I love the idea of the push to alert search engine sites of potential copyright infringement. I won't say every DS article is a rip-off of someone else's idea (I've seen ones that give such crappy advice it's obvious these things were made up on the spot), but that it's happening at all is a travesty. Time to kick some butt and take some names.

And you're right – unless Google and others like it take action, the threat is moot. DS proponents ask often why we "elistist snob" writers take offense at DS. Add the theft of content to the list of sins. Mind you, the company's not doing it directly, but they're not exactly policing the ranks, are they? And the writers who do so are either untrained hacks who have no idea or untrained hacks who do have an idea and do it anyway.

As for Demand, not surprised in the slightest. I'd already detailed many of their public lies on our blog. And if they weren't being honest with writers, why would we assume they were honest with everyone else. And yeah… they definitely went out of their way to make the company sound profitable, as per some of the videos linked in our post (and Carol's too I believe).

The think with Demand is that it's worse than writers putting all of their eggs in one basket. They're relying on a 3rd party that also relies on a 3rd party — double whammy. We called out the Google issue and actually were toying with the idea of a big campaign to G about their support of crap content and potentially copyright-infringing rewrites that often show up on sites like this due to rush work resulting from the low pay. If there's a chance they're already coming around, I think that's great.

DS is spam. Much of it at least. And Google's gone after MFA sites for years (made-for-adsense for those unfamiliar with the term). They killed the businesses of many a small business owner trying to make a living mostly off their ads (and providing less than high quality content for the sole purpose of attracting the "right" ads with the right keywords). They've gone after sites even when the content is genuinely authoritative just because they disagree with the advertising models there. They went after the bulk of the Web directory industry years ago. Google's not exactly known for being reliable in that sense, and it's incredibly stupid to base a business off of them in any large part, expecting it to last.

I'm surprised it lasted this long. I called for Google to start labeling content mills / content networks and things like article directories and the free and cheap press release distribution sites as spam a couple of years ago. If they want to go after one group, they really do have to go after all. I just hope it's sooner rather than later so users start getting more relevant content again — and not just the same info repeated.

Of course Google being a "threat" won't mean much unless they actually do something. I'll be crossing my fingers for now. And if they do renew a partnership with Demand, hey… we have options. The users aren't going to put up with it forever.

I think those who want some kind of career in writing, should take your advice. Now would be the time to start. Imagine trying to get better opportunities by using DS on a resume. It's probably tough now, but down the line if DS happens to get branded as content spammers, it's going to get even worse. Quantity only gets you so far.

I'm really curious to see where content mills are in say five or 10 years… the IPO for Demand is also interesting… I wouldn't invest, but I'm a skeptic.

Folks who write more than a few articles for the mills either don't understand the math or they do and it's okay with them.

Don't know how to get writers to see their worth… you, me, Carol, Devon, etc. do our best… that's all we can do I think,

hugs

But it clearly works both ways! =)

Carol is great, isn't she, Jake? I think some of the folks working for Demand do understand math, but the fear of trying it themselves stymies them. No need to market! Easy money! Too bad the true nature of the gig wasn't spelled out better – No freelance clips to speak of! Lousy pay! They see what they choose to see.

Ashley, I think that's true. Beginning writers don't often understand their value, nor do they know there are companies out there itching to exploit their talents for very little return. It's why I preach …. er, post here every day. I hope one more writer says "You know what? I AM better than that kind of work."

On the issue of DS, I tend to have the perspective of – if those writers want to work for nothing, let them. It's that much less competition for me. The sad part is that there are others who want to begin their own content mills and pay writers crap because they see that it's working for DS.

The work is out there, but it won't just jump in your lap. When these writers learn that, then, maybe, things will begin to change for their business.

WRT Demand Studios, I saw when Carol posted that, and she did a nice piece of reporting. I know I've referenced the South Park Underpants Gnomes before, but it's just plain apt. Do these people not understand math, let alone profitability?

Your overarching point, about diversifying your client base, is critical to survival. Over the years, I've lost a couple of five-figure clients to bankruptcy or other circumstances beyond my control…but within 6 months, I didn't even notice they were gone. Yeah, I won't deny it was lousy when it happened, but having an otherwise full dance card took the sting out of it.