HN user
I'd be curious to know how much views are accounted for in writers' compensation too. I would hope the editors of more reputable resources like Forbes have more sense than that.
Hasn't pageviews, online or print, always been the metric by which writers have been held to? I'm sure even the best journalists are pushed to write about stories their editors think people want to read. At the end of the day, the number of views/eyeballs you get, the more you can charge for advertising and the longer your business stays afloat.