You must login or register!
Inbound.org uses Twitter to register and create accounts. Your Twitter handle will also be your username here on Inbound and registration/login will enable you to submit content, post comments and create/edit your Inbound profile. Use the button below to verify your Twitter account.
Login or Register
Saw this article thanks to a tweet from @JoeHall where he said "The ramifications of Google's Panda update are starting to get hard to ignore!" The biggest take-away from the article for me was how Demand "cut in half their spending on creating inexpensive how-to articles" as part of their strategy to restore their model. Well that means they're still employing 3500 people to crank out 2500 articles a day at a rate of $10 to $20 a piece. Which means they're still pumping out massive volumes of garbage.
I actually found this part most interesting, which speaks for the next generation of content farming & spam, which, maybe not focused on gaining traffic from Search engines, but more from the social networks as Twitter & Facebook, but still will be annoying: "Among Demand's initiatives: a greater emphasis on videos and photos, as well as the type of content such as humor that's more likely to be shared on social networks such as Facebook." This will have an impact on the advertising revenue of Demand Media, as eCPM's on humor and images are much lower than on text-based pages. But volume speaks here...as the twist in DM messaging is already starting, where more emphasize is being placed on pageviews growth on Cracked or LiveStrong, where eHow is missing from the messaging. Note to self: PR & propaganda is an art!
I feel bad for the people working there, and for the regular people holding stocks. But I do feel a slight joy insight that this sort of poor content pays less well off than before. It makes me believe in the internet.
Same here Thomas, Especially for the stock holders, who have seen their investment drop +60%. After DM raised the money, they are now dedicating cash to buy back stock on the cheap...
Really? Seems like a classic Wall Street Dick Move... Now I even dislike them even more. Do you have any good references on this story? Curious to learn more about this
certainly: http://allthingsd.com/20120216/demand-media-beats-expectations-slightly-in-q4-report-buying-back-more-stock/ Demand also said it is going to buy back more of its stock, upping a $25 million plan to $50 million. Said the company: “During the fourth quarter of 2011, Demand Media repurchased 1.9 million shares of common stock for $13.3 million under its Board-authorized $25.0 million share repurchase program. To date, the Company has repurchased 2.8 million shares of common stock for $20.1 million. On February 8, 2012, Demand Media’s Board authorized an increase of $25.0 million to the program, taking its total authorized repurchases to $50.0 million.”
Place Demand Media's earnings/strategy here in contrast with Salon.com: http://open.salon.com/blog/kerry_lauerman/2012/02/03/hit_record By focusing on creating fewer articles with higher-quality content, Salon.com has increased their traffic. Good to know that content really is (still) King. :)
Nice to see a glorified article spinner crash and burn - but sad about those invested and those who work there.