MailOnline readers could be forgiven recently for feeling like they’re being fed a diet of puff pieces on the same companies.

“Why pay £200? Save HUNDREDS on summer wedding guest dresses – and rent from just £19 at Hirestreet (and we have 25% off)”, yelped a rather unwieldy headline on the site on June 24, trumpeting the wares of Hirestreet, which readers were told is “the UK’s leading high-street rental platform”. “Instead of paying hundreds of pounds for a dress you might not wear again, the platform lets you rent gorgeous dresses and accessories for under £20,” cheered hack Emily Scrivener. A couple of weeks later, deputy travel editor Hayley Minn was treating readers to what she packed for a weekend trip to Croatia, “including a two-piece I rented with a Hirestreet subscription”.

On June 18, the site’s Julia Remillard had the news that “Britain’s favourite viral wellness drinks” – which turn out to be the CBD-based TRIP – had arrived in the US, and let us be the first to tell you that they are incredible”. “Even Hollywood A-listers, such as supermodel Ashley Graham and Vampire Diaries alum Paul Wesley, have given them a try”, she wrote, stretching the definition of A-lister. And on July 8, Remillard was back, telling readers how “I test wellness products for a living, and throughout my many trials, there has been one that has stood the test of time — TRIP”.

Other firms have had the same soft-soap treatment on MailOnline of late, including granola Blue Stripes (“few can compare to the actual goodness Blue Stripes offers”), cheap deal site Wowcher and Waterloo Sparkling Water (“a multisensorial flavor experience of aroma, taste, and crisp carbonation”).
Whatever could all these brands have in common? Well, as a quick glance at its corporate website will tell you, they’re all among the investments of DMG ventures, the venture capital arm of DMG Media, owners of… MailOnline.