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Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 6, 2010, 2:09PM EST

Article Spinning?

In my prior blog post (from earlier today) I had mentioned the term "article spinners".

Article spinners are those user accounts on Gather that share content that has been 'spun' from other sources. Article/post spinning is a "black hat" (which means dishonest) search engine optimization technique by which writers and website owners attempt to unfairly manipulate their rank on Google and other search engines.

Writers will often plagiarize posts from other websites, and then 'spin' them by replacing key words or phrases to make them appear to search engines as new posts. This process can be manual, or use a variety of software applications to replace verbiage in any content. In many cases, 'spun' posts are very easy to identify as they are difficult to read or contain obvious grammar and word usage errors, as in the examples below:

"Almost all people every time to search for the extremely yet bargain away from jerkin to continue summer during the wintry past few months. What you with each other fabric pertaining to terribly wintry . . ."

"For many people blackjack is the best game available as it is easy to acting and they can low-key win money on it. For those who cotton to their casino games easy to regard again queasy with overmuch . . ."

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 6, 2010, 3:02PM EST

Here's another current sample of 'article spinning':

"Google launched Google eBooks on Monday, felicitous the examination principal e-books retailer, nearest Amazon also globe. The technology giant’s impress had been long prevalent and characteristic..."

Matthew M., Dec 8, 2010, 1:33PM EST

And these posts are just a waste of time on the member's part, since they draw in so few views. (4, 5, and 13 in your examples). It's nothing but CLUTTER. It's so bad I can't even use my news feed.

Magi the magical poet is flowing with the wind, Dec 17, 2010, 5:12PM EST

I think Gather is cutting its own throat. The site is progressively getting worse and worse for people like me.

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 6, 2010, 1:20PM EST

The 'Invasion' Continues.

If you spend any time at all perusing the "All of Gather" content listings, you have undoubtedly noted a large quantity of short or poorly written posts promoting the latest search trend topics, tabloid news, or online streaming of sporting events and TV shows.

The majority of accounts sharing this content have similar 'foreign' sounding names and in almost cases use icon images that obviously do not represent the real person behind the image. While disturbing, all of this is far from unexpected.

I had predicted many months ago that once Gather began following their current path of news exploitation, others hoping to cash in on residual traffic would follow. This includes article 'spinners', and other promoters (and scammers) using similar content to drive traffic to a variety of sites outside of the Gather community.

Greed begets greed, in the same way that content requiring little integrity will attract others hoping to make a buck the same way.

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 3, 2010, 12:47PM EST

You may call me a 'Scrooge' (or worse)

However, I do not care for "Christmas Wish Lists" on Gather. I fully support the fulfilling of wishes by members of the community, but only for those wishes that are 'unspoken', or those that are NOT derived through a list published for such a purpose.

No matter what wrapping you put on it, Christmas Wish Lists on Gather are still requests for handouts...no different than begging on a street corner.

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 2, 2010, 1:18PM EST

89.6% - This is the amount represented by the chart to the left.

89.6% is also the percentage of content contained in a large random sampling of News Channel content that violated copyright, and engaged in other unscrupulous (dishonest) practices...most of which was perpetrated by Gather's paid writing staff/corps. Many of these violations were quite obvious and required no additional investigation or review, which leads me to conclude that the Channel Managers/Editors, or others that are tasked with ensuring specific standards are being met, have given up or simply aren't trying to maintain even a basic modicum of credibility.

This is quite a dangerous 'strategy' to take as Gather expands their Socialwriting efforts (see blog post below). Gather is afforded safe harbor under the law (Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA), which generally protects them from the copyright infringement of their users. However, this protection does not extend to writers hired to provide directed content (freelance or full time employees) which is the arrangement Gather has been operating under for almost 2 years.

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V., Dec 2, 2010, 11:36AM EST

Changes are a comin' to Gather on December 15.

What these changes will mean for the community however, is very uncertain. Gather's "new project" will be officially launched December 15, perhaps under a 'white label' site which is part of the impreMedia Digital group.

Under this project (or another coming very soon), Gather will provide news/tabloid "SocialWrite" content in Spanish for empreMedia's Spanish language site(s). Gather's new approach has been described as:

“demand forecasting through search analytics. Gather is developing a stable of domain experts and writers, which can push to write about topics web users are interested in reading. The company has built workflow automation software to handle writer management – onboarding, training, content creation, copy editing, brand review, publishing, measurement and author compensation. Currently, copyediting is handled by Gather staff. Gradually, that task will shift to freelancers; existing staff will become copyeditor coaches.”

This could have a noticeable impact on the community as it exists today, or no visible changes beyond the clear emphasis Gather continues to have on the explotation of search engine traffic through the creation of rehashed news stories...although now doing so for another client/brand with potentially up to a hundred Spanish-language SocialWriters.

Hopefully Gather will treat the intellectual/creative property rights of others FAR differently under this new brand than they have up to this point.

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Content Comments

Nov 28, 2011 6:48AM EST

Ed Da Head Toker commented on a post

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"where do we go to report problems and actually be listened to?" more

Aug 22, 2011 3:11PM EDT

Ghostly Ghoul replied to a comment by Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V. on The Member HelpCenter™ for 02/18 - Have a Question? or Need Help?

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Jul 31, 2011 12:44AM EDT

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Jul 28, 2011 8:24AM EDT

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V. commented on a post

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"This is a test of Gather's member censorship policy. Are you on Gather's "blacklist"?" more

Jul 13, 2011 12:05PM EDT

Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V. replied to a comment by Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V. on The Member HelpCenter™ for 02/18 - Have a Question? or Need Help?

"Hopefully the technical difficulties I am experiencing on Gather will be (or have been) resolved. This is yet another test...please disregard." more

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