Forum - View topicPreview Guide Sponsored Order
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10539 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Hello,
This post in is reference to the complaints in this thread. I've noted the many complaints about the order of Preview Guide reviews this season. When we proposed the Preview Guide sponsorship to Crunchyroll, one of the options we proposed was "your shows first." Crunchyroll liked that option and selected it from our menu. We've always offered the option to our sponsors, and it has been used in the past, although it's been a few years since the previous time. I was honestly not expecting all these complaints because we never had any complaints about it before. Normally, once something is sold, we can't go back on it. A contract is a contract. But given the significant number of complaints, we'll reach out to Crunchyroll to see if we can remove it, and if there is something else of equal value that we can offer them in its space. It may take a few days to sort out . As more and more of ANN's readers block ads on the site, it forces us to be more creative with the kinds of "integrated" (ie: not blockable) sponsorships that we implement on ANN. You will be seeing more of these in the future, but I hope that you do not find them as offensive as you found this. I would like to add that it is thanks to Crunchyroll's sponsorship of Preview Guide that we are able to double the size of this season's Preview Guide and do the second episodes. For anyone who feels that our editorial integrity has been compromised, I think that simply looking at the reviews should resolve that concern. We're still just as brutal with our reviews, regardless of whether or not the shows belong to our sponsors. Regards, Christopher Macdonald PS: Please note that I am flying to Tokyo tomorrow and have a long layover, so I may not be able to monitor and reply to this thread until Thursday. But we will be speaking to CR in the meantime. |
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Lily Garden
 Posts: 120 |
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Quick suggestion
Could you please change the color of the headings from light blue on a white background? It's hard for my eyes to make out the "on Crunchyroll" with the current color scheme. Also can you make the headings bigger? That would make it far easier to read. Thank you very much, I appreciate reading the preview guide every season! |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 3270 Location: Email for assistance only |
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Fixed. It's now a larger heading size and black. |
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Lily Garden
Posts: 120 |
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Thank you so much!
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unready
 Posts: 428 Location: Illinois, USA |
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Reverse chronological order (in practice left-to-right, bottom-to-top):
I prefer left-to-right, top-to-bottom, but it won't kill me if it's bottom-to-top. What was really annoying was last preview, where the order switched part-way through, so that the first reviews were in the middle of the list, proceeded toward the bottom, then restarted back at the middle and proceeded up. Pick one and stick to it. I'll deal with it. Crunchyroll vs the world: The sponsor wants its shows listed separately above the others. That's fine. My seasonal rage was exhausted by Necronomico (and the coming doom it ironically portends). Everything else is NBD. Last edited by unready on Mon Jul 07, 2025 11:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fluwm
Moderator
 Posts: 1625 |
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Personally, I don't follow the PGs closely enough to really notice when new shows are added, so to me they've always been in what was, effectively a random order. Once all the reviews have been added (which is generally when I start looking into the seasonal shows) I don't think it much matters how they're arranged.
Anyway, someone suggested color-coding the CR shows in the PG talkback, which I think is a neat idea -- especially if each streamer gets its own color -- but I wonder if maybe it might be clearer and easier to just segregate the PG into categories based on which streaming service they're on? Then each category can maintain whatever sorting (reverse-chronological or whatever) works best, and it'd be easier for viewers to tell-at-a-glance which shows they may want to look into, and why they may not, based on what platforms they have access to. |
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NeedMoreCats
 Subscriber Posts: 353 Location: Westchester, NY |
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It was a very different landscape back then, a much more level playing field. I think that’s what people are responding to. Crunchyroll is such a big monopoly—backed by all that Sony money and clout—that it kinda feels like the big bully kicking sand in the little guy’s face. It feels unfair, and even a bit mean-spirited. Now that the landscape is so different, maybe you should no longer offer the “your shows first” option to sponsors. Perhaps instead offer a carousel highlighting their best shows, or a photo collage, or a video compilation at the top of the preview guide. Just some ideas off the top of my head. I’m sure you don’t need them. But as I mentioned in the preview guide comments, I’d be delighted if, moving forward, you added streamer info to the preview thumbnails for quick reference. Anyway, just my two cents. Thanks for making this thread for us to voice our opinions. |
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Mr. Mosty-Toasty
 Posts: 30 |
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The reason that I find the new order of the previews particularly jarring and worthy of complaint is that it appeared to be reordered several days after the preview guide had started, making it seem kind of gross. They seemed to be arranged in a reverse chronological order at first, but now some of the later premiering shows are being added to what is essentially the bottom of the list, instead of the top.
It would have been one thing if it had been ordered that way from the start (and maybe announced in the introductory text)—I wouldn't have loved it personally, but I would understand, since it's a sponsorship, and I would know what to expect—but changing it like that partway through makes it seem suspect. It seemed like additional interference by the sponsor after the fact. It also gives the appearance of undermining Lynzee's assurance at the beginning of the preview guide discussion thread that sponsorships will never compromise your review coverage. Just to be clear, I'm inclined to trust what Lynzee said, and in the time that I've been visiting ANN I've never thought that the team were writing anything but their unvarnished opinions on the shows that they cover. What happened here when it did just made it seem like the sponsor trying to influence that coverage by other means. |
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Dr. Wily
Posts: 868 |
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@Mr. Mosty-Toasty
Agreed 100% on all your points. There definitely was no separation at the start, at least that I noticed. If there was the whole time, maybe I'm the fool, but I only noticed when people in the other thread mentioned "There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless...", and I was a mite puzzled because I hadn't seen that review go up, since typically I only look at the top row or two to see what new reviews pop up instead of scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page. I get the need to make money and I get that "your shows first" was the deal made with CR, and frankly that's fine by me, it's the fact that the separation/reordering was implemented after the fact that rubbed me the wrong way. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25610 |
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I guess I'm out of step with a lot of other ANN posters but I am not bothered by anything surrounding Crunchyroll's sponsorship of the Preview Guide or any other facet of how they may be financially contributing to ANN. I agree it would have been good to know right from the start that CR titles would be listed first and other platforms below them. That information should be stated right in the introductory paragraphs of the Preview so everybody knows right away how things are organized.
Given the fact that most previewed titles come from CR, organizationally, I don't think it's a big deal if those shows are separated out and listed first. With respect to perceived bias, I certainly haven't seen any evidence with my own eyes that ANN Previewers are giving CR titles an easier ride. Of course, in a perfect world, a news/review site would never have to accept revenue from companies that it reports on or reviews its products, but this kind of media arrangement has existed from the moment the first newspaper accepted advertising revenue from companies. This is nothing new. |
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db999
Posts: 440 |
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After reading the response I don't necessarily think its a problem, but if this is going to happen in the future the following should be done. It should happen at the beginning of the guide and not partway through so it's not confusing. The intro paragraph should note the change and the reason why for transparency purposes. And the other streaming sites shouldn't just be listed as other streaming services. The other shows should be listed by what site they're on just like the sponsors shows are but lower on the page.
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b-dragon
Posts: 631 |
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Presenting Crunchyroll shows first is...unfortunate when claiming a lack of bias- there is, after all, a reason that's what they want. But I understand and can accept the rationale- we all have to pay bills.
I think the execution is my issue. Changing the format midway through the preview "season" was not good. Classifying all non-Crunchyroll shows as "Other" is neither helpful nor an effective rebuttal against the perception of bias. If instead, it was consistently ordered like this, with a note at the top saying that "this season, we're separating shows by platform," I think it would have been less jarring. There would still be concerns and complaints- this is the internet. But I think it would have gone across better. I don't expect it to change for this season. Or next, honestly. The contract is signed, and expectations set. But clarity and consistency are always critical for change. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3270 Location: Email for assistance only |
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The original descending chronological order is now restored. We hope readers find the orange border around CR platform shows less intrusive.
Thank you! |
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Magnus76
Posts: 2 |
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Thank you! It's always great to see that some actually do listen to feedback.
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Mr. Mosty-Toasty
Posts: 30 |
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I appreciate it!
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