Trash Stage 4
Fandom hosts wikis written by unpaid fans and earns from the traffic. It has since built AI ad targeting on readers’ behaviour (2025). When a community leaves, Fandom keeps the old wiki online, and its search ranking with it, which makes leaving costly. Large wikis have left anyway: League of Legends (2024) and GTA (2026). Extraction, lock-in and suppliers leaving. Stage 4.
- Since
- 2004
- Category
- Reference
- VC-backed
- Yes
- Public
- No
- Website
- fandom.com
The promise
Its first promise, and how much is kept · Scoring
55% kept
“Welcome to Wikia, a collection of communities with websites that you can edit.”
Why it’s rated 4
The criteria it meets, with sources · Method
- Alignment 0 of 3
- None
- Lock-in 1 of 4
-
- L1 Network or reputation
- Extraction 1 of 7
-
- E5 Data grab Aug 11, 2025
- Decline 1 of 3
-
- D2 Suppliers leaving Oct 10, 2024 Mar 17, 2026
Result Extraction that meets the stage 3 test, plus at least one decline criterion, so stage 4.
News signals
Sourced reporting, tagged by strategy
Mar 17, 2026
The GTA Wiki leaves Fandom over ads, forced videos and loss of control
Creator squeezeAd expansion
Aug 11, 2025
Fandom launches Momentum, AI ad targeting built on readers’ behavioural signals
Ad expansionData enclosure
Oct 30, 2024
Fandom lays off 11% of staff
Investor pressure
Oct 10, 2024