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I've got an idea, lets TRASH the internet!!

by mr2monster
18 replies
As I read through the forum here (and other forums as well), I notice quite a few people offering tips and suggestions on how to crank out "content", "backlinks" or any number of other types of promotional crap at lightning speed, and I often find myself asking: "Why?"

The problem became even more obvious as I was doing some keyword research and got to see the effects first hand. As I searched for "competition" in a certain niche, I came upon a keyword string that had the same basic article that had been spun fifteen different ways on 7 out of the 11 top listings (the keyword has almost no competition).

It was pathetically written, offered no value at all, and was pretty much the epitome of what I call (for lack of a better word) spamming the internet.


Frankly, I would be embarrassed to have those links pointing to my web page! I mean, don't get me wrong, I've got some sub par content out there that I've hired writers for and posted simply because I was broke and needed to get my money out of the content, but the stuff I see often is quite bad.


What happened to actually offering something of value? What happened to taking pride in your work? What happened to being concerned about the impression that you gave to others? What happened to quality over quantity?

Aside from the above questions of personal reflection, I just don't understand the logic behind it.

I can't help but feel like it's got to be MORE work to spin crap content in an infinite number of ways and post it ten thousand times, than it would be to just do a QUALITY job one time. Add to that the fact that the end user will appreciate and VALUE quality content so much more, that I can't fathom having results that aren't exponentially more successful.

As I look across the internet at most of my favorite sites, I never see crap content.
  • Frank Kern doesn't spin the hell out of an article to get traffic.[/*]
  • Mashable doesn't have a bunch of spammy links out there, they have people linking to them because they're GOOD. [/*]
  • Digg articles at the top of the ranks aren't ****ty, no thought nonsense. [/*]
  • Even the threads here in the forum, that get the most views and user participation, are well thought out, or at least bring something great to the table...[/*]



As if I haven't beaten a dead horse enough already, I've been trying to understand the pros and cons to each method and this is what I've come up with. Maybe someone can help me see a different angle.

QUALITY
+Great user interaction
+High perceived value
+Reader/viewer/user loyalty (higher subscription rates?)
+Link juice from others that enjoy the work, OTHERS doing the backlinking for you
+Do it once, it's got staying power
+Pride of ownership, not afraid to show others your work

-Content could get stolen?
-Takes longer to create
-It's actually work creating something
-what else?

QUANTITY
+More branches on the tree for people to see it?
+Instant gratification of the creator (at the expense of the user)
+anyone?

-Risk of getting banned from almost everywhere
-Horrid user interaction (does anyone really read this crap?)
-NO linkbait
-Relentlessly submitting in order to get the reach you want
-Constantly having to create or REcreate work


So, what gives?

Why does everyone want to TRASH the internet?

/rant
#idea #internet #quality #trash
  • Profile picture of the author cdhartpence
    Music...sweet music.

    And you are, in my humble opinion, 110% correct.

    That said, there will ALWAYS be a "quantity is its own quality" crowd.

    Perhaps though, when *enough* garbage gets tossed into the streets, "G" will change its site rank formula and start taking into account the overall quality and relevance of the articles providing all those backlinks (LSI seems to be a first move in that general direction), at which time it'll no longer be profitable to respin and regurgitate your favorite PLR into 10,000 spun variants of "new" material to your top 100,000 favorite article directories.



    -=Vel=-
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  • Profile picture of the author RebeccaL
    Over time it is the quality webmasters who will win.

    Just look back 5 years, and you'll notice the websites that have stuck around are those that are offering real value to the visitor.

    Spam content might make you a few dollars here and there right now, but where will it be in a year or two time? Nowhere to be seen probably.
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  • Profile picture of the author twright
    Its called Pay to Index - What was once a conversation in the Early years is now becoming a viable business solution. There are commercials based around junk search results and you can best believe it is going to cost us the most.

    So Op your answer for better results are going to be met with a cost $ , its all about time to market
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    • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
      Originally Posted by twright View Post

      Its called Pay to Index - What was once a conversation in the Early years is now becoming a viable business solution. There are commercials based around junk search results and you can best believe it is going to cost us the most.

      So Op your answer for better results are going to be met with a cost $ , its all about time to market
      Time to Market? as in, first to the market wins? From what I've seen, that is rarely the case anyway. The first to market is the guinea pig that gets to test the waters while others improve on the idea and dominate the original.

      I suppose it's all in whether you're in it for a quick buck and sell out, or the long term..
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  • Profile picture of the author timpears
    So as one who gets little response here when I ask a question, I apologize for my intrusion into your space. I came here to learn, but I guess I add nothing of value. I will try to read more and ask less.
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    Tim Pears

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    • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
      Originally Posted by timpears View Post

      So as one who gets little response here when I ask a question, I apologize for my intrusion into your space. I came here to learn, but I guess I add nothing of value. I will try to read more and ask less.
      I hope that you didn't take my post that way, it wasn't intended towards any warriors specifically... It was intended to make people think.
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      • Profile picture of the author timpears
        Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

        I hope that you didn't take my post that way, it wasn't intended towards any warriors specifically... It was intended to make people think.
        Well that was what you said, wasn't it. Your position has a lot of merit. There is a lot of junk out on the world wide web. And I have to wonder when I read some of the posts here in Warrior Forum. Spelling is atrocious at times, even for native English speaking people. And grammar is poor in many cases. But, in a free society, shouldn't we expect that to some extent?

        I have a tendency to talk too much. Your post made me think that I should shut my mouth as I obviously don't have a lot of value to say. No big deal. I am sure you are right.
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        Tim Pears

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  • Profile picture of the author twright
    Sorry my term "Time to Market" was a mental skip of words. I was meaning to say its only time to it hits mass market.

    Major News corps are pulling data feeds from google and while some are saying they won't more are saying they will.

    Which is why Pay to Index will become a bigger topic soon.

    Yes, this is my opinion
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  • Profile picture of the author JoeCool
    Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

    I mean, don't get me wrong, I've got some sub par content out there that I've hired writers for and posted simply because I was broke and needed to get my money out of the content, but the stuff I see often is quite bad.
    Isn't this a case of "the pot calling the kettle black?"

    The person you give as an example holding 7 of the top listings could be you two years ago... broke, desperate and using whatever means he or she could "to get their money out of their content."

    You trashed the internet in the past, they've trashed it today.

    Until the search engines filter out all this crap (and I doubt they ever will be able to fully) it will continue.

    Why?

    Because there will always be new people trying, by whatever means necessary, to make a quick buck "getting their money out of their content."


    Best Regards,
    ~ JoeCool
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    • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
      Originally Posted by JoeCool View Post

      Isn't this a case of "the pot calling the kettle black?"

      The person you give as an example holding 7 of the top listings could be you two years ago... broke, desperate and using whatever means he or she could "to get their money out of their content."

      You trashed the internet in the past, they've trashed it today.

      Until the search engines filter out all this crap (and I doubt they ever will be able to fully) it will continue.

      Why?

      Because there will always be new people trying, by whatever means necessary, to make a quick buck "getting their money out of their content."


      Best Regards,
      ~ JoeCool


      I didn't say I had respun a bunch of crap... I said I had some poorly written articles that I used 1 time that were STILL much better than the trash that I see out there. I didn't use it to dominate the top 7 spots by spinning it into unreadable garbage... If it was total garbage, it would have gone into the trash. I don't put crap out there that I don't feel ads any value at all.

      The goal of the spinners out there is to throw as many noodles against the wall until "something sticks"...

      Completely different story if you ask me.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    the truth is, quality has very little to do with SE rankings.
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    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
    Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

    Aside from the above questions of personal reflection, I just don't understand the logic behind it.
    Then what you don't understand the logic behind is SEO.

    For better or worse Google is the current engine of the Internet and it runs off of links. To get links you have to find creative ways to harness the chaos this situation creates faster and better than the competition. If you're "embarrassed to have those links pointing to my web page" you'll be outclassed and outgunned by your competition who doesn't have a problem with it.

    If you don't want to use SEO, that's fine. There are other alternatives such as list building (Kern) or untargeted social referral traffic (Mashable and Digg). However, the barrier to entry is much higher and chance of success is much lower with these methods, especially if you handicap yourself by not understanding at least the basics of SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
      Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

      Then what you don't understand the logic behind is SEO.

      For better or worse Google is the current engine of the Internet and it runs off of links. To get links you have to find creative ways to harness the chaos this situation creates faster and better than the competition. If you're "embarrassed to have those links pointing to my web page" you'll be outclassed and outgunned by your competition who doesn't have a problem with it.

      If you don't want to use SEO, that's fine. There are other alternatives such as list building (Kern) or untargeted social referral traffic (Mashable and Digg). However, the barrier to entry is much higher and chance of success is much lower with these methods, especially if you handicap yourself by not understanding at least the basics of SEO.
      Oh I understand SEO... and I understand the "logic" behind throwing out as many "links" as you can get to stick.

      I was trying to make a point that places like Kern, Digg and Mashable get links without having to post a bunch of spun crap because they've built a quality audience that does that work FOR THEM based around the fact that they provide QUALITY.

      I would also bet that the traffic from those sources would be significantly more responsive should digg or mashable launch a new product or service or make a recommendation or whatever.


      My point is that for the amount of time that people spend spamming out links... and hoping things stick... and avoiding getting banned... and jumping through loopholes, they could have just made something quality that would provide a good reason to pass it along. They'd get referral traffic, and not have to worry as much about backlinking and bla blah and they'd also develop a significantly better relationship with their prospects.

      Furthermore, it would stick around longer because no one would have a reason to throw it away as trash...
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      • Profile picture of the author egenius
        IMO moderation is the key. If you are building a brand for yourself over years and years with loyal subscribers and JV partners you will certainly get tons of traffic to your site "naturally".

        However, in order to play the game as it stands today and be able to enter a market and promote some offers and not wait 3 years, you are going to need to get some links out there and usually some amount of spinning is required in order to compete.

        But what I don't do is: take an existing article and respin in into oblivion 1000 times. That is straight spamming and provides no value. Start with an unique article and spin in into unique and still highly readable articles maybe 10 times and do it every day with a new article. This way you will not get blacklisted and you are not clogging all the pipes with garbage and you are still able to compete with everyone else and if you are consistent, you will rise above most of the filth in the SERPs.
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      • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
        Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

        My point is that for the amount of time that people spend spamming out links... and hoping things stick... and avoiding getting banned... and jumping through loopholes, they could have just made something quality that would provide a good reason to pass it along. They'd get referral traffic, and not have to worry as much about backlinking and bla blah and they'd also develop a significantly better relationship with their prospects.
        You can find these people and their sites. They'll most often be on page 30 or lower of Google for most competitive buying keywords. This becomes even more true the further you move away from the social Internet and Internet Marketing (Twitter, Digg, Facebook and the big time blogs) and into pure product/service search territory.

        Another downside is that referral traffic doesn't convert in these non Internet Marketing niches, buying search traffic does. Nor do they know how to link to a site they like. They're more likely to link to you with a "click here" than with a "cheap red widgets"

        Yes, it would be nice if you could simply put out quality content and get enough traffic to make good money. But, in my experience and my observation, only a very few people have the talent and luck to pull this off. For us mere mortals, we have to crank out spun articles, get links wherever we can by hook or by crook and work the ground that Google has provided to us.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Gannon
    Now all we need is moderated search engine, where each site is ranked by value.
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