Home
>
Article Writing
>
Web Content Barn Blasted by Shotgun Software - Article Marketers

Web Content Barn Blasted by Shotgun Software - Article Marketers

As we prepared to move our 12,000 article database from one server to another and make a serious business of it, instead of the formerly free service, hosted on free servers and delivered by free email accounts, we took a serious look around at the article marketing business as well as the paid web content business to see what others were doing and test theories about the value of web content.

What we discovered, to our dismay, was that everyone now recognizes that content is king in search engine ranking. The trouble with everyone knowing how important web content is to search engines - is that it gets perverted the same way linking and Pagerank got perverted. Everyone realized how important links were to good search engine ranking in 1998 and 1999 when FFA (Free-For-All) link directories were launched.

The FFA insanity was finally recognized by late 2000 and early 2001 by the search engines as a perverted system and they first discounted those links in their algorithm, then began to penalize those links because they were dominated by sleazy players in the porn and pills industry. Although those FFA pages still exist and some otherwise reasonable people are taken in by them because they "heard somewhere" that they help your search engine ranking, most of us now know that posting links to FFA pages is a counterproductive waste of time for search engine ranking.

Along came links directories, linking directory software, and link building services to pollute the waters of linking even further. Webmasters hear that links are important for search engine rank and they dive into one or all of these linking schemes to increase their link popularity. Finally the search engines noted that millions of unrelated sites were linking to each other and that those links were nearly always reciprocal. So the search engines downgraded those links, reduced the value of directories full of reciprocal links to unrelated sites. It's been rumored that this too is a possible area of penalization by search engines.

I'm a long-time advocate for the value of web content in the form of free articles as a search engine strategy. I started an emailed article distribution service in 1999 to encourage site owners to write and distribute articles for free use on other sites to increase topical relevancy and coincidentally as a method of gaining one-way inbound links to their site from the resource box at the end of their articles. I have long used them to ghostwrite and submit articles for clients on a regular basis as a linking campaign resource for their site in place of the more common reciprocal link-begging done by so many webmasters.

Now article marketing is becoming polluted by overzealous marketers producing software and services to "Blast Your Articles to 50,000 Ezine Editors" with little regard to much more than selling a few thousand copies of their software. Ezine editors see articles blasted in shotgun fashion without regard to topic or industry as spam when they receive those random article submissions. It is only one of the perversions of the web content game now perverted by "blasts" of emailed articles to tens of thousands of ezine editors.

A further perversion is "SEO writers" who use this Shotgun Software to blast ghost-written articles (done for clients) to thousands of ezine editors and article distrbution sites, not just once, but over and over again. These maniacal jackals join article distribution lists under multiple pen names and use their software to submit those "blasts" to dozens of article distribution lists under multiple names, multiple times in the hopes of getting the articles published multiple times on the same sites. It has required us to write filtering software to keep multiple submissions out of the archives and ban the authors doing the multiple submissions from further submissions.

The worst perversion of the web content game is those harvesting articles from the multitude of free content sites and reproducing entire archives from multiple article databases and hosting those thousands of articles on dynamic sites without regard to topic or category. This watering down of the article relevance by random inclusion on hundreds of websites is destroying the value of the article marketing and diluting the value of the link to the author sites. Why? Because those articles are now appearing on thousands of sites that have no focus or relevance and link back to the authors from sites that have no apparent subject or topic.

Web content is critical to establish a topical relevance for all website owners, not simply for creating larger sites with more Adsense ads on them. Publishers need to focus on relevant topics and avoid reproducing random web content. The content at any cost mentality is killing the value of article marketing and diluting the reasons for distribution. Unless the article spammers stop "Blasting to 50,000 Ezine Publishers" we will see the value of article marketing blown to bits and reduced to the value of FFA links directories.

Mike Banks Valentine operates http://publish101.com Free Web Content Distribution for Article Marketers and Provides content aggregation, press release optimization and custom web content for Search Engine Positioning http://publish101.com RSS: http://publish101.com

apartment cleaning near Highland Park ..

In The News:

Commerce Department proposes TP-Link router ban over Chinese security risks. Learn how this potential prohibition could affect your home network and devices.

Hyundai AutoEver America suffered a data breach affecting 2,000 current and former employees, exposing names, Social Security numbers and driver's license information.

Washington court rules automated license plate reader images are public records, even when stored by vendors like Flock Safety, setting precedent for transparency.

Fake airline texts claiming flight cancellations are targeting travelers with convincing scams. Learn how cybercriminals steal personal data and credit card info.

Discover how iOS 26's new Adaptive Power feature automatically extends iPhone battery life by learning your usage patterns and adjusting performance intelligently.

New TikTok malware campaign tricks users into running PowerShell commands that download Aura Stealer, which steals credentials and authentication tokens.

Gaia Family offers fixed upfront pricing for IVF cycles with unlimited embryo transfers and financial protection, partnering with over 100 U.S. fertility clinics.

The Jetsons Act aims to position Pennsylvania as a leader in advanced air mobility by establishing regulations for hybrid ground-air vehicles.

Fake Geek Squad invoice emails are targeting users with convincing charges and urgent phone numbers to steal personal information and money.

Fox News Digital's artificial intelligence newsletter digs into a robot in Russia that faceplanted, George Clooney's alarm and OpenAI's rivalry with the New York Times.

Major data breach at Conduent exposes personal information of 10+ million people. Government contractor hit by cyberattack affecting Medicaid, child support systems.

Texas startup Janta Power raises $5.5M for innovative vertical solar towers that generate 50% more energy than traditional panels while using just one-third the land.

NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft launched aboard Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral, beginning their journey to Mars with arrival expected in 2027.

Learn how to set email reminders on iPhone and Android so you never forget to reply again. Simple built-in features help you stay organized and on top of messages.

Discover how Apple's passkeys revolutionize Mac security by replacing vulnerable passwords with biometric authentication and encryption for ultimate protection.

New survey reveals 78% of parents fear AI scams targeting their kids, yet nearly half haven't discussed these threats. Learn why this dangerous gap exists.

Chrome now autofills passport and driver's license info automatically. Google's latest browser update adds official document support with encryption and user control.

Scammers impersonate Department of Veterans Affairs employees claiming veterans owe money, but real VA communications only direct to VA.gov or official channels.

The AltoVolo Sigma hybrid-electric aircraft flies 500 miles at 220 mph while operating 80% quieter than helicopters, featuring safety systems and compact design.

Google search scam alert: fake customer service numbers can give scammers remote control of your phone. Learn how to spot these traps and protect yourself.

Electric vehicles overtake gas cars in total CO2 savings after just two years of driving, with emissions benefits growing over time as power grids get cleaner.

Louvre Museum reportedly used "Louvre" as password for surveillance system during $100M jewel heist. Learn how weak passwords put even famous institutions at risk.

Bipartisan AI jobs bill from Sens. Hawley and Warner would require companies to report AI-related layoffs and hiring to Department of Labor quarterly.

Joe A. from Shelton, Connecticut, lost $228,000 to a ZAP Solutions cryptocurrency investment scam after his divorce, highlighting rising online fraud.

AI-powered autonomous trucks from Waabi and Volvo target U.S. freight driver shortage with Level 4 self-driving technology and NVIDIA computing platform integration.

Web Content Barn Blasted by Shotgun Software - Article Marketers

Article Writing