Monday, May 9, 2011

Demand Media looks to increase quality, fare better in search

Looking to improve the quality of the how-to articles and videos on its eHow website, Demand Media Inc. is no longer allowing just anyone publish content, Reuters reported Thursday.

The change follows a move Google made in February, when it tweaked its search engine algorithms to lower the amount of lower-quality content showing up in top results.

Demand Media’s exposure fell by 66 percent, the company said in April. eHow referrals were down 20 percent, and total page views declined 12 percent, the company’s Chief Executive Richard Rosenblatt said, according to Reuters.

Prior to Google’s changes, Demand Media’s content was tailor-made by using algorithms to determine topics people search for in large numbers. “Google never mentioned Demand Media by name, but investors got the message,” Business Week pointed out.

In order to improve quality, and hopefully ratchet up its search engine exposure, Demand Media will hire writers to create articles of up to 850 words, and pay them US$80 to $350 per article.

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