From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Associated Content (AC) is an online publisher
and distributor of original content. Associated Content enables
anyone to publish their content on any topic, pays them for their
work, and distributes that content through its website and content partners.
History
Associated Content was started in January 2005 by Luke Beatty.
It is based in Denver, Colorado, with business development
offices in New York
City.
In 2008, there was some controversy over the presence of Tim
Armstrong, former head of advertising for Google in North America, when he was on AC's
board. According to Elinor Mills, some marketing professionals have
suggested the tactics used by AC in attempting to gain revenue,
such as ensuring keyword placement in articles, are gaming the
system and that Armstrong's presence is a gray area. However,
others contend that these are legitimate tactics used by many
content providers.[1]
In April 2009, Associated Content hired a new CEO, Patrick
Keane, formerly of CBS Interactive and Google[2] and
closed a $6 million Series C round of funding from Softbank Capital
and Canaan
Partners.[3]. Their
funding now totals $21.5 million dollars. Three weeks after the
funding announcement, Associated Content reorganized and laid off 5
employees.[4]
Publishing
platform
In addition to text content (articles), AC has categories for
video, audio, and slide shows. There is also an online
community where users share their expertise, network and voice
opinions.
In contrast to many content publishing sites, AC does pay many
users for content up front. [5]
Articles are usually required to be have at least 400 words and may
include pictures from approved sources. The "Assignment Desk" is
another source of article ideas and income for writers. AC displays
predefined article titles and users can "claim" the assignment. All
on-site assignments (as opposed to "Partner Assignments") pay
performance-based revenue while some also pay up-front payment.
Only authors who are over 18 years old and are US citizens or legal
residents are eligible for up-front payments.[6]
Users may also submit content for publication without an up-front
payment. Slideshows and fiction submissions generally do not
receive up-front payments. All articles written by users who agree
to the contract are eligible to receive payments based on the
number of times their content is viewed.[7]
AC exercises some editorial control over content, sending work
back to users for "polishing" or rejecting work for violations of
the site's terms of use and guidelines, including promotional or
advertorial content and plagiarism.[8][9]
Beatty claims the site is "all about content".[10]
Motifs
Associated Content originally billed itself as "The People's
Media Company" and used visual motifs linked to the early
avant-garde Proletkult
phase of the U.S.S.R. and the Soviet Communist Party,
but it is not a progressive organization in terms of politics. The
original schema was linked to its idea that its writers (originally
called "Content Producers") were "Citizen Journalists."
In early 2009, Associated Content rebranded itself on the site
as "Information from the source." Writers on the site, formerly
called "Content Producers," are now called "Contributors" (after
briefly being dubbed "Sources"). The "Citizen Journalist" motif was
dropped.
Criticism
Associated Content has been criticized for the quality of its
content. Slate technical writer Farhad
Manjoo sums up this criticism thus: "Associated Content stands as a
cautionary tale for anyone looking to do news by the numbers. It is
a wasteland of bad writing, uninformed commentary, and the sort of
comically dull recitation of the news you'd get from a second
grader."[11]
References
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links
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