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Ars Technica publishes every article with two titles; there’s an A/B test in the first few minutes after an article is published, after which the one with bette
by oefrha 6y ago
Ars Technica publishes every article with two titles; there’s an A/B test in the first few minutes after an article is published, after which the one with better click-through rate becomes the permanent title. Obviously only one of the two titles can be the slug, so often the slug reflects the title that has lost. That does not indicate going back and forth.
Source: it’s a well-known fact that editors have disclosed many times over. Also, as a subscriber I often see a different title in my RSS feed.
- fragmede 6y agoHere's a more detailed discussion from Ars on their A/B testing of headlines that I found: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/tfw-an-obituary-you-wrote-five-years-ago-goes-viral/?comments=1&post=32066759 https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/tfw-a...
- zenexer 6y agoWhat's more important here is that the title doesn't match the conclusion. (That being said, it's kind of cool that they A/B test all their titles like that--thanks for the info!)