Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Blekko is trying to say Ehow and other Writing sites are Spam. We have to stop this!

Hi ehow and blog friends. I just read an article on how Blekko is spreading the word that ehow and other writing websites are just spam. This is not a good thing for us online writers, editors and content producers. Although I don't want to continue to spread the news or create a back link to such horrible info, I think all of us ehow members and Demand Media Contributors should take a look at what they are trying to say about us writers. We need to put a stop to this or we might be stuck paying for Internet information that is produced only by doctors, lawyers and other authorities. Most of us writers write from experience and have quality articles that need to be shared.

Here is the Link to what they are trying to say about Google, Ehow and other Writing Sites!

I highly disagree with Rich Skrenta. He is the one in the video who is saying that ehow articles are mostly spam. He is the CEO of Blekko (whatever that is lol). I guess Blekko is a competitor to Google. Blekko seems to think that the Internet is covered with spam articles and that they need to do something about it. I think we need to stand up for all of the hard work and dedication that we have put into our published ehow articles. There are writing editors for a reason. If Google thought our articles were spam, they never would of been accepted and ranked on the search engines.

PLEASE HELP ME STOP THE NEWS THAT EHOW ARTICLES ARE SPAM! POST A NOTE WHERE EVER YOU CAN. SHARE MY BLOG POST WITH ALL WRITERS!

35 comments:

  1. I doubt this will affect Google ratings - google makes money on these type of articles too. It's unlikely they'd be willing to throw away such a huge profit margin.

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  2. I'm an online writer meself and I personally believe that websites like eHow and other Demand media and Demand media like sites are not only spam, but take away from the work of legitimate writers.

    Now one of the points you make is that: "produced only by doctors, lawyers and other authorities." as if that is a bad thing. If I had to choose between two sources of information on something (say a health related question) I would much prefer to read the doctors opinion on the matter. Do you really believe a writer would know more?

    Not to mention a doctor makes plenty of money on his own and would be writing based on a want to help and would only use facts because of this. Many eHow writers write based on SEO so they can make money.

    Which is another interesting point. The vast majority of writers for Demand Media make very little money for their articles. Sure, the odd article goes viral and pays out well but most of the time you make a few dollars at most. Writers are worth far more than that.

    The articles on eHow are rarely very helpful or detailed. They go over the absolute basics of a subject and that's it. These almost always rank better in Google for phrases that traditionally would go to much more detailed articles.

    I have a question. Can you make a living off your earnings from eHow?

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  3. Why are you complaining? Apparently you think Blekko is irrelevant (“CEO of Blekko (whatever that is lol)”) to your ranking in Google…until they determine that sites created for the sole purpose of displaying Google ads are SPAM.

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  4. Hi Anonymous, Thanks for commenting on my blog post. I wasn't really complaining....I was sharing my thoughts and opinions as well as letting my followers and friends know of my discovery. I never heard of Blekko until I read that article on WebPro news site. I had no idea that so many people agreed with Rich on how ehow articles are spam. I really thought that more people would stand up and say "I work real hard to publish my articles and they are not written as spam articles." Oh Well, we will see what happens with all of this. Thanks again for commenting. You are welcome to share your thoughts and questions here anytime.

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  5. @Kole: I highly appreciate your feedback on my blog post. I admire doctors, lawyers ect. However, my point is that I don't want the Internet to turn into a place full of information from only doctors and lawyers. I also don't want to have to pay to read their advice because if you think about it....What doctor or lawyer is going to spend an hour or two publishing an article to only earn cents per day? They can make hundreds of dollars a hour to meet with a client or patient and share the same information of what they "learned" in Med or law school. I truly like to read articles that are true and written from someone who has personally gone down that road and writes from "experience". Just an example: Doctors and Lawyers don't know everything. Do they know how to add Google ads to an office live website? Do they know how to get blog followers? I think someone who is experienced should be allowed to publish articles and earn at least a little money from their knowledge and skills. This is just my opinion and you certainly don't have to agree. Thanks again for commenting.

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  6. Oh yeah yes writers can earn a living off of Writing for ehow! Take a look at Maria (WriterGig) She earns at least $1,000 a month off of her ehow articles. Also, my $130 a month earnings helps pay a bill or two. It certainly helps when you are a single parent trying to survive.

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  7. I agree with Kole. There are some sites that are valuable for writers and some that are not. I came across this PR http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4520544.htm and that site seems like it's trying to give "legitimate writers" a place to write online, make some money, but not damage their reputation. I know a couple people that have written for them and are happy with how they are treated. Their requirements are much higher than say a demand media type site and they reject many more writers, but writers know they won't get wrapped up in low end content.

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  8. So you are writing about surviving without caffeine, but you (1) have not successfully done it yourself, and (2) are not a trained expert on the subject.

    So you have neither education nor experience about which you write "authoritatively". This is quality content ... how?

    (Simply earning you an income from ads does not make it quality.)

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  9. @anonymous I see your so called point and I have done it myself so I do know from "experience" that surviving without caffeine is possible. Therefore, I do know what I am talking about. But I really do see that you are trying to make a point that online writers write to earn income. Yes we do but I also write to share my "experience" knowledge and skills. Thanks for commenting. Keep them coming....I really like debates. SMILE!

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  10. You're contradicting your earlier post. When announcing the *finished* caffeine-survival article, you write:

    "[L]earning how to survive without Caffeine is actually a new years resolution for me along with losing weight."

    Now you write, "I do know from 'experience' that surviving without caffeine is possible."

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  11. @Anonymous: You can survive without caffeine and then later go back to drinking caffeine drinks.....I like that you are persistent in your debates. I did quit drinking soda for a long time and now I am back to drinking soda again.....Time to survive without Caffeine again lol. I am not contradicting myself...It can be done because I have done it. Thanks for commenting on this post...how come you are anonymous?

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  12. There is a useful definition of "shallow content". That's content that purports to educate you on something, but does not state the basis for why the content is factual. Is it based on your experience? How many experiences? Is it based on research? What are the source of your research? Readers need this information to help them judge your veracity.
    How-to videos are a separate category, because you can see whether the techniques work or not (unless the producer is trying to pull a fast one with editing tricks, which should be discovered pretty quickly). And how-to articles fall in the middle, though I believe the cutoff here is they should be written by someone who has actually done whatever it is the article's trying to teach.

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  13. @anonymous: You are now making much sense....I totally agree that articles should be written by experience, knowledge or experts. I do also agree that articles should be researched to back up content. I try to research all of my "how to" articles unless I know for sure the information or answer isn't out there. I also try to make it a point to complete the task myself that I am writing about. For example: I wrote an article on "how to add Google Ads to an office live website?" This I have done several times and it isn't easy to the beginner website owner. I hope you and I have come to some agreements now and you have no sour feelings about me as a writer or blog friend. Do you?

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  14. Different anonymous today ;^)

    I've no ill will ... I just happened across this page while researching the term "content farm"

    My point was not that you just do research or have experience -- it's that writers explicitly tell the reader what assertions are based on: links to web pages, citations for books or articles, brief history of experience. So we can separate the hearsay from more substantial fact.

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  15. Hi, Tammy, I like what you say about having to pay for information. I do not know a doctor or lawyer that will give their "expert" advice with charging a hefty fee. From what I hear from DMS writers if a writer is disciplined enough writers can make a nice living. From what I hear and see concerning web content sites most of the negative comments come from writers who may or may not be very well paid and view demand writers as a threat to their own security.
    I started writing for ehow in 2009 and moved to DMS last year. I must say both places have a great group of writers who are happy to help newbie writer's learn the ropes (without pay). I would say they are more confident in their abilities than the so called "legitimate" writers. Thanks to Tammy and the other writers at DMS and ehow for being a friend.

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  16. Keep in mind that advertising dollars pay the way for free information on sites like Hulu and Pandora, and Google (whatever that is, lol) isn't going to give premium infomation sites any sort of top billing. To say that information would no longer be free is equally absurd.

    I think you're swinging to a polar opposite too fast; your bottom-line objection, if I'm correct, is the idea of *not* getting paid to write content. Decent content writers will always have a channel.

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  17. @Rae I may have jumped the gun a little on how I acted upon seeing the video from Blekko.(It disturbed me)I have worked hard on my "How to" articles and I would hate to see another rich guy jump in and change something that is working because he is greedy. I do think writers should know what they are talking about when they write an article. I also believe everyone should have a chance to share their knowledge and experience plus get revenue share for their hard work.

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  18. ehow consistently clogs up search results with useless information, mostly copied from other websites. If I could figure out how to block you in all searches, it would be the single most useful improvement to my search engine I can think of.

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  19. I hate ehow website.all they have are the stupidest and lamest articles and help guides...

    seriously, are they writing these help guides and articles for 5 year old?

    pity on them!

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