Content farm

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A content farm or content mill is a company that employs freelance creators or uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate a large amount of web content specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by search engines, a practice known as search engine optimization (SEO). The primary goal is to attract page views and generate advertising revenue. [1] Their emergence is often tied to the demand for "true market demand" content based on search engine queries. [1]

Contents

Characteristics

Some content farms produce thousands of articles each month using freelance writers or AI tools. For example, in 2009, Wired reported that Demand Media—owner of eHow—was publishing one million items per month, the equivalent of four English-language Wikipedias annually. [2] Another notable example was Associated Content, purchased by Yahoo! in 2010 for $90 million, which later became Yahoo! Voices before shutting down in 2014. [3] [4]

Pay scales for writers at content farms are low compared to traditional salaries. For instance, writers may be compensated $3.50 per article, though some prolific contributors can produce enough content to earn a living. [5] Writers are often not experts in the topics they cover. [6]

Since the rise of large language models like ChatGPT, content farms have shifted towards AI-generated content. A report by NewsGuard in 2023 identified over 140 internationally recognized brands supporting AI-driven content farms. [7] AI tools allow these sites to generate hundreds of articles daily, often with minimal human oversight. [8]

Criticisms

Critics argue that content farms prioritize SEO and ad revenue over factual accuracy and relevance. [9] Critics also highlight the potential for misinformation, such as conspiracy theories and fake product reviews, being spread through AI-generated content. [10] Some have compared content farms to the fast food industry, calling them "fast content" providers that pollute the web with low-value material. [11] The word, "sponsored" when searching has raised questions on the reliability of the site as it was likely paid to be pushed to the top of the search options. [12]

Search engine responses

Search engines like Google have taken steps to limit the influence of content farms. In 2011, Google introduced the Google Panda update to lower the rankings of low-quality websites. [13] Other search engines, like DuckDuckGo, have also implemented measures to block low-quality AI-driven sites. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metasearch engine</span> Online information retrieval tool

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AlltheWeb</span>

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Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model used to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked.

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eHow Website

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Leaf Group, formerly Demand Media Inc., is an American content company that operates online brands, including eHow, livestrong.com, and marketplace brands Saatchi Art and Society6. The company provides social media platforms for large company websites and distributes content with social media tools to web outlets. It is commonly known for being a content farm. Demand Media was created in 2006 by a former private equity investor, Shawn Colo, and the former chairman of MySpace, Richard Rosenblatt.

Google Panda is a major change to Google's search results ranking algorithm that was first released in February 2011. The change aimed to lower the rank of "low-quality sites" or "thin sites", in particular "content farms", and return higher-quality sites near the top of the search results.

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References

  1. 1 2 Dorian Benkoil (July 26, 2010). "Don't Blame the Content Farms". PBS. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  2. ↑ Roth, Daniel (October 19, 2009). "The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model". Wired. Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  3. ↑ Plesser, Andy (May 18, 2010). "Yahoo Harvests "Content Farm" Associated Content for $90 Million, Report". Beet.TV. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023.
  4. ↑ Rossiter, Jay (July 2, 2014). "Furthering Our Focus". Yahoo. Tumblr. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ "What It's Like To Write For Demand Media: Low Pay But Lots of Freedom". ReadWriteWeb. December 17, 2009. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ Hiar, Corbin (July 21, 2010). "Writers Explain What It's Like Toiling on the Content Farm". MediaShift. PBS. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ Dupré, Maggie Harrison (July 2, 2023). "People Are Spinning Up Content Farms Using AI". Futurism. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Stuart A. (May 19, 2023). "A.I.-Generated Content Discovered on News Sites, Content Farms and Product Reviews". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  9. ↑ Patricio Robles (April 9, 2010). "USA Today turns to the content farm as the ship sinks". Econsultancy. Archived from the original on April 13, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ Marr, Bernard (May 16, 2023). "The Danger of AI Content Farms". Forbes. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  11. ↑ Arrington, Michael (December 13, 2009). "The End Of Hand Crafted Content". TechCrunch.
  12. ↑ Daily, Laura (January 13, 2025). ""It's harder than ever to find reliable product recommendations online"". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  13. ↑ Singhal, Amit; Cutts, Matt. "Finding more high-quality sites in search". Official Google Blog. Blogspot. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  14. ↑ "The Search Engine Backlash Against 'Content Mills'". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
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