Editing Guinness World Records (section)

==Change in business model==
Traditionally, the company made a large amount of its revenue via book sales to interested readers, especially children. The rise of the Internet began to cut into book sales starting in the 2000s, part of a general decline in the book industry. According to a 2017 story by ''[[Planet Money]]'' of [[NPR]], Guinness began to realise that a lucrative new revenue source to replace falling book sales was the would-be record-holders themselves.<ref name="planetmoney">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/09/20/552203402/episode-795-is-record-breaking-broken |title=Is Record Breaking Broken? |date=20 September 2017 |last=Smith |first=Stacey Vanek |last2=Saakashvili |first2=Eduard |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013134317/https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/09/20/552203402/episode-795-is-record-breaking-broken |archive-date=13 October 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> While any person can theoretically send in a record to be verified for free, the approval process is slow. Would-be record breakers that paid fees ranging from US$12,000 to US$500,000 would be given advisors, adjudicators, help in finding good records to break as well as suggestions for how to do it, prompt service, and so on. In particular, corporations and celebrities seeking a [[publicity stunt]] to launch a new product or draw attention to themselves began to hire ''Guinness World Records'', paying them for finding a record to break or to create a new category just for them.<ref name="planetmoney" /> As such, they have been described as a [[native advertising]] company, with no clear distinction between content and advertisement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Phil |date=6 March 2015 |title=Guinness World Records Is No Longer Just a Book Company. It's a Branded Experience. |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8157639/guinness-world-record-business |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206052120/https://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8157639/guinness-world-record-business |archive-date=6 February 2023 |access-date=21 November 2022 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref>

''Guinness World Records'' was criticised by television talk show host [[John Oliver]] on the program ''[[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]]'' in August 2019.<ref name="JohnOliver">{{Cite magazine |title=John Oliver Bakes Very Large Cake to Annoy Turkmenistan |url=https://time.com/5648682/john-oliver-turkmenistan-cake |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814150445/https://time.com/5648682/john-oliver-turkmenistan-cake/ |archive-date=14 August 2019 |access-date=16 August 2019 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 August 2019 |title=Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QYu8LtH2E |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815170404/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QYu8LtH2E&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=15 August 2019 |access-date=31 March 2022 |publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Oliver criticised Guinness for taking money from [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian governments]] for pointless vanity projects as it related to the main focus of his story, [[President of Turkmenistan]] [[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]].<ref name="JohnOliver" /> Oliver asked Guinness to work with ''Last Week Tonight'' to adjudicate a record for "Largest cake featuring a picture of someone falling off a horse", but according to Oliver, the offer did not work out after Guinness insisted on a non-disparagement clause. ''Guinness World Records'' denied the accusations and stated that they declined Oliver's offer to participate because "it was merely an opportunity to mock one of our record-holders," and that Oliver did not specifically request the record for the largest marble cake.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 August 2019 |title=Guinness World Records on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/8/guinness-world-records-on-last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-586398/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813023105/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/8/guinness-world-records-on-last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-586398/ |archive-date=13 August 2019 |access-date=12 August 2019 |website=Guinness World Records |language=en-GB}}</ref> As of 2021, the Guinness World Record for "Largest marble cake" remains with [[Betty Crocker|Betty Crocker Middle East]] in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Largest Marble Cake |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/94531-largest-marble-cake/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927203006/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/94531-largest-marble-cake |archive-date=27 September 2019 |access-date=17 September 2019 |website=Guinness World Records}}</ref> Following Oliver's episode, ''Guinness World Records''<nowiki/>' ethics were called into question by human rights groups.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malvern |first=Jack |date=14 August 2019 |title=Guinness World Records Accused of Helping Turkmenistan Tyrant Berdimuhamedow Polish His Image |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/guinness-world-records-accused-of-helping-turkmenistan-tyrant-berdimuhamedow-polish-his-image-vvm606mvq |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629133130/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/guinness-world-records-accused-of-helping-turkmenistan-tyrant-berdimuhamedow-polish-his-image-vvm606mvq/ |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=31 March 2022 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>