MAXIMUM MEDIA FOUNDER Niall McGarry has stepped down from all executive responsibilities of its Irish businesses. 

The move comes after recent controversy relating to listenership figures with media reports saying that some sponsored content was falsely inflated using a ‘click farm’. 

A ‘click farm’ is a large group people hired to click on links or otherwise inflate the figures associated with a piece of content, according to the Business Post, which reported many of the original details relating to the controversy. 

The newspaper reported that Ireland’s largest media agency, Core, suspended all its campaigns with the Joe.ie and Her.ie publisher after it emerged that audio-plays on the 2017 AIB-sponsored Capital B podcast were artificially boosted.

In a statement two weeks ago, Maximum Media said it was aware of the incident in 2017 and said the matter was treated with the “utmost seriousness” at the time and that the one employee involved was no longer working for the company.

McGarry, who launched Joe.ie in 2010 and who later launched brands like SportsJoe and Her.ie, remains a shareholder in the business and will be involved in the UK operations.

In a statement yesterday evening, Maximum Media said: “Continued appraisal of Maximum Media’s operating structures have shown that there is a requirement for greater controls”.

The company announced a number of changes at management level. 

It said: “Effective immediately, Justin Cullen will take up the newly created role of Executive Chairman, taking greater oversight of business strategy, structure and operations. 

“As part of this management change Niall McGarry will be stepping down from all executive responsibilities in the Irish business.

“Niall remains a shareholder and will be heavily involved our UK operation.

“Day-to-day executive management of Maximum Media will be the responsibility of Chief Commercial Officer, Gillian Fitzpatrick, Chief Marketing Officer, Paul Dunkin, and Chief Financial Officer, Ronan Doolin.

“These three executives will report directly into the Executive Chairman.

“We are confident that with this new leadership structure will deliver the solidity and market confidence required to ensure the business can operate effectively and continue to innovate and grow.

“These structures will continue to be appraised to ensure that they are the best they can be, and should they develop further I will update you accordingly.”