What happened to CrowdSource?

Discussion in 'CrowdSource' started by McUser, Jul 11, 2012.

  1. McUser

    McUser User

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    Sorry for ranting again, but they used to have oodles of writing work. I spent last summer paying my expenses with their $4.75 writing HIT's. What on earth happened?
     
  2. Slicer

    Slicer User

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    After a certain Google update, their writing clients skedaddled, just like that.
     
  3. Noliah

    Noliah User

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    Okay, curiosity just walked into the room. What update?
     
  4. nobody

    nobody User

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    Yeah, what happened?

    I qualified for their writing HITs and only got a chance to do one. I got great feedback, but now? Crickets. No work.

    I knew my luck was bad, but dangit. That really sucks.
     
  5. Khalinov

    Khalinov User

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    Probably this one.

    This is why I avoid writing HITs; they all seem to be about cheating the algorithm.
     
  6. writermom

    writermom Active Member

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    Haven't tried CrowdSource. But I did a HIT yesterday that paid $10. You might want to try it. The task is to submit 20 questions with sourced answers which are of general interest to diplomats. Basically trivia for diplomats. Ryan Patrick Moser is the requester's name. He approves fast too. He paid me the very next day.
     
  7. Slicer

    Slicer User

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    Yup, Google's Penguin update (and probably some related tweaking) killed keyword-based SEO. CS's clients are simply not able to understand that content is king. They pay for filler, the writers create filler ("a variety of styles and colors to serve all of your needs in just the right way", etc), the readers determine that the site is spam, Google slaps the site down, and the clients stop working with Crowdsource.
     
  8. McUser

    McUser User

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    Ah I see. I know that is what put an end to John Gaddy, but i had no idea it also happened to CrowdSource. That is really terrible news. They were a fair requester and the only one you could easily make $50/day with. I did a million of those $2.25 product descriptions. It's sad this is over. Did CrowdSource make any announcements about the work drying up?

    I don't know if SEO is dead. It seems like there is still a lot of demand for it, just not on mTurk.
     
    #8 McUser, Jul 12, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 12, 2012
  9. Khalinov

    Khalinov User

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    SEO is not dead, but black hat SEO is deservedly taking a beating.

    These requesters who facilitate it are no morally better than the CAPTCHA breakers.
     
  10. McUser

    McUser User

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    How are SEO-manipulating sites like livestrong.com and eHow any different, though? Those sites still come up a million times when you Google any medical search term or hobby. The articles are written by numbskulls with no knowledge of the topics.
     
  11. Slicer

    Slicer User

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    Because while eHow and livestrong articles are written by idiots, they're written by *believable* idiots who aren't obviously being paid by the word.
     
  12. Noliah

    Noliah User

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    First off, I'm having somewhat of a crappy day, thanks to crabby bus drivers, rude office personnel, and a toothache. I thought the crap tide had started to recede when I see an email alert from CrowdSource pop up in front of my eyes. :cool:

    "Ah!" I think, getting ready to earn an honest dollar or two. :D

    I sit up straighter in this monster computer chair, click the link, open the hit, happily type away while being sure I can type for an hour or so with no problem. Then.....after I finish ONE......"no more hits available for you because we really don't like you as much as we thought we did.":(

    Ya know, if they're going to slam me like that before I even work up a good head of steam, they could at least have the decency to NOT show me the total of hits "available"......over 14000! :mad:

    Boogers.
     
  13. chuck_h

    chuck_h User

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    I suspect that the problem is that real, quality content, which is what Google's Penguin algorithm is supposed to favor, is expensive. You can't expect someone who's skilled in writing to seriously research a topic for a several hours or even days then write five hundred words for $5.00, or even for $15.00. If you offer $5.00 for a five hundred word article, you're going to get someone whose main skills are the ability to creatively bullshit and type fast cranking out your articles for you. So, if you up your rate to $25.00 or $50.00 or more for an article, and add in an actual editor to screen the article for quality and suggest rewrites to the author, now you've got to sell several thousand (or maybe several tens of thousands) of ad impressions to pay for that article.
     
  14. McUser

    McUser User

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    I am pretty sure eHow and livestrong editors are paid by the word. How do I know this? Because I have worked for a similar company that until recently, paid seven cents a word.

    I am wondering if Constant Content and Textbroker are still in business, or if you still find a lot of these jobs on eLance and oDesk.
     
  15. interneteditor

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    I tried to get writing jobs on oDesk and Freelancer and got conned every time. Because the requester there chooses who gets the job, they made me do tests (rewrite these 6 300 word articles) then I never heard from them again. So, if they got 50 applicants to each write 6 test pieces and at least 50% of those were useable that's still a shedload of free web content they got, right there. Plus someone who asked me to do a job and when I searched the title he gave me I saw it was a contest with a $500 prize he was going to enter! I gave up on them pretty fast.
     
  16. McUser

    McUser User

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    that is terrible. I'm sorry.
    I gave up on Textbroker because they paid even less than CrowdSource. I did make $15 for one article on ConstantContent. But I do find stuff on oDesk once in a while. It is important to look for employers who have a lot of "stars" - that means they have been rated highly by contractors. Is eLance still around?

    I think it would have been nice if CrowdSource had alerted its workers that a drastic change was underfoot - like John Gaddy did.
     
    #16 McUser, Jul 14, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 14, 2012
  17. Slicer

    Slicer User

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    Textbroker wants a clear and legible photo ID, and I don't trust them with it. If they pay less than CS did, it's pointless.

    eLance is still around, but it's a bad joke- one job goes up and in less than 5 minutes, there's three guys promising the moon for cheap.
     
  18. McUser

    McUser User

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    oDesk asks for ID too.
    That is too bad about eLance.
    I guess CrowdSource was just too good to be true. All good things come to an end - still, I think an explanation would have been nice. Some people actually made a living with Midwest Internet.
     
  19. Slicer

    Slicer User

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    [​IMG]
     
  20. nobody

    nobody User

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    Cheezits, Slicer! That is impressive. I would be the "Others" they are referring to as a reference in those stats, lol. I hopped that train right before the last stop apparently. Bummer.

    I signed up for elance not too long ago, and I haven't been impressed. I can't compete with people who are willing to transcribe an hour of audio for $5 (about $1.25/hour).
     

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