I’d expect some serious and public pushback from GMG staff at some point; they don’t usually hesitate to bite the hand that feeds them. I recall them publishing at least one article heavily critical of former owner Univision before the sale.
This strategy also won’t improve the quality of site content-- which is already less than it was. Io9 is a shadow of its former self, and I haven’t been around the AVClub for long, but regulars there complain too.
And those 
autoplay videos! I try to scrollpast quickly enough to prevent them starting, or pause them once they start. They are still incredibly annoying. I’m searching for a mobile browser extention to kill them dead; I’ll be a much happier camper once I find it.
