[arbuge]

It's good research but whatever you think about the value of the content on those sites, I think the word "fake" in the headline is misleading clickbait.

These sites are officially linked to from the parents (CNN and USA Today in this case), with whom they no doubt have a revenue-sharing agreement. They're very real in all senses of the word. The third party in question (Forbes marketplace) is not trying to fraudulently set up some parallel CNN and USA Today websites without their authorization.