Comments for How Demand Media Produces 4,000 Pieces of Content a Day

How Demand Media Produces 4,000 Pieces of Content a Day

2009-11-12T11:10:00Z

In August we reviewed Demand Media, one of the largest producers of content on the Web today. Wired Magazine recently compared Demand Media's content business to Henry Ford's production line for cars. Demand Media currently produces 4,000 new pieces of content a day. What's more, it's increasingly syndicating this content to media sites outside of its own network of vertical websites. In other words, Demand Media is becoming a very large content production factory for third party sites such as Yahoo.

In this follow-up post, we dive deeper into Demand Media's content production model - and ask questions about the quality of the output.

]]> This article is based on an interview I conducted with several Demand Media executives, including founder Richard Rosenblatt, at the Web 2.0 Summit in September.

Will Demand Media Soon be a Household Name?

In our previous posts, we've noted that Demand Media is rapidly rising up the comScore list of the top 50 web properties in the U.S. - in July it was #24, in September it was #15. At this rate, Demand Media will soon be one of the top 10 Web properties in the U.S. - right up there with Amazon, eBay, Apple.

Think about that: how many of you had heard of Demand Media before this year? Amazon, eBay and Apple are all household names. Demand Media (along with another fast-growing mega content site, Answers.com) could be a household name soon too, if its current growth rate continues.

Behind this remarkable growth is a very large output of content each and every day, fueled by thousands of freelance writers and content creators.

So how does Demand Media produce so much content every day? 4,000 new articles a day is a quantum leap above the 20-30 new posts a day that the most feverish of professional blogs pump out.

About Demand Studios

Demand Media produces so much content with a system it calls Demand Studios. It's a proprietary editorial system which is part human-processed and part automated.

The system starts with an automated process, crunching data and running it through an algorithm to identify story ideas that have the best chance of success. The algorithm factors in audience type, ability to attract advertising and potential for traffic.

For a written piece of content, human editors will then check the top story contenders. Potential titles are placed into a pool for writer selection. Once a writer picks up a story, it gets written up, goes through a fact checking and copy editing process (including a plagiarism check), and finally the editorial team approves the completed article. The article is eventually published and the writer gets paid.

This is a simplification of the Demand Studios process, which happens 4,000 times every day! The system appears to be an efficient mix of automation and human labor. As we'll see on Page 2 of this post, the editorial process isn't foolproof. But even so, the scale of this system is impressive.

As at the end of October, Demand Studios had created more than one million original pieces of content, both text articles and videos. There are more than 6,000 active Demand Studios freelance creators - including writers, filmmakers, title proofers, copy editors.

In my meeting with Demand Media executives at the recent Web 2.0 Summit, I was told that an average of 11 people - and 15 unique roles - touch a piece of content as it flows through Demand Studios. The company argues that this, along with community rating of content, produces quality content.

But does it, actually?

Next Page: The Quality Question...

Demand Media: Is This Really Quality Content?

Demand Media is sensitive to criticism of the quality of its content. It's a question that ReadWriteWeb has raised a few times and which Wired picked up on in its October profile.

At the end of that article, Wired noted that Demand Media is "trying to place a new emphasis on quality." However it concludes by saying that Demand Media is "not moving far from [the] Henry Ford model."

I asked Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt about this criticism. Bristling, he responded by pointing to two things.

Firstly Rosenblatt claimed that many of Demand Media's content creators are professionals. He said that 75% of them have been published in magazines or newspapers, 25% have written a book, and 25% have held professional marketing roles.

Example of Demand Media content, on Yahoo! network site 'Shine.'

Secondly, Rosenblatt noted that Demand Media content creators have choices in the market - but they choose to work for Demand Media.

What's more, Rosenblatt said that "quality is based on relevance" - a quote he attributed to Wired editor Chris Anderson, who wrote the books The Long Tail and Free.

Who then are these people that write and shoot video for Demand Media? They're professional freelancers and they're paid anywhere from $15-30 per piece of content. This isn't a great deal of money for a freelance article. But according to Demand Media, there are hundreds of such freelancers earning thousands of dollars per month from Demand Studios (although this would be the top of the range).

4,000 New Articles Per Day - What Percentage is High Quality?

The trouble with the term 'quality' is that it's both variable and subjective. I've seen examples of Demand Media work that are poor - e.g. this eHow article about how to get Twitter followers.

Step 3 reads as follows:

"Engage in discussions. If someone on your timeline says something interesting or says something that you can put input into, do it. There's nothing worse than Twitter followers who follows for no reason. Even if you don't get responses some of the time, it doesn't hurt to try and the people you're following will know you're attemption to converse and are more likely to follow you back."

There are a couple of bad typos in that paragraph ~~(where were the copy editors?)~~, but worse is that the advice is mediocre. It's relevant content to many people, but is it good content? Apparently it was to the people who've read it, as it has 5 stars...

UPDATE: Demand Media contacted us to explain that above article is what they call a "user-generated article." This is marked in the screenshot below as "user submitted article," whereas a Demand Studios article would have "eHow Contributing Writer" as the attribution. Demand Media advised that "this UGC does not flow through the full Demand Studios editorial process - and is not counted in our 4,000 pieces of content."

The bigger question is: there are surely many examples of good Demand Media content on the Web, but how many of the 4,000 articles it produces every day aren't?

As we posited in our previous article, the concern with fast-growing content factories like Demand Media and Answers.com is that quality is taking too much of a back seat to quantity. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

In our next post, we will look into the type of content that Demand Media is producing - and what it plans to do with it next.

See also: our follow-up analysis of Demand Media, Ad-Driven Content - Is it Crossing The Line?

Comment from Gram Josi on 2011-02-28

2011-02-28T20:08:01Z

That's a clever comparison between Demand Media and Ford car production. The assembly line used by Henry Ford is a classic example of production line work which adds a concrete element to the comparison even though digital content is more ethereal in nature since it is posted on the web. http://www.lean4life.net

Comment from Jun on 2010-12-09

2010-12-09T23:19:05Z

Four thousand posts a day? And it's still rising? Wow. That is seriously impressive. I only wonder if the content itself is really worth much; as it seems speed is the bigger priority. But hey, whatever works right?

Comment from Page1News on 2010-11-17

2010-11-18T03:39:04Z

As a former copy editor and writer for Demand Media Studios, I absolutely can tell you that the whole "high-quality, useful content" PR campaign is a total sham. Every step in the content production process is put in place to "impress" Google.

In fact, Demand Media Studios relies solely on ad clicks for its revenue. For this approach to be successful, the content must be secondary. The content needs to be so atrocious that the user must click on an ad to get away from such drivel.

Here's a fine example of a Demand Media Studios writer's contribution to eHow: "How to Increase Your Bulge in a Speedo"
http://www.ehow.com/how_5366481_increase-bulge-speedo.html

This was written by a Demand Media Studios contractor and was edited by a Demand Media Studios contractor in August 2010.

The company is a joke, and most professional writers and editors are well aware of this fact. In fact, many of the contractors are forced to use pen names to avoid the stigma of being associated with Demand.

It's my sincere hope that ICANN bans eNom/Demand Media Studios from ever being a TLD.

Comment from J on 2010-10-24

2010-10-24T15:04:33Z

I'm a writer for Demand Studios, and I'm not going to lie: dealing with some of the editors is problematic and many of them don't have brain cells (there is a web site where someone posted humorous comments from stupid editors, including an editor telling someone writing "How to make Buffalo Wings" to first include directions on how to remove the wings from the buffalo).

But the writer in this article above also makes the flawed mistake of not differentiating between content that was put through eHow and what was put through Demand Studios. You were told that the Twitter article was not a DS article, and yet you included it anyway with the foolish comment, "Yeah, but, how many articles like this appear with the 'Ehow Contributing Writer' byline?"

You couldn't find a bad example? Then don't make conjectures in your article. "Quantity over quality" is a valid concern with a content mill like DS, but you provide no evidence at all that the quality is drastically reduced. The only article you point out is one that appears to be a decently-written contribution to Yahoo.

After an article passes through a copy editor, it goes to another set of editors. Common errors ("its" versus "it's," for example) are ruled out quickly. You may see a random additional word - but how often do I see that on sites like CNN and AOL? I see many articles on sites like that...written by professional journalists...which are marred with repeated errors or half-finished sentences. An error here or there is a fact of life in a 24/7 world of news and content, but unfortunately, on professional sites, multiple errors in a single 500-1,000 word story seemingly make up a quarter of the story.

The Twitter article you posted was pre-Demand, I believe. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that eHow was once simply a site where anyone could contribute articles. Due to the poor quality, along came Demand Studios. It's a much improved system, and I'm glad it exists - it's some income for me.

Yes, I have been published in a few newspapers and I have worked in marketing and film companies before. I have had several friends apply for Demand, and the only ones who got in were those who had some college education relevant to the position for which they applied, or some experience in the field. A few writing samples are required upon applying. Once again, of those I have known who have applied, only those with any semblance of writing talent were approved.

Comment from John Mitchell on 2010-09-16

2010-09-16T10:31:29Z

Fretting over lots of new content being published online seems silly. There are countless articles and videos posted online every single day, from good to bad.

In a world where there are more cat videos and memes (not to mention less savory things) than you can shake a stick at I never really buy the: "Save the Web, someone just published a bunch of how to articles!" argument. Seems like something else is behind some of the hysteria.

Comment from CTM on 2010-07-07

2010-07-08T01:35:25Z

Most people who search online, search for information or for porn. Those who search for information are not expecting to read a John Steinbeck quality piece about "how to kill second generation roaches". They want facts. They want resources. Quality writing on the internet MEANS relevant facts and resources that are presented clearly, not necessarily creatively. Do the 4000 pieces of writing a day have quality? If each one meets the searchers' needs, then the answer is yes. Obviously, you are going to find some duds in the mix, but such is life.

Comment from Tom on 2010-06-13

2010-06-13T08:03:19Z

Ehow.com articles are not checked by copy editors. Moreover, until just recently ehow contributers could be anyone who signed up to the site and decided to write an article. Only Demand Studios writers like myself were pre screened. Due to quality complaints Demand Media recently put a lock down on ehow.com. Now only Demand Studios writers can contribute. I'd bet that the aforementioned article was written by someone who signed up for the site before the lock down was put into place.

Demand Media is a good company to work for you if you:

A) can take constructive criticism
B) can put up with the occasional under qualified copy editor
C) Have good researching skills

You won't make any money just writing what you know.

Comment from Steve on 2010-05-31

2010-06-01T06:53:33Z

I write for DS. I don't do it for the money. I'm a full-time tenured faculty member at my college at the top of our salary schedule and I make enough money to live comfortably. I've written a couple of books and I've written approximately thirty articles for major magazines in my area of subject matter expertise.

I write for the enjoyment. I write because I believe my end product is useful for others. I write because it provides an opportunity to improve my writing.

I look at the service provided by Demand Studios as an opportunity for those seeking to test the waters to see if a career as a writer makes sense, as well as people like me who recognize that at $15 per article, I'm not about to "quit my day job."

Comment from steven on 2010-05-31

2010-06-01T05:09:09Z

You all take this shit way to seriously. Journalism went brain dead along time ago when they started selling themselves out for the mighty dollar. When has the last good story about people been published.

I ocassionally write for DS because I like to write about cars, and that is why I do it. And yes I am an ASE certified automotive technician and memember of the International Automotive Technicians Network.

DS will eventually be sold out, a new what the hell ever start up will come along and start the process all over again.

I am writer, but I would never give up my technician career to do it full time, especially on the brain dead internet.

Look if you like writing for DS then do it, if you dont, then nobody is making you. DS creates content, not Pulitzers.

Comment from Dinger on 2010-04-27

2010-04-27T13:51:47Z

LOL! One angry poster to boot! I realise this topic is months old, but it is my first time reading it and am compelled to comment.

As a Bachelor of Law, Honours, English major and lecturer in both disciplines, I would like to throw in an objective overview, my being unconnected to the media industry.

Whether we consider print, visual or digital mainstream media, I personally consider they all suffer from the same ghastly malady - a severe case of haemorrhaging, of spewing a truck load of endless mediocrity, not forgetting the poor grammar, inferior sentence construction and absence of eloquence; even good vocabulary has gone AWOL.

The question has to be, Why? Where? and What? Why has good media vanished? What has happened to justify the poor substitute which flourishes? Where can well-expressed, interesting and stimulating journalists publish now, if they wish to obtain exposure in mainstream media?

I am an Australian and would never read a Murdoch paper, even if offered a sizeable lifetime annuity to do so. I consider he and others, (Kerry Packer with him), signalled the beginning of the end of quality maintream media and Demand Studios is guilty of operating under the very same principles. It does not augre well for sustaining a level of excellence.

How exactly can these two media Barons be held responsible? Each sacrificed quality for cash, by de-tuning written expression to meet the "ear", (in this case the intellect), of the masses. Rather than maintaining quality of content and of expression, which required the masses to "tune up" a notch, Murdoch and Ors tuned down to their level. The ultimate inexorable result, over time, has been a dumbing down of the readership in general. It has also meant a dumbing down of jornalistic standards.

The same has occurred throughout visual media, with reality shows bobbing up everywhere. Similarly, on the web we have content reproduction banks multiplying en masse, just to make the page view counter race. What is it all about? Little wonder of wonders - $$$$$! So what has changed? Nothing! ... be it Murdoch, Packer or Demand Studios. What will the result be this time? The same - a reduction of quality, sacrificed for quantity in pursuit of the holy dollar. Are you surprised?

At the end of the day, it is a heavy burden upon the shoulders of excellent media authors and journalists, for the pressure from above is mighty powerful, probably overwhelmingly controlling. I ampathise with what can only be, for all good journalists, an horrific sense of loss.

Comment from Heywood Jablome on 2010-02-08

2010-02-08T19:25:20Z

Demand Studios is exploitative of people who are struggling due to the collapsing publishing industry and a contracting economy. Demand Studios is a godawful place to write. The content is for morons and edited by cretains who are so stupid they would suffocate to death if breathing were not an involuntary reflex.

The most outrageous waste of fucking time in the history of writers trying to make a living...ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Demand Studios.

Comment from Paramendra on 2009-12-28

2009-12-29T03:18:35Z

At some level it is still innovation though. They are seeking out topics that have not been written about much.

Comment from noly on 2009-12-20

2009-12-20T16:00:36Z

I don't know where you live but unemployment in New Jersey is $1168 every two weeks + $50 extra from stimulus a month.... that is better pay than Demand Offers. They really need to pay more than minimum wage for e-how articles + you have to pay tax on $7.50... you have to be kidding me..... This can be looked as sweat shop writing.
Many of the DS articles are written very well but I do believe the writers need to be paid much more for their time.
$10 should be the smallest fee paid out and $20 or $25 for bigger articles. Precious time is used by these skilled writers.

Comment from Blah on 2009-12-17

2009-12-17T21:48:39Z

Mahalo is even worse, just a mash of keywords, not even in sentences.

Ban Mahalo, Squidoo and other parasites

Comment from skillguru on 2009-12-14

2009-12-15T01:46:14Z

Demand Media knows how to reach top in the google rankings and this is what matters these days.

Comment from Annie Gottlieb on 2009-12-13

2009-12-14T02:34:59Z

I work as a professional fact checker and I am often impressed with the quality of information on Answers.com. It does not usually appear to be generated in-house, but is licensed from encyclopedias and other sources. It is mostly up-to-date, thorough, and accurate. This from someone who will not use Wikipedia because of its drastic inconsistency and unreliability.

Comment from Jennifer Suwark on 2009-12-03

2009-12-03T10:32:22Z

I agree with you on Demand Studios. I write for them sometimes and couldn't be more bored with the style they want. Their editors are mediocre at best (I've had so many grammatical errors ADDED to my articles) yet they want the world for $15 an article. Then again, what do you expect when the editors, on average, make less than $12 an hour - you get what you pay for.

If I see a Demand Studio article online I immediately click out of it as I'm guaranteed nothing of substance just more mind-numbing content that tells me nothing.

I can't believe the Trails website gives them so much work. Trails has some of the most boring content I've ever seen on the net, period, and most of it is produced by Demand Studio writers.

Comment from Steven Redlon on 2009-11-19

2009-11-20T06:38:56Z

So I dont upset the critics, I meant to say "two passions," not "to passions"

Comment from Steven Redlon on 2009-11-19

2009-11-20T06:33:20Z

I think DS is great, I love writing for them, and hope to make it full time in the next couple of years. My content is good, because I only write about what I know, Which is cars.

I have also had automotive articles published in newspapers, and I am an ASE certified technician and licensed vehicle safety inspector.

I pre write all my articles in microsoft word, then copy and paste into each section.

In my life I have always had to passions, cars and writing about them. I am very grateful for the expirence to write and get paid for it.

Comment from Joe on 2009-11-17

2009-11-17T19:53:33Z

I have to question the math of #31, especially since the post was meant to be a correction of previous calculations. $1050 a week is $4200 a month not $4500. $4200 x 12 months is around $50K. Similarly, $4,500 x 12 is $54K, and $1050 x 52 weeks is $54,600. And that's assuming you write 10 a day (a sizable task in itself) every day for the entire year without taking a day off. I have no idea where you got $78,000 from.

Sorry for the boring math post, but I think it's important for those defending DS to present realistic figures and not poorly-construed, Kool Aid numbers. Providing properly-calculated, realistic figures is a better way of showing what DS is all about.

Comment from John Chen on 2009-11-15

2009-11-15T21:50:15Z

Looking at this from an SEO point of view, quantity of unique article will be better than quality, until Google can figure out a way to judge the content of an article by understanding and scoring its quality. Quantity is always better for SEO.

Yes, I know quality articles will generate more backlinks, but medi-core articles can also generate links as well.

So, in the old days there was keyword stuffing, maybe now its simply content bombing?

Comment from Markus Merz | Hamburg St. Georg on 2009-11-14

2009-11-14T19:37:54Z

Well, seeing how print is going down and how wages in print & photography were going down the last 15 years...

Entrepreneurs finding good ways to monetize online work are a rare species and Demand Media seems to have found a hot spot on the net.

Btw, the percentage of quality output found in old school agencies - text & photography - isn't as high as some people might think. Every database research in all of the existing classic old school agencies will show proof; and is available online. Combing through the archives and kicking out the old bad stuff is one of the biggest tasks in the traditional media businesses.

The article and all the comments got me thinking...

Comment from Jimmy Daniels on 2009-11-13

2009-11-13T17:39:40Z

TO T.K.
I was referring to the articles posted on Yahoo, read the comment before you start crying.

Comment from Charlotte on 2009-11-13

2009-11-13T17:11:46Z

Why do you still include the user-submitted garbage as an example of Demand Media's writers? There are THOUSANDS of Demand Studio written pieces at EHow. Why aren't you using one of those for your example of poor quality? Is it that you couldn't find an example of poor quality among those samples?

This is so blatantly dishonest. You, sir, should be ashamed of yourself.

Comment from Nancy on 2009-11-13

2009-11-13T16:02:53Z

Jamie ... uh, yeah. Posting too late in the day is not such a good idea! Thanks for the catch. :-)

I've been on all sides of the writing game, written books and short stories, edited and taught writing. The changing media scene is fascinating. I agree with you that it would be good if people with an "open mic" can handle it with an open mind.

Comment from Jamie W. on 2009-11-13

2009-11-13T08:13:41Z

Nancy - just a quick correction. Writing 10 articles a day, a DS provider can make $1050 a WEEK. I don't know many writers making that kind of money in this less-than-pecunious industry. $1050 per week, about $4500 per month, $78,000 per year. And a good, experienced writer focused on the job and picking topics wisely can do two articles per hour or more. Makes a damn good job for a mom while the kids are at school.

Instead of setting out to bash yet-another-online-content-mill, I would hope that our esteemed host's next article is an open-minded look at Demand Studio - especially at what makes it different from so many other online venues.

Comment from Barbara Alvarez on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T04:41:32Z

Richard thank you for making the change. It is not at all often that we have this WAH opportunity, have a chance at buying health insurance and can work in this economy so we DON'T need to draw unemployment (which, for me, would have been absolute starvation rates).

Comment from Nancy on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T04:17:03Z

Thank you, Richard and Mary Louise.

The publishing industry is changing and we're all doing our best to not only keep up with the changes but to thrive as professional writers. Let's keep the conversation going, we all have so much to contribute. :-)

Comment from Richard MacManus on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T02:58:01Z

Marie Louise, thanks for your comment - very well said. I'm very glad that you're making good wages from them.

There are some great comments here and there will be a follow-up post shortly. I think Demand Media is a fascinating company, which is the reason I'm writing so much about them. But I also think it's worth questioning and challenging some aspects of the business model, which is the point of this series.

Comment from Nancy on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T02:03:52Z

"When they pay their writers market rate, they'll get quality. When you make more on unemployment than you would researching and writing a 400-word piece for $15, it is hard to justify wasting your time working for them."

Marna, writing 10 articles per day a Demand Studios provider can earn $1050 per month. If she is providing a second income for her family, she is doing well.If she is the sole breadwinner, she can write more.

She doesn't have to commute; perhaps she is a stay-at-home mother who doesn't have to pay for childcare. No work wardrobe, and she makes her own hours. If she doesn't have insurance, she will have an opportunity to get health insurance through DS. If she does have coverage, so much the better.

She can plan her income and get paid twice weekly. She is self-employed and able to taker all the appropriate deductions which will reduce her tax burden considerably. As a professional writer, I'm sure you know what those are. This is work, and it pays considerably better than unemployment.

When we talk about the "going rate" for freelancer it is better to point out that there are apples and oranges. Sure, DS isn't paying glossy magazine rates, but glossies might not be doing that much longer either.

I am happy for those who still like to chase the glossies or book contracts; I wish them well. I'm also happy for my colleagues at Demand Studios. Apples and oranges, and we're all doing okay.

Cheers.

Comment from Marie Louise on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T01:55:31Z

Thank your for correcting your mistake. I didn't see the above posts made until after I finished writing.

Comment from Marie Louise on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T01:52:15Z

Sad that so many lately are trying so hard to bash Demand Studios for keeping a roof over children's heads and food in their bellies. It seems, as evidenced by this piece, that in an effort to belittle the company and the writers who work for them, people will go so far as to use an "example" of DS work that was written by joe-schmoe off the street which is made quite obvious by the "user-submitted content" title directly under the name. Oh, and let's not forget the name itself and the avatar. DS writers aren't allowed to have "internet" names like that, nor are we allowed to use pictures like that.

I began at Associated Content getting a couple of dollars an article and page views. I was hired at DS and make $15 per title. I'll tell you now that I've yet to find another company hiring web content writers that pay so well, twice a week and offer health insurance. DS is helping to pay my bills, feed my kids and my grandson, as well as my doctor bills. I'm a disabled mother of 4. Before DS, I sat at home wondering how the hell the bills are going to get paid, what will we eat? I've been unable to work for 6 years. Thanks to DS, I have money to pay bills and feed my family. Thanks to DS, I can make $1,000 or more. There is absolutely no limit on the amount a writer can make. How fast can you write? Five articles a day is $450 a week. I know some people who are writing 10 articles or more a day.

I'll repeat what my fellow writers have said, next time do your research, fact check yourself and get it right before you continue bashing DS for enabling those who are disabled, like myself, or are out of work because of job layoffs, to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.

Comment from Kenneth Crawford on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T01:24:49Z

J.R.

Responding to your question, "Then will it be any different than a magazine or newspaper assigning writers to separate beats, except in this case the beats will be different sites or publishers?"

To a certain degree Demand Studios is already doing this. Writers do not have access to titles for all the publishers we have titles for now. There are some guidelines in place similar to what you are pointing out. To what degree, I do not know. But I believe it does show that Demand Studios is making moves in the that direction and clearly They will evolve to meet the demands of publishers. By doing this they will continue to offer writer a steady flow of work and income as they do now.

Comment from Marna on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T01:14:11Z

When they pay their writers market rate, they'll get quality. When you make more on unemployment than you would researching and writing a 400-word piece for $15, it is hard to justify wasting your time working for them.

Comment from J.R. on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T01:11:36Z

While many Demand writer's are still rightly smarting from a personal attack by a well-known yet so-called writer's advocate recently, I do not see your piece as an attack on the writers.

First other than the user-submitted error, which you have now fixed, you backed up your points with hard numbers and facts--including quotes from Richard himself. Others wishing to label themselves investigative journalists should really take note of how you did this.

As for my impressions. As little as six months ago nearly anything I searched on Google turned up badly written crap or teenage stupidity from places such as Ezinearticles.com and Yahoo answers. While today, a search is likely to have something from Demand Media near the top. This has actually improved the quality in my opinion as those sites and similar get pushed out of the search rankings.

As for the business model itself. Where is the over-saturation point? At some point sites will start vying for original content that is not found elsewhere. At this point Demand must evolve to meet this need. Then will it be any different than a magazine or newspaper assigning writers to separate beats, except in this case the beats will be different sites or publishers?

While I am proud to supplement my income via Demand and have never been treated so well by a client before in ways not purely financial, I am afraid the model will not stay viable in the long term. The real question is--can Demand Media continue to evolve?

Comment from Kenneth Crawford on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T00:59:16Z

The long-term quality of web content should be based on relevance of the subject matter to the reader. If you are looking at the AMOUNT of the web content, I would think that 4,000 EDITED articles per day adds to the quality of web content versus the 10,000 unedited, poorly written articles posted everyday.

Obviously, if the content does not provide the reader with the information they seek it is worthless. The Demand Studios process ensures that if you are searching for a subject and come across a Demand Studios written piece, you can be sure that the content in that article is relevant and factual to the subject.

Comment from Richard MacManus on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T00:49:12Z

As per the comments from #9 down, it appears that the example I used wasn't in fact from Demand Studios, but was a "user-submitted article." I have been informed by a Demand Media rep that those articles aren't counted in the 4,000 per day figure. The distinction wasn't obvious, nevertheless I did incorrectly attribute it to Demand Studios - for which I apologize. The post has been updated now.

I should point out that I'm not in any way insulting writers who are paid by Demand Media. The bigger question, which I stand by, is how publishing 4,000 new articles a day to the Web is affecting the long-term quality of Web content.

Comment from Nancy on 2009-11-12

2009-11-13T00:47:42Z

Count me as another writer for Demand Studios who strongly objects to the shoddy research you did for this article. Your example of the Twitter piece is a poor one it is not what you purport. As others have pointed out, it was not written by a Demand Studio writer.

You've highlighted the quality of Demand Studios' work by showcasing the poor quality of the writing on this blog. In the future you might try to double check your research before your writing hits your blog.

Cheers.

Comment from Barbara Alvarez on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T23:58:34Z

You would have failed any test given by Demand Studios if you had used that piece of "work" for a writing sample. Demand requires its writers to write using the Associated Press Stylebook; SEO guides will trump AP stylebook, but we do follow journalistic standards -- "we" being the writers contracted by Demand to write the articles generated by the computer algorithm and NOT that, ummm, erm, (well s/he definitely is not a writer, given the mistakes in that Twitter piece).
Your research skills, evidenced by the article you pasted in, are less than would be accepted by Demand's staff editors and copy editors. If you had submitted this "article", it would have been sent back for a rewrite based on that issue alone.
Piece of advice for next time: (fact)check everything out and make sure it is accurate, correct and factual.
Aside from the coming health insurance plan, Demand selected 20 top creators and invited them to a creator conference two months ago; Demand also selected 100 top creators and gave them one year's free membership in the Society of Professional Journalists. At least one of those selected has posted here. I was also one of those selected for both honors.
Demand pays much higher than, oh, let's say, Textbroker. They pay about $3.75 for a 400-500 word article. The other sites (Helium, Associated Content, Suite 101 and Triond) pay on page views or ad clicks. Demand also has a revenue sharing option, which, for some, does well.
In short, sir, you did not do all your homework.

Comment from Kenneth Crawford on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T23:57:46Z

Yet another article about Demand Studios. First, let me say that it is good that Demand Studios is garnering so much attention from website and blog owners. Seems that Demand Studios is staying on the forefront of your minds lately. I just do not understand why all of the backlash concerning the quality or quantity of the content as well as the pay that is offered.

Is the quality top notch? It really depends on what you compare the content against. Demand Studios writers create articles based on pre-selected titles. The articles are then passed on to a copy editor who in turn checks the piece for factual information, grammar, spelling, sentence structure, depth of the research as well as citing of appropriate sources. If the piece passes, the writer is paid. If it fails to pass it is given back to the writer to rewrite. The writer gets one chance to rewrite the article, if it fails to pass the editor on the second attempt the article is rejected and the writer is not paid.

With that in mind, writers research their titles no matter how well they know the subject matter. The writers also make it a point not to create subpar articles just to make a higher hourly wage. Why? Because it does not make much sense to spend 45 minutes to one hour creating an article that you are not going to get paid for writing. So the quality of Demand Studios writers and articles is far better than most of the writing you find on websites and blogs created by those that merely want to sell a product or service quickly.

To add to this discussion, I question why there is all the campaigning against Demand Studios in the first place.

Comment from Kim on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T23:20:46Z

I can only assume that you have an axe to grind with Demand Media. Writers are treated very poorly on the internet but Demand goes out of its way to make sure that we are happy. Sure, the pay could be better but this economy stinks. Gone are the days when we can even get .10 per word when publishers can get horrible content from India for less than 1/2 cent! That's right, you heard me. There are orders out there for 25/500 word articles with perfect grammar and the pay??? $1.50 each!

Demand Studios is supplying a real income for me and I am grateful. It is not easy because the editors are tough but they have to be in order for us to produce the best content on the internet. I am fortunate to have the ability to work in both writing and titling so it is even better. Demand may be a content farm but they are the best and most professional out there.

The next time you decide to trash a company's work I suggest you do your homework and maybe take some research lessons from a Demand Media content creator.

Kim Kirsch

Comment from Jacqui on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T22:53:17Z

I'm afraid that I can't take this article seriously when it uses an example that wasn't submitted by a Demand Studios writer to demonstrate the poor quality of work produced by Demand Studios.

At DS, we have copy editors to fact-check our articles and make sure that such things don't happen. Perhaps you could use their services? Such an obvious mistake undermines the credibility of your entire post.

(FYI, articles written by Demand Studios writers include "Contributing Writer" in the byline.)

Comment from Kelly on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T22:21:30Z

Add me to the list of those pointing out that the article used as an example is user-submitted content (as indicated by the words "user-submitted article" next to the writer's name - Demand Studios' writers work will bear the words "eHow contributing writer").

I get what you're saying and appreciate the viewpoint, but once again: insulting those trying to make a living and feed their families probably isn't the best way to make your point. Especially when the example you use isn't even a true example of their work.

Just a little bit of research and verifying of your facts would have saved you from this major gaff.

Comment from Joseph on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T22:09:31Z

I'm not sure about the author, but I'd consider "bad" writing to be poorly researched writing that misses a huge detail. For instance, if one were to use a single example to try and make one's point only to find that example was completely faulty and irrelevant. Like if one were trying to make the case that Demand Studios writing is poor by showcasing a piece that wasn't written by a Demand Studios writer. That's bad writing that does a great disservice to the reader. Luckily, Demand Media can't take credit for that gaff. That's on the author.

Comment from Leeza on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T21:45:58Z

The article about Twitter followers is a User Submitted article, not written by a Demand Studios writer.

Comment from Laila on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T21:34:16Z

The sample you have posted IS indeed part of Demand Media as a whole, as it has been posted on eHow. However, you can tell by the "User-Submitted Article" under the writer's name that this article was not written by someone within Demand Studios, and therefore did not go through a rigorous editing process. eHow is made up of articles written by people who sign up directly at ehow.com and article written by the professionals who get paid $15 to write such an article with Demand Studios.

Comment from T.K. on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T20:48:23Z

You're a little off base in your assessment of Demand Studios. They do strive for quality content. Unlike other content "mills," Demand won't publish any old bit of content. They reject anything that doesn't make the cut. We also have to provide resources and references for all our work. We can't just slap together a piece of content.

The "bad" writing you posted was for eHow but not Demand Studios. eHow didn't have a strict hiring policy before Demand took it over so there are a bunch of clunkers there. They're trying to weed out all the garbage though.

You forgot to mention health care. Demand is soon offering affordable health care options to their writers. They pay more than the average mill and treat us all well. If the Demand Studios writers aren't complaining why should everyone else?

To Jimmy Daniels - All our articles are put through a copyediting process. Some are rejected outright, some are sent back for rewrites and the good stuff is published. Do your research before you begin bashing.

Comment from Michael on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T20:21:00Z

As a Demand Studios writer, I challenge your assessment. First off, you should understand that the Twitter article you referenced was written by an eHow member, not a Demand Studios contributor. How do I know this? Because the profiles do not look the same. Also, as you pointed out, many people appear to have gained some insight from the article, as is referenced by its rating and comments.

You also point out that Demand Studios articles appear on Yahoo as syndicated content. The article in particular that you bring up is on the swine flu and originated from LiveStrong.com. Perhaps you would care to rephrase that and say Yahoo uses content from LiveStrong? Yes, Demand Studios provides content for many sites, including GolfLink and Trails.com. Does that make them evil? I think not. Web content has always been in demand, and will continue to be even more in demand as new websites desire unique content.

Finally, let's talk about pay. Sure, $15 per article may seem like peanuts to an established author who publishes in print magazines or newspapers. However, in the online world where Demand Studios operates, this is far from the case. There are many content mills out there that produce far worse quality at a much lower payment rate. Another perk of working as a freelance professional with Demand Studios is that they pay weekly (well, twice a week now). I have never been paid late and have actually been paid early when a holiday weekend would interrupt the normal pay schedule.

I find Demand Studios to be a breath of fresh air in the online writer's market, dealing fairly with freelancers and continually striving to improve their quality and substance of their material. Does that mean they are perfect? No, but I find them to be less of a devil than you paint them to be.

Comment from Jimmy Daniels on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T18:29:03Z

Sounds like Mahalo to me. As a guy who used to frequent yahoo a lot more just to see what news they were linking to, the quality of articles posted to the front page of Yahoo has taken a nasty nose dive, I don't believe anyone proof reads the articles after they are written and many typos and mistakes abound. I guess now I know why.

Comment from Ric on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T18:18:29Z

I run into their content all the time and its easy to spot! As a very successful PR pro I know acceptable content and spot theirs quickly. I usually stop halfway through or finish with my 'fluff' meter pegged off the top of the scale. Make no mistake this is bad for the Web and lets hope its viability is short lived. Automation and assembly line isnt usually a bad thing when done right. In this case however the means seems to hurt the ends

Comment from IgorC on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T16:36:11Z

Sounds like one of the worst things that ever happened to the Internet. Exploiting the Web to create a virtual sweatshop and mass-spam all media outlets with garbage-quality content, sounds like the start of the end to me. The near-zero prices of this content stand to stifle genuine pro-level content on the Internet.

Comment from hj on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T15:04:57Z

Is it high quality? Well, that depends on how you define quality.

Does it have to be good enough for human consumption (it isn't!) or is fooling the Google bot their criteria for quality?

As it manages to fool Google into sending visitors their way I'm pretty sure that as far as they're concerned it's very high quality content.

Comment from johnk on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T14:57:23Z

maybe this article should have gone through the demand studios process to cut it down to 1 page & get to the point....demand studios create link bait and seo friendly articles that they make money off by placing google and yahoo ads on (arbitrage??) now they sell these same types articles to newspapers and search portals.

Comment from TropicalGringo on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T13:36:55Z

I'm sure that when TV first came out and real writers were conflicted about this type of gig, but new media channels (like the Internet) can't help but affect the content that flows through them. From a strictly business perspective, I think it's an excellent venture (Demand Media). From a journalistic perspective maybe not, but looking at the success of someone like Murdoch (the bain of journalism to many), I wouldn't bet (financially) against Demand Media.

Comment from justelise on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T13:11:26Z

I've considered writing for them, but the pay always seems far too low, and the subject matter is never completely a good fit. Recently they changed their profile policy, and they're forcing writers to put pictures on their profiles. As a person of color who's already lost work for that reason, I'm highly irritated, and I'm thinking of deleting my profile completely. The other irritating thing is that if you exchange emails with four or five Demand Studios editors/employees about profile issues, you get four or five completely different stories. That doesn't really build confidence.

Comment from Steven Finch on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T12:57:46Z

Writing is all about relevance and timing. However, Demand Media seems to be going solely after the Google traffic. This isnt a bad play if you can make back your money on advertising revenues in quick time. This strategy for them currently seems to be working!

MOG is also doing the same thing, but for Music content. However, they are slightly different because they are just about syndicating titles and descriptions, and not actually the full article.