ZDNet (Red Ventures) Works for Microsoft (Redmond), Many Of Its Pages Are Spam/Advertisements Paid for by Microsoft
As we've just noted.
Here is the "smoking gun" (the first example I found was... surprise, surprise... Microsoft... without any disclosure until the very end of the page):
Further down:
ZDNet is nothing short of a Microsoft propaganda site. Links to ZDNet convey no actual credibility. Many of the pages are just ads. The remaining "writers" are sponsored by (i.e. beholden to) Microsoft and it shows. Even as early as days ago, never mind earlier than that.
Does Wikipedia still link to ZDNet? Does it take money from Microsoft and Bill Gates? Yes, yes, and yes. Welcome to the "modern" Web.