Who owns factually website
Executive summary
Two different news-rating sites with similar names exist in public reporting, and ownership differs sharply: The Factual — an algorithm-driven news-rating company — was acquired by Yahoo, with the deal closing in August 2022 [1] [2], while a site called Factually is described in a separate media-review entry as being owned and run by a single independent developer and funded by voluntary user support [3]. The name confusion explains why short answers conflict; the reporting supplied treats these as distinct entities with distinct owners [1] [3].
1. Why the names cause confusion: The Factual vs. Factually
Public sources use nearly identical names for two different projects, and the supplied reporting treats them as separate: press coverage about an acquisition refers to “The Factual,” an algorithm-driven news-rating company, whereas an MBFC-style entry discusses “Factually” as a standalone site owned by one developer, so any ownership claim must start by disambiguating which site is meant [1] [3].
2. Who owns The Factual: Yahoo’s acquisition and timeline
The Factual was acquired by Yahoo in a deal that closed on August 23, 2022, with Yahoo announcing the purchase and describing The Factual as an algorithm-driven news rating company whose algorithm would be used to give Yahoo users bias and credibility scores for articles [1] [2]. Multiple corporate communications and trade press noted the acquisition and the stated intent to incorporate The Factual’s scoring into Yahoo’s news tools [1] [2].
3. Who owns Factually: the independent-developer claim and its source
A media-bias/credibility entry in the supplied reporting characterizes Factually as “owned entirely by one independent developer” that “operates without corporate backing” and that it is funded solely by voluntary user donations; that assessment is presented as MBFC-style analysis and is dated in the citation provided [3]. If the subject is indeed the site spelled “Factually,” the supplied claim points to individual ownership rather than corporate acquisition [3].
4. Reconciling the two sets of reporting: different sites, different ownerships
Because the supplied sources treat The Factual (acquired by Yahoo) and Factually (independent developer) as separate and assign opposite ownership outcomes, the factual answer depends on precise naming: The Factual is owned by Yahoo following the 2022 acquisition [1] [2], while Factually is described as owned by an independent developer and supported by donations according to the media-bias entry [3]. The sources do not state that these two names refer to the same legal entity, so they cannot be conflated without further evidence [1] [3].
5. What the reporting does not resolve and where further verification is needed
The supplied reporting does not provide corporate filings, WHOIS records, or direct statements from the owner of “Factually” to confirm the MBFC-style claim beyond that entry’s assertion, nor does it provide the Factually site’s own “About” or donation page for corroboration; likewise, while Yahoo’s press release and trade coverage confirm acquisition of The Factual, the sources do not include post-acquisition corporate disclosures explaining branding, domain control, or whether any similarly named sites were subsumed or remain independent [1] [2] [3]. Therefore, definitive ownership for a site identified only as “factually” requires checking the specific domain and primary-source records.
6. How to interpret conflicting short answers in circulation
Short, definitive answers that ignore naming differences likely reflect conflation of two distinct reports: one clear corporate acquisition (The Factual → Yahoo) and one descriptive profile asserting single-developer ownership (Factually → independent developer) [1] [3]. The presence of both narratives in the supplied reporting explains why casual searches or third-party summaries might produce opposing ownership claims without noting the underlying name distinction [1] [3].