon Adarlo"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/sadarlo"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hairpin-domain-ai-content"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "ai"
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "the digest"
  - "the hairpin"
---

# Guy Buys The Hairpin’s Domain, Proudly Turns It Into AI-Powered Zombie Content Mill

![A Serbian deejay turned cybersquatter bought The Hairpin domain and is now using it to post AI-generated garbage content.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/hairpin-domain-ai-content.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

## AI Sludge

*The Hairpin* was a beloved women's and culture website that gave rise to brand name writers like Jia Tolentino and Jazmine Hughes [until it shut down in 2018](<https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/16/16899140/the-awl-hairpin-shuts-down-amid-downturn-web-publishing>).

But now it churns out [nonsensical AI-generated slime](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/internet-ai-generated-slime>) after a Serbian DJ turned cybersquatter snatched up the domain when the original owners accidentally let it expire, [*Wired* reports](<https://www.wired.com/story/plaintext-hairpin-blog-ai-clickbait-farm/?redirectURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fplaintext-hairpin-blog-ai-clickbait-farm%2F>).

Nebojša Vujinović Vujo, the new website owner, told *Wired* in an interview that he had bought *The Hairpin* domain because it had a "great reputation and excellent backlinks."

Backlinks are when [another site links back to your site](<https://mailchimp.com/resources/what-is-backlinking-and-why-is-it-important-for-seo/#:~:text=Backlinks%20in%20SEO%20improve%20your,can%20rank%20for%20search%20terms.>), and they serve as the equivalent of endorsements in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). Having lots of high-quality backlinks boost a website's rankings when people search for specific content on Google.

Vujo's move basically made the website into a spammy site for clickbait, with inane and lurid content like "Dream Interpretation: Dying Fathers and Falling Cars" and "Celebrities All Have Little Real Teeth Under Their Big Fake Teeth."

In other words, how the mighty have fallen.

## Spam and Eggs

Vujo says he's snatched up more than 2,000 websites with the same intent, telling *Wired* that it's a "common thing on the internet today."

Vujo and his acquisition of *The Hairpin* basically exemplifies all that is bad and rotten about today's internet: [garbage search engine results](<https://fortune.com/2024/01/18/why-is-google-search-so-bad-spam-links-seo-ai-algorithm/>) that are a result of [SEO manipulation](<https://www.theverge.com/features/23931789/seo-search-engine-optimization-experts-google-results>) and the proliferation of [AI-generated spam content](<https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/05/16/the-danger-of-ai-content-farms/?sh=30dc42c64fca>).

The problem that arises from these spammy clickbait websites is when [legitimate advertisements](<https://www.newsguardtech.com/misinformation-monitor/june-2023/>) are displayed alongside garbage AI-generated content, which could be interpreted as a form of fraud. But Vujo is just exploiting an inefficiency that's out in the open and milking it for all its worth.

It's a sad state of affairs — especially as even legitimate news outlets such as *Sports Illustrated* have been caught [red handed posting AI-generated content](<https://futurism.com/sports-illustrated-publisher-fires-ceo>).

There's no easy fix to these overlapping problems, but we are definitely in for a bumpy ride online.

**More on AI content:** [*Sports Illustrated Publisher Laying Off Staff After AI Scandal*](<https://futurism.com/sports-illustrated-layoffs-ai>)