aol’s plan to take back the internet

December 3rd, 2009 • posts i've written

Build a content destination by…

1) Watching what users are searching for
2) Crowdsourcing content from Seed.com (a site that doesn’t currently exist and has no community in-place) based on those search topics (“quick, some nobody, write something dirt cheap about Tiger Woods“)
3) Profit?

I think that new goldfish logo is rather fitting.

There are a few problems with this strategy fresh from 2002…

• Nothing here is new. Most news organizations use search trends and other conversational data to pick ripe topics. And both Associated Content and Demand Media have been hacking (the right word) at the instantaneous UGC angle for some time, with little proof of any sustained quality.
• aol (excuse me, Aol.) seems to forget that they’ve already discovered a pretty successful method to create rich content sources… Aol owns both TMZ and Engadget, both which are staffed by journalists hired to cover a beat and break news (and not just follow it).
• The strategy shared by Associated Content and Demand Media preys on a current flaw in search engines logic; their posts make it to the top of a search result page because of gray-hat keyword stuffing – search engines won’t be fooled for much longer which throws into question the long-term viability of such a move.
• This strategy also relies on dwindling searchers (they hold around a 3% share of search) showing up to be served unremarkable junk content. What a reward…

Instead of this content play, Aol should erect some type of wall, or mass-distribute free CDs, or cache the internet and only serve you old content. People love yesterday’s internet. And apparently, so does Aol.

Related posts:

1. twitter vs the google zeitgeist
2. search is (relatively) solved
3. behold the plateau of social media

Tags: AOL, associated content, content

Trackback URI.