Seems like a one stop shop spam blog engine to me... LOL.
Study Babes
· 1 year ago
That IS what people do, this software just makes it a little easier in that it already has the themes and everything built in and all you need are the keywords.
Aaron Brazell
· 1 year ago
Sounds like a great way for people to steal your content, as well as mine, Pete - then splog the hell out of the internet the way its been done for years.
Meh.
Judson Collier
· 1 year ago
Please, learn ethics.
This is exactly what is wrong with the internet, except they are making it a free trial.
BabyGotMac
· 1 year ago
I hope WordPress sues their pants off. What a horrible idea this is...
Tabitha "Tabz" Smith
· 1 year ago
Totally underwhelmed.
As stated above spam blogs will have a field day.
notaphysicist
· 1 year ago
Its a virus. What bottom feeding pond scum would even think of such a thing..
Marc Benton
· 1 year ago
Not sure what I think of this yet, I think I'd have to see it in practice first to make up my mind. I have to be honest though and say at first glance it looks like cheating. How is signing up, and possibly even paying for, a service like this going to promote someone as a relevant resource on a subject? Isn't that what we are doing with our blogs? Trying to promote ourselves as a relevant resource? I could hire an offshore team to nightly search the web for brain surgery articles and resources then link them on my blog but that wouldn't make me a brain surgeon. Ok, while writing this I've changed my mind. I don't like it. Marc...
Tris Hussey
· 1 year ago
Agreed with all the above. This is just going to encourage more people to just clog the pipes with duplicated content without added insight or value. Now, how to best make our displeasure known?
Guest
· 1 year ago
Blinking Dot Software - what an appropriate name.
breaktheirbones
· 1 year ago
I think you could use a system like this to subsidize your original content but, no doubt, systems like this must make life hell for search engine ranking systems.
Human3rror
· 1 year ago
the most retarded thing ever. please fail.
Sherwin
· 1 year ago
Evil. Really evil. This just makes it easier for people to become spammers, and murkies up search engines.
Leslie Poston
· 1 year ago
This pisses me off. Splog to the core. I am really disappointed in WordPress right now.
John Eckman
· 1 year ago
How is this WordPress' fault?
They make an open source blogging engine - someone creates a spam project on top of it, and you're mad at wordpress?
Though Mashable put the wordpress logo there, I see no mention of any affiliation.
Open Source licenses don't discriminate based on field of endeavor - so that means the "bad guys" can use it just as much as the good guys . . .
seejay
· 1 year ago
"It’s a classic problem: you want to have a popular WordPress blog, but without all the hassles of writing it."
Well, maybe it is a problem, not for genuine bloggers but for SPAMMERS. But of course they don't give a sh*t if the number of spam blogs on the blogsphere get doubled within few months as long as long as they get paid.
Cant' wait to create my own content packed, automatically updated, SEO friendly, oh so popular blog to compete with mashable LOL!
Michael Russell
· 1 year ago
"WordPressDirect, the market-leading solution for search optimized blog publishing, launched its fast and easy website building tool in August 2008 and has quickly gained a substantial following."
Hmm. A putative Web 2.0 thingamabob relying on old skool PR/self-serving hyperbole. Strike one.
I'm all about *legitimate* aggregation of other people's stuff, which is to say: 1.) content selected and actually commented upon by a real, live human being, with at least the barest modicum of original insight, 2.) fully attributed/credited to the original creator(s), and ...3.) fully disclosed as such.
BTW, it appears that WPD needs to be installed on your/ISP's server, running against your Wordpress and mySQL instances. Even if you buy the premise, better pray the thing doesn't misbehave.
Bah humbug.
Ari Lestariono
· 1 year ago
It seems all technology development at the end all you need to do is make your blog or product to be popular and at the end you need tons of traffic.It can be said, most likely that is like selling by force
Jason
· 1 year ago
Sounds like a very early April Fool's joke. This can't be real, can it? 'create your own blog without writing any content' ?
breaktheirbones
· 1 year ago
Uploading piped in content to a blog is fairly easy -- sounds like this tool automates the process to the point a 12 year old could do it.
I Trouble
· 1 year ago
ok, given that my initial impression was similar to comments above (but I hadn't seen them yet), I looked into it. Promo for cPanel? Not wordpress, other than as a tool for this stuff.
The first several screens are upsales for hefty monthly fee services. The free stuff itself is a little confusing, surrounded by the MOST slippery feeling content, ad, sales, service manipulation stuff I've had the displeasure of trying to wade thru in a while. Ugh.
You could add AdSense, affiliate marketing, YouTube feeds, text answers, and way more. Yeah, they know who they are marketing this stuff to. I might have thought that it had some informational value going in, but the experience has quickly dismembered that notion.
I need a shower.
Michelle MacPhearson
· 1 year ago
The service is actually quite nice. It installs and configures a blog for you, including plugins, permalinks, etc., which is much faster then doing it yourself and/or learning it all from scratch if you're a newbie. The auto-posting is all cited, so if you choose to use it - which you do not have to - all sources are properly credited and linked. Any content you decide to have the system post for you can be reviewed and hand picked to make sure it's relevant and valuable to your audience.
I look at it as a simple solution to adding new posts to a blog in between longer, hand written posts. A relevant YouTube video (linked to the source) or an article from an article directory (linked to the source) that I've hand picked can keep my readers satiated while I'm composing original content.
nullvariable
· 1 year ago
That's not how its being sold though. You're selling a no effort no elbow grease solution. It's spam and defending it without really reading the comments posted here proves it. If you sold it as a fill in solution then perhaps we'd believe you but since you're selling it as a be all end all get-rich-quick type product we're inclined to think you don't really value the web and just want to make a quick buck...
Michelle MacPhearson
· 1 year ago
*I'm* not selling it - but I am a happy user who saw this post and commented with my experience of actually using the system.
Brent Hodgson
· 1 year ago
I agree - the sky isn't falling, the world isn't ending, and [gasp] WordPress Direct DOES actually deliver genuine value.
@Doug aka Nullvariable - Michelle isn't selling the software.
If you said this was a case of a sales pitch backfiring, I'd agree 100%.
Everyone wants the easy, lazy solution - and WordPressDirect spun their pitch to give it to them. And now, it doesn't matter what they do, the Mashable crowd is going to think WordPressDirect is spam software.
For newbies who are setting up their first web-site, for experts doing a lot of niche or affiliate marketing, and 6 or 7 other types of people in-between - nothing is easier to set up a blog.
Re: AutoPosting Content - If you're going to splog, you'll get slapped. The idea is that you use it to find good quality content (that you manually vet), schedule content to be posted, and use it to supplement content that you write yourself.
But if people don't vet the content, and just use it to auto-upload junk, Google-et-al's algorithms WILL spot this, WILL slap them, and WILL stop them getting any benefit from their content.
You get what you give.
If you deliver value, you get value.
Mark McGimpsey
· 1 year ago
A good and reasoned answer Michelle. Most things in life gives you the opportunity to them for good or bad. The choice is yours, and WordPress Direct is no different. Use this service wrongly and I have no doubt that the search engines will de-index you, so I think people are largely over reacting to this issue.
Jim
· 1 year ago
These guys have about 10,000 paying customers who pay between $37 - $147 per month so they are making a lot of money. I don't imagine it is going to go away any time soon.
I actually use this service because I know very little about web hosting, wordpress blogs and wordpress plugins etc. This service sets it all up for you. I have not used the content generation side of the service because I don't believe it will add value to my blog.
Dean
· 1 year ago
Hmmm. Inspite of what Michelle has said above I just don't feel comfortable with the vibe behind Wordpress Direct. There is not doubt that finding ways to assist beginners with SEO and generally getting started is a good thing. However I certainly hope that Brent is correct, that people using auto post get severely slapped. Otherwise the billions of hours of work that genuine contributors make is devalued by greedy people and that really isn't cool.
Brent Hodgson
· 1 year ago
@Dean - Google has teams of guys working on spam footprint analysis, so if it gets out of hand, that will be the end. (It's happened with countless services previously)
As for the genuine contributors - in most cases, it's just spreading their work further (i.e. YouTube videos, reprintable articles, etc)
Study Babes
· 1 year ago
Yeah, if you use it for splogging, Google will screw you over anyway, and if you're using Adsense on those sites, they'll rip those ads and you won't make any money. Google runs the world, they can't be outsmarted :D
Joe
· 1 year ago
If we need the content just for the idea, and we rewrote it with our style that's fine isn't it ?
Study Babes
· 1 year ago
Well that doesn't really have anything to do with WPDirect, it's just like going to someone's site and reading an article and then writing an article based off it.
Michael
· 1 year ago
The great war between human and robot bloggers begins...
http://netvideodump.wordpress.
· 1 year ago
At least posts like this let us know about it, thanks for the heads up <3
roger
· 1 year ago
where do I sign up? '
no seriously though... if this actually worked well I could set up a site which offered me EXACTLY the information I would be interested in...
ethically it may be a problem... but if you visit a site which obviously is doing this then you're not going to bookmark it. and if you cant tell - then enjoy it...
half of what we read online is just aggregation with comments...
adam
· 1 year ago
I do hope Google will recognize a blatant "SPAM MACHINE" and find a way of getting rid of their products from Google search, soon! They are not adding any unique QUALITY CONTENT to the web.
lugus
· 1 year ago
I really think there is a market for a peer reviewed only search engine. I don't even want to waste my time accidentally clicking on anything produced by this horrible plug-in. What sort of idiot would use it ??
randulo
· 1 year ago
I just tested this "service" and it works as stated. That is, it allows any fool to republish content from someone else without attribution and making it appear as original content. The word is plagarism. Link farm, spam and fraud also come to mind.
Ironically, I came across a site that publishes entire blog posts making them look original, but with a minimal link or signature from the original. Again, aggregation with no real intervention and bordering on plagarism (except for the credit).
I think this idea needs to be seriously commented on publicly as much as possible, it isn't muchdifferent than other forms of piracy, except it won't be recognized as such by the casual visitor.
Shannon
· 1 year ago
Napoleon Hill once said that if you put something before a bunch of people MAJORITY of them will only see the negative things about it and VERY FEW would see the positive things.
WordPress Direct is great for anyone wanting to setup a blog with no technical knowledge or for people who maintain multiple blogs. Their dashboard allows you to create, update, delete posts remotely via one interface.
As for the auto content feature... Michelle gave a great example of the CORRECT USE of this function. Of course some people will use it for spamming. That's life. There are people who would abuse anything and everything in order to MAKE AN EASY BUCK. These people are just looking for the easy way out of everything and will exploit anything that gives them the opportunity to do it.
Just because a service gives some d$#k heads the chance to spam doesn't mean that the service itself is bad.
But... this post is not going to make a bit of difference... Napoleon's words will prove itself true... Just wait and see... Guaranteed that most people will fixate on the only slightly negative thing about the service...
Shannon
Marc Benton
· 1 year ago
Napoleon Hill probably never read The Wisdom of Crowds.
The supporters of this service continue to comment and promote the ease for a non-techie to set up a blog, like this is the main purpose of WPD. Too bad the marketers of the service do not do the same. 101 words of their 230 word press release refer to the use of aggregated content (and ultimately the ease of building a following based on other's work). Call this service for what it is and don't try to make these guys look like saints because they provide a way for my grandparents to build a blog.
Shannon
· 1 year ago
@Marc... Yes, because the herd is always right. (sarcasm). :-)
It wasn't that long ago that the "mashable crowd" made their contribution to the "twitterank" fiasco.
I see it time and time again. Most people want to just follow the crowd and other people just want to argue with the crowd. A few will actually try the service and give their honest opinion, but those people will usually be ignored as "trying to sell the service" or "must work for them".
Shannon
Brandon Eley
· 1 year ago
Well, if WordPress didn't know about them before, they do now. And they're clearly infringing on WordPress' trademark, so I doubt it'll take long for WP to respond.
They'll probably keep operating, but will change the name and get much less press when it doesn't look like they're affiliated with WP.
Google SEO Tools
· 1 year ago
It's like Spam in a Can!. Please get rid of this fassstttttt.... It's crap..
The promise equivalent to "lose weight without dieting or excercise" pretty much spells scam and fraud IMO. The fact that articles are just taken from various sources without permission and directly copied with no added value says it all. There's no defense of this concept, unless you defend "I saw it and I took it as my own".
MrvnMouse
· 1 year ago
Wow, what a waste of resources. Basically, it's a one-stop information theft and spam shop.
I've seen these before in the affiliate circles, but never anyone so blatantly trying to sell it to the public.
randulo
· 1 year ago
From on of their reseller sites:
"...legally gathering the information from other websites, so your blog can always look active to the search engines even if you don’t have much time to put into them."
Is it legal to grab content in this manner?
Who is Wordpress Direct for?
"... anyone who: wants to create multiple niche blogs quickly and easily; wants their blog to be optimised for their keyword phrases; and isn’t concerned with every post being 100% original."
Marty Rozmanith
· 1 year ago
I doubt I will be able to say anything to change minds here. It seems to me that the bulk of these comments are still based on our marketing material, which it seems I will have to revise today since it is causing such a stir. ... Rather, here is an example, a well known one since it has been used to teach best practices to our users. One best practice is to use 'sticky-posting' to place the original content at the top, as the focus of the page, and let the supporting content scroll below. Take a look at http://www.vintageelectricguitarblog.com ... So tell me, if you were a guitar enthusiast who came across the site above would YOU think it was a spam blog? I hope not.
Jane Wells
· 1 year ago
I haven't looked into the service, so I don't know who's right (though it really does sound pretty scraper/spammy to me), but I do know that using "WordPress" in a domain name as you do is a violation of trademark. Info on that here: http://wordpress.org/about/domains/
lugus
· 1 year ago
"All the auto content services are useful every now and then. Anyone who relied on them exclusively — is a fool. Google will make very short work of you."
Ed, do you not think this comment would apply just as equally to WPD ?
The pitch for this service is that it allows the inexperienced to get blogging quickly, but they can do that anyway with a regular Wordpress install.
Having registered with the WPD site and looked at its videos what it really seems to be talking about is how the auto-content generation will improve google rankings.
Tico
· 1 year ago
Lugus,
I signed up for this service as a self hosted WP user, BUT my foot hit the brake as soon as they asked for my ftp login information. It is one thing to ask for my WP self hosted, user ID and pw but for the ftp root?
I was able to install and learn about IonCube and with it installed what is the reason for the ftp access? Does anyone know this answer, it might be a simple one I am overlooking. The only thing I can imagine needing root access for is a)bots b)some other type of bot c)zombie programs d)no idea
Maybe you can help with this question because I am not able to get the information from them or on the SE's
Thanks
Clare
· 1 year ago
All very cool but doesn't that defeat the point of a blog?
Richard
· 1 year ago
Am I the only one who's bemused by the way the woman in the video pronounces "niche"? Sounds like "snitch", without the "s".
John
· 1 year ago
@shannon: You said "Napoleon Hill once said that if you put something before a bunch of people MAJORITY of them will only see the negative things about it and VERY FEW would see the positive things"
It would probably be easier for people to see the positive things about it if the promotional material just stated "Our service lets you create blogs quickly and easily with no technical knowledge necessary, and has tools for aggregating content from other sources to assist you in creating your own content".
Instead it is promoted as an automated blogging system, where you don't even need to create your own content. Just watch that video at the top of this post again. Creating your own content is mentioned as almost an afterthought, and it is quickly pointed out that you won't have to do this to have a sticky niche site, or whatever the term they used is.
Now, before anyone suggests that I don't know how the service really works, I was a user for 2 or 3 months and created several blogs with it. I was also part of the 30 Day Challenge that Ed mentioned in an earlier comment, which is where I found out about Wordpress Direct.
And in spite of the direction the 30DC instructions pointed me, Wordpress Direct still "felt" like more of an automated spam tool than a genuine shortcut to setting up and managing my blogs. I am quite familiar with the technical side of things however, so my opinion of it is probably different than someone who knows nothing about setting up Wordpress themselves.
I believe any tool can be used for good or evil, but when the promotional material essentially sells the evil side, even if they include some disclaimers to the contrary along the line, the people selling it are contributing to the problem.
david@peresoft.co.za
· 1 year ago
Sounds like a cop out to me. The first 200 of these may be cool but once eveyone starts creating them I just see noise. Eventually they will all cancel each other out in my opinion.
It sounds like a good idea but I don't think the execution by users etc will be amazing. On that note, I doubt it won't work. I mean Wordpress are a titan in the blogging world, I am sure they put much thought into it. But even the greatest minds can make mistakes.
I think this is a mistake, but then who am I to speak?
Mike Schinkel
· 1 year ago
Sounds like a MASSIVE trademark infringement. WordPress lawyers, have a field day with me cheering you on.
StoneCS
· 1 year ago
Are you serious? Wordpress is practically a household name, like Youtube or Myspace. There's no legal action they could take against someone creating a useful application that enhances their product. That's like Micheal Jordan suing another basketball player for saying "it's the shoes" that make hip jump so high. That's the price of fame.
You put your name out there in the public and anyone can use it, within reason. I mean not in defamatory or slanderous ways. But you can refer to any brand name, especially when it becomes more well known then the actual item. It's like with celebrities, they can bitch all they want about tabloids and paparazzi, but there's not much they can do unless they really cross the line.
I've noticed 4 or 5 comments about this, one guy over on the 1st page even has google in his website name. Are you part of google or have the right to use their name? That's what I thought... :lol:
Ryan
· 1 year ago
This just pisses me off!
Jim
· 1 year ago
You think wordpress direct is bad? You should check out this thing called email. You see you can use your computer and the interweb to send out thousands or millions of unsolicited emails to anybody you like. It can be really annoying. Have you ever got a message asking you to buy viagra? well that's email and that kid of email is called spam. email is therefore pure evil and I hope it dies out soon because some people use it incorrectly. Too bad for the people who use it correctly.
Some people are so narrow minded.
Ed Dale
· 1 year ago
I imagine people who read this blog are all fairly tech savvy. installing a work press log on your own posting site is quite a frightening proposition to anyone who is new to the Internet, let alone putting all the plug-ins that make Word press really sing!
As I mentioned above, WPD have controls in place to ensure their service is not used for spam, they have a panel of human moderators, limits severely the number of blogs that you can create in any one month and of course Google already have in place duplicate content algorithms so that we don't have repeats of the dark summer of 2006, were it seemed like every search result came up with complete crap.
it would be a shame that such a brilliant service for getting a complete beginner up and running with the own blog (that is optimised according to Googles own guidelines) be miscast in this fashion. I can absolutely see from the marketing material (in particular that press release) where people could confuse this for yet another piece of worthless spam.
It's not.
I need you to try out the free service just to check out how easy it is to create your own new blog. it's a very clever piece of programming and WPD team deserves to be congratulated. the person putting out a press release like that needs to be slapped up side of the head.
Ed
9to5to9
· 1 year ago
Marty wrote: "Of course we hype the marketing - we are trying to sell it. But please do not confuse marketing with the truth, LOL."
I try to avoid dealing with companies that try to separate the two.
I spend way too much time each week already tracking down splogs that rip off content I work hard to create -- to the tune of two to four original posts a day. And, of course, the second you get one cornered, another pops up. I'm cringing at a "service" that could make that problem worse.
And as a professional writer, I put this in the same category as copy-spinning software: Just one more thing that devalues a skill I've worked a lifetime to develop.
lugus
· 1 year ago
It has been an interesting discussion on this.
Marty & Ed, I accept your argument in good faith that you are not scraping & that this is a service aimed to be useful to the inexperienced.
However, I still think its intrinsically a bad idea.
If everybody filled blogs with auto generated content merely for to get higher click thru's, and google allowed them to get away with it, it not only means a morass of duplicate content to wade through when trying to do useful searches, but devalues blogs created with purely original content.
I accept you say this is not your intent, but if WPD became popular and widespread, I can't see it having any other effect ?
John
· 1 year ago
It's interesting that there have been a couple of commenters that seem to think Wordpress Direct is actually run by Wordpress themselves. It's not, but just the fact that it could be confused as such is probably not a good thing for either Wordpress or Wordpress Direct. (Although the Wordpress logo in the original post here is probably not helping the situation.)
There was a bit of a tempest in a teapot a couple of years ago when Wordpress went after some sites that had "Wordpress" as part of their domain name. I suspect they will be knocking on Wordpress Direct's door before too long.
Michael Russell
· 1 year ago
This whole undertaking seems so confused, so ill-conceived and so not-ready-for-prime-time, I doubt that any of us would probably be discussing it, were it not for the havoc it could potentially unleash, IMO.
From the lovely but discombobulated young woman reading the script about building your own "nitch" website with - wait for it - "the click of a button" (...not including the requisite DNS, WHM and cPanel server configuration, of course) ...to the cheesy Hostgator affliliate banners the size of a waffle iron plastered all over the site... to the atrocious theme templates - some of which aren't even entirely in English ...to the graphic about the "Secrets of the (largely unknown) SUPERBLOGGERS"...well, you get the idea.
Isha
· 1 year ago
I've discovered this conversation a bit late, but want to put my oar in.
I'm a paying user of WPD, and so far have not used the auto content feature. I've seen quite a few WPD blogs, and with one exception none of them appear to be using the auto-content feature.
The exception is pulling in complete rubbish, and the blog looks a mess. If anyone clicked on it in Google's search results they'd probably leave again pretty quickly. The blog-owner is one of my contacts, and I know that he's not yet earned a dime from the blog, which has been going since early August.
However, yesterday I googled a keyword phrase connected with one of my own blog posts, and one of the results Google brought me had the title and description of my blog post. But it wasn't my domain.
I clicked on it to take a look, and it isn't a WPD blog, but it is a Wordpress blog. It's also quite clear that the blog owner isn't doing anything to moderate what's on the blog. There's no attribution anywhere on the blog that I can see. There was no way for me to contact the blog owner anywhere, and at the bottom of the page it said "Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time." It's obvious that the owner is using either a plug-in or a script that is auto-publishing other people's material, and not looking after the blog.
I agree with everything that's been said here about the WPD marketing material. But before you get too angry about it take a few days searching for webpages that have stolen your own material. It's my guess you'll find it. And chances are you'll find it on a site that's not using WPD.
David - About Results Marketig
· 1 year ago
I live in the affiliate marketing and the web 2.0 media, having businesses in both, and am sad about the attitude that most web 2.0 guys have about it. Many powerful tools are built on these concepts.
If you can provide value, for example an aggregator of professional dance class video's your adding value to the end user. As long as you focus on that, and long term viability, there's nothing "wrong" with automation. They are catering to the "get rich quick crowd", and there's nothing wrong with the long form sales copy either, it appeals to some, and not to others.
If you decide that this is garbage, hey, you're just making my life easier, one less competitor :)
StoneCS
· 1 year ago
Wow! This is really amazing how there are so many negative comments on this. Well, I guess that's how it usually goes. The people with the least in their heads are always the ones who talk the most. I think Confucious said that. No really, WPD is an installation service first, the automation part is just a bonus.
I have a background in electronics and computer science and can easily install a blog, unzip and add plugins, edit the pages and customize a theme with my eyes closed, and waste a lot of time too. Or I could use that extra time writing some content or salesletters or working on getting traffic to my blog.
All of the unzipping, uploading and configuring could be done by a so called "SEO expert" and probably would still be less optimized than what Wordpress Direct can do in about 15 seconds.
I joined up back in August, like a lot of others in the 30 day challenge and realized the value and convenience of this service and upgraded to a paying member right off. I started with some crappy keywords that don't have a lot of relevant content, so I don't use the auto-posting on it, but I'm still paying each month because my time is more valuable than the monthly fee.
I have plans to setup a few more blogs real soon and it would cost 10X as much to pay someone to do it. Plus, once I add a few extra sites to what I've already got, it's going to be more work and require more time, that is already in short supply.
If I do better keyword research on the future installs and have more content to choose from, I'll definitely make use of the auto-posting function in conjunction with my own posts so I can have enough time to keep up with my growing VRE and still have a life.
I'm actually off to do another install to convert into a PLR membership site, where someone else will be creating the content. You gotta love it...
DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid for any portion of this commentary. :lol: :biggrin: :stupid:
B. Stone
Nino Pilla
· 1 year ago
So, why don't you, and the other WordPress Direct bloggers, including Ed Dale and Marty show us say some 10 or more URLs of WPD generated blogs that are out there since some time and which do reflect the ideal use and attitudes that you describe?
CAN YOU GUYS SHOW THE PUBLIC AT LEAST 10, GREAT EXAMPLES OF WORDPRESS DIRECT GENERATED BLOGS?
Let's decide after we see these.
Ari Lestariono
· 1 year ago
i think we are getting mount up comments whether it's spamm or not...lol
Clement
· 1 year ago
It is written he who does not work must not eat. And if someone does not eat, he dies. Similarly, he who does not take an effort to write blog posts on his own and just relies on this new spammer (Wordpress Direct) to create posts for him, he must not get any traffic and his blogs must die. I eagerly look forward to the demise of Wordpress Direct because it undermines the fundamental objective of blogging.In my view, the fundamental objective of blogging is to create an online community where we can share information and build one another.
Rod
· 1 year ago
So I did the 30 day challenge this year, and as an enthusiastic newbie learning fast I took the Gold Membership at Wordpress Direct.
The product is great for getting a blog up fast, with sound SEO.
As Ed Dale says, you are supposed to load and maintain it mainly with your original content - and it is a great way to test keywords for SEO. A good product for new bloggers to get started on a sound basis.
But the Gold Membership was a rip off - I wasted several hundred dollars over 3 months before I figured out it was nothing more than a fast large scale spam blog building concept - there is no way of getting away from that, Marty and Ed. Who can build original content enough to maintain 100 blogs - without massive outsourcing?
A fast blog set up with optimal SEO is a good business model - but the mass installation of automated blogs sold as the Gold membership is quite another business model again.
I fell into the newbie trap, and I am not happy.
Make good use of my money, guys - I had to work hard to earn it, and my wife had some much better uses in mind for it.
Nino Pilla
· 1 year ago
OK, well taken. CAN WE SEE YOUR WPD-generated BLOG OR IS IT SECRET?
Bill Stevens
· 1 year ago
I used WordPressDirect during the 30 Day Challenge. I think it's great and anything to make it easier for the non-technical folks to install a self-hosted WordPress is great.
I run into a lot of people who want a self-hosted WordPress blog but don't because they don't know how to do it. Installing WordPress is still way to technical for the beginner/non-techy folk.
It's a great start for a techy person who can then start tweaking WordPress right away.
Nino Pilla
· 1 year ago
How about you Bill, would you be willing to show publicly your WPD-generated blog?
Bec Brown
· 1 year ago
Hi,
I got started blogging about a month ago, and though I'm quite tech-savvy, I decided to use Wordpress Direct simply because it's a timesaver. All of my content is completely original and written by myself, I just use WPD to post it, and it saves me having to do tedious little jobs which would take me hours every week. And the fact that it optimizes your blog for search engines, again, saves me a lot of time.
For me it's a matter of efficient use of my time. It has nothing to do with the content auto-generation features (which I don't even use). If someone here can suggest an alternative which does all of these things with the same ease as WPD, I'll take a look at it. Until then, I'm sticking to it.
Seshu
· 1 year ago
Who is making off with the ad-dollars that these sites could potentially bring in? I suspect it is an easy way for the business to take over ownership of keywords. If we are able to gain from the ad revenue, then this may not be such a bad idea, but I suspect otherwise.
Ari Lestariono
· 1 year ago
The problems sustain
Martin Beran
· 1 year ago
Shannon brings up a great point- Why condemn and attack wordpress direct because it is a tool that 'can' be used by malicious people to build splogs? Lets start condemning other tools that have been made that allow people to spam our lives- computers, the internet and email.
I am of course exaggerating but my point should be clear- certain people will use services and tools in ways they are not intended to be used but lets not automatically blacklist wordpress direct for that reason.
I personally tried out the free version and thought that the quality of the articles recommended was terrible. I would have better luck googling a word and looking 10 pages deep in the SERP.
aquariumfish
· 1 year ago
I have to agree, seem like a spam scam to me
ThriveBlogger
· 1 year ago
"...and you've done it without having to write a single article yourself!"
WTH! If you really want to make something of value, it needs to have some of YOU in it. This is weak and any blog built with this will end up sorely disappointed. Decent engines will see these types of sites as what they are, junk.
If you want a good blog, invest some time, start slowly, don't expect everything in 30 days. Take your time and make it something you actually care about.
alexander-social media guy
· 1 year ago
I have tested this service and based on the sites it pulls from it seems impossible to scrape content from individual bloggers. Sites like YouTube want you to embed their videos which is why they make the code avaiable.
Duplicate content splogs will get Google slapped so no worries there. Take a moment to get past the marketing materials and find out what the service really does and you'll appreciate how much setup time it saves.
Tico
· 1 year ago
People,
I am curious why nobody on this site has discussed Firepow? Isn't this the basic equal to WPD? I just think that Marty used this forum either with collusion or a plant to change his service from free to paid.
When I first learned about WPD, I said to myself "what's the angle here?" Often in the online gaming business, we use lures like free accounts but if they win, the still need to deposit a matcing amount. With WPD, it is like, offer free service, create a hailstorm of comments, blogs, reviews, etc and then pull the plug because one site - one blog says something negative. Please folks, how many businesses would be shut down if we all applied this thinking. Do people really believe this is the reason?
Face it, Marty had a plan and it was not altruistic and it seems that mashable played a role in that. But business is business and marketing is a part of that. But to have it wrapped in this, is the new form of "spin marketing" using blogs. Genius if you ask me but to have people genuinely share as if this is real...unforgiveable and a black mark on the credibility of mashable.com
Tico
Tico
· 1 year ago
Greetings Mr. Canter,
Thank you for the links. I found the first two links on google and the third being this site. What I was asking in my comment, Why has this site not discussed Firepow? There was a very strong reaction to WPD, what happened to Firepow and its criticism or rants or praise?
Cheers
Martin Andelman
· 11 months ago
Oh my God. I'm not entirely sure which aspect bothers me more, and there are so many from which to choose.
Obviously, there's the whole stealing thing, which is to be abhorred and I suppose handled by at least seemingly aggressive tactics, such that an author can afford. But my second reaction was even more icky.
Like as in: I've got an idea... Why doesn't someone event a technology that people could use to build their own symphony orchestra by entering parameters and having the software go out online to retrieve/steal the required instrumental sounds. "I think I like the tympani player from the NY Philharmonic, and you just have to build something using the cellist from the Pacific Symphony... he's even better if you speed him up a bit."
Or what about a site that would allow you to create your own masterpieces for your own online art museum? Say a Picasso or a Monet. Maybe you could enter at which stage of deterioration you'd like to set for Monet's eyesight as the software helps you "create your very own work of art in minutes for free. Upgrade to our GOLD membership and get access to the Enlightenment".
And in either case, it occurs to me that the sounds or elements of art being "retrieved" from cyberspace would not even have to be real or original. The cello could be synthesized and the art could be picked up from copies.
Hey, maybe there's something out there that someone could use to automatically build an article or even an entire novel. "Let's see, headline options... okay, I'll take this one. Subject? 'D' looks interesting. Perspective? Hmmm... liberal to moderate. Length? 1200 words. Style? Athletic prose. Tone? Let's go with: 'Sunny, yet insightful." Author? Let's see, that would be me: Martin Andel... Oh, and how convenient... 'Register Copyright'? Sure, why not."
Are they seriously making the case that this was developed in response to a need to make blogging easier? Was there a need to make blogging easier? Like the ability to build a blog in about the same time it takes to soft boil an egg (a'la Blogger, et al) was crying out for a more convenient solution requiring even less effort? Really? Horsepucky.
You know... not everything is supposed to be dumbed down so that absolutely anyone can "do it"... without effort... investment... or consequence.
To those of you that are using the service for good, well alrighty then. But the developer's argument that "our" problem stems from his company's sales and marketing materials not properly representing the capabilities offered and therefore in need of change, to me at least, sounds a tad disingenuous. (Something akin to the Second Amendment fundamentalists that want to change the name of "assault rifles" to "sport utility guns," in order to make their availability more palatable to the general population.)
Maybe I'm missing something here and I do plan to look into it further, so I'll write back to say "never mind" if something compels me to do so. Until then... Viva la Revolucion! And someone get a rope.
Well, like I said... Oh my God. And thank you for posting this seemingly inconceivable travesty of technological progress.
Martin Andelman
· 11 months ago
Oh my God. I'm not entirely sure which aspect bothers me more, and there are so many from which to choose.
Obviously, there's the whole stealing thing, which is to be abhorred and I suppose handled by at least seemingly aggressive tactics, such that an author can afford. But my second reaction was even more icky.
Like as in: Here's an idea... Why doesn't someone invent a technology that people could use to build their own symphony by entering parameters and having software go retrieve the required instrumental components. "I love the tympani player from the NY Phil, and you just have to use the cellist from the Pacific Symphony... he's even better if you speed him up a bit."
Or what about a site that would allow the creation of masterpieces for your own online art museum? Say a Picasso or a Monet. Maybe you could enter at which stage of deterioration you'd like to set Monet's eyesight as the software helps you "create your very own work of art in minutes for free. Upgrade to GOLD and access the Enlightenment".
In either case, it occurs to me that the elements being "retrieved" would not even have to be real. The cello could be synthesized and the art could be picked up from copies. "It's actually 'Ya Ya Mo', but hardly anyone can tell the difference."
Hey, maybe there's something out there that would automatically author an entire article. "Let's see, headline options... okay, I'll take this one. Subject? 'D' looks interesting. Perspective? Hmmm... liberal to moderate. Length? 1200 words. Style? Athletic prose. Tone? Let's go with: 'Sunny, yet insightful." Author? Let's see, that would be me: Martin Andel... Oh, and how convenient... 'Register Copyright'? Sure, why not."
Are they seriously making the case that this was developed in response to a need to make blogging easier? Was there a need to make blogging easier? Like the ability to build a blog in about the same time it takes to soft boil an egg (a'la Blogger, et al) was crying out for a more convenient solution requiring even less effort? Really? Horsepucky.
You know... not everything is supposed to be dumbed down so that absolutely anyone can "do it"... without effort... investment... or consequence.
To those of you that are using the service for good, well alrighty then. But the developer's argument that "our" problem stems from his company's sales and marketing materials not properly representing the capabilities offered and therefore in need of change, to me at least, sounds a tad disingenuous. (Something akin to the Second Amendment fundamentalists that want to change the name of "assault rifles" to "sport utility guns," in order to make their availability more palatable to the more rational population.)
Maybe I'm missing something here and I do plan to look into it further, so I'll write back to say "never mind" if something compels me to do so. Until then... Viva la Revolucion! Someone get a rope.
Like I said... Oh my God. And thank you for posting this seemingly inconceivable travesty of technological progress.
Maher Dosoqi
· 10 months ago
Thousands of great ideas & happy thoughts jumped into my mind while reading the first couple of lines.. Until reading the next paragraph!
This sounds Lame & Unethical.
Nick
· 10 months ago
Say what you want about it. The fact of the matter is that it exists and its real effect upon Internet Marketing will be to devalue overall content. Technically, it should be classified as a "SPLOG". The day Google figures out how to filter "SPLOGS" - It will die. Once search requests begin to clutter up page 1 of Google, you will see a change.
In the meantime, if you use WPD for THAT purpose - to auto post content, then you are a loser. I am not opining here, I am merely describing a fact. In a court of law, you would have handed the prosecution a "prima facia" case. Ultimately you will fail as an internet marketer. You will fail because you are not willing, or perhaps capable, of putting in the hard work it takes to learn the business from the ground up. You are uncreative and lacking in wisdom. You couldn't write Ad Copy if your life depended upon it. You can't even write two line on who your market is. You've never actually looked "ethics" up in the dictionary. And you couldn't engage in a conversation that lasted more than two sentences.
I am sad for you. You're not intelligent enough to attend valuable seminars; you're not capable of understanding abstract concepts. You'll bleed to death on $27 ebook purchases. Your wife flogs you to death over it. You want desperately to get out of your day job, and you'll do just about anything to accomplish that.
You're angry now - reading this post - because you see yourself in these lines. If your exceeding stupid, you're mad at me for pointing out the facts. Either way... it sucks to be you right now.
Take heart however, the light at the end of the tunnel has NOT been shut off. Stop using sites that operate like this. Join the community of Internet Marketers who are mostly VERY willing to help you! There are some extremely nice people in this business. Start reading. Start learning how to use your computer. It does not take long.
Most of all realize this. Instant gain never lasts long. If you want to make a living in this business, you really must do the work at some point.
:)
Dee
· 10 months ago
What is the difference between what WordPress Direct does (lets users find articles and videos to add) than what every news site online does when they automatically add the AP wire news?
It is just like copying and pasting articles from ezinearticles, only Wordpress Direct has a tool to help you insert them.
WPD has definitely over-hyped what the auto blogging features are. They are not all that spammy. I know of many more tools made by other companies that are far worse.
Nick
· 10 months ago
The difference is that Associated Press reporters all have a rule book called "The AP Style Guide" which is about 260 pages long and prescribes how they will behave. It addresses ethics and lays down the rules for writing in a multicultural universe. WPD is like having a kid rid along in your car in the back seat ...eating junk food and tossing the bottles and wrapper out of the window!! It highly pollutive. It's about creating an information coordinate on the back of some one else's work. It leads unknowing citizens to actually think the dipstick using it actually knows something.
What it IS... is expedient. You can't wait. You think you HAVE to post. You decide to use WPD. Now you told the world you're a lazy sod who is quite willing to lower his/her standards for the sake of an expedient post.
Sure.. it will work for a while. But you will fail. And sadly... as you froth up about this issue, you know I am right. Your position is not defensible. I'm sorry.
DeeDee
· 10 months ago
You are totally correct that if you used WPD or any other autoblogging system and don't create any unique content, you will fail (and I hope all that do that DO fail). But I still think having a tool to help you find relevant content to post isn't so bad.
Nick
· 10 months ago
Good Point DeeDee, That's how I'd like to see it used for sure. The problem arises when people like Ed Dale round up newbie's by the herds and market WPD in precisely the wrong way. I monitored 30 Day Challenge during that time. You wouldn't believe the number of newbies that poured over this feature. But with questions like, "what's a domain?" I realized they weren't getting too far. Many of them couldn't even set up WPD themselves... and it's pretty much auto pilot! Think of the mess unleashing several hundred of these guys on the net! There goes the pollution scale.
For me... it's like having 200 "nig nogs" move onto your street who own 30 year old cars that pollute!
DeeDee
· 10 months ago
Agreed... the newbies are likely to create even more useless pages on the internet. I don't think this is encouraged by Ed Dale (I've followed the last 2 of his 30 Day Challenges) and I remember him cautioning people from writing "spammy" material which won't get you anywhere. But even if he teaches how things should be done, many of the people taking the challenge are probably not hearing that.
I believe that there is no real problem with badly done blogs because they just won't get indexed by search engines, the people who do that kind of thing won't do the "real" work to be found online or be successful, so they will just disappear eventually (to be replaced by the next batch, hehe)
Elizabeth
· 10 months ago
To me this is cheating at its best. All you're doing is spreading the same content around, where's the value in that? Assuming that if someone is looking to build wealth online by creating their own internet business, this isn't the way to do it.
Creating a blog built on the efforts of others doesn't offer value, it siimply promotes stolen content and spamming.
Building a business online is not the same as simply making money online. Anyone can make a few dollars selling something but if you want to build wealth on a consistent, long term basis it's goint to take more than a blog that just pulls in information from what's already out there.
I advocate having an online career. If you just want to make money online, then perhaps Wordpress Direct might get you a few ad clicks but it won't build you long term wealth or help you establish a thriving online career.
DeeDee
· 10 months ago
Just to provide some balance here, I looked up what I could find as a response to this attack on Wordpress Direct. Read what Marty from Wordpress Direct said about this on another blog: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/12/02/wordp...
To quote him: "If you spam your own blog, using our stuff or anybody else's you are a fool. You will be de-indexed by Google and then nobody will notice your well-written content."
So, I think there is way too much uninformed content about what the creator's intentions were with this blogging tool.
Hearing both sides of this issue makes for a better discussion!
Nick
· 10 months ago
Marty Rozmanith has always been a man of not just solid integrity, but also of good sense and of course esteemed technical ability. His move today to "turn off" the spam getteling gun to 9000 unpaid users is a wonderful gesture.
On his blog, Marty wondered if this would be enough to placate the mob. I'm sure Marty must realize that it WILL solve the issue! After all... think about it... 9000 users!!! Why do 9000 flies land on a piece of dung? Huh? Because it's free and it smells good to them!
The quality users who are serious about internet marketing will pay for Marty's great service. And in doing so they will use is wisely because they know how hard it is to do well and to get ranking and quality scores. They know too that it would only be a matter of time before Google slapped them otherwise.
Marty... we won't use your age against you. It was a logical thing to try. Most thinking marketers do appreciate your skill and your company. With the riff raff out of there, I might just try WPD for a few of my blogs. I'm sure you will get others too... who wish to belong to good professional organizations.
Thanks for your efforts! Cheers... Nick
Tony
· 8 months ago
WPD is for sh!t. I tried it on both the free 30DC arena and the paid silver version. Sure it puts up a lot of content, but it is crap content. If that is how you want to roll, knock yourself out.
Elevic Pernis
· 5 months ago
I love Word Press Direct. I mean I got a paid webhosting service, and I am having a Hard time using Word press with it, although I could use it in the free version.
All Comments
Meh.
This is exactly what is wrong with the internet, except they are making it a free trial.
As stated above spam blogs will have a field day.
Ok, while writing this I've changed my mind. I don't like it.
Marc...
They make an open source blogging engine - someone creates a spam project on top of it, and you're mad at wordpress?
Though Mashable put the wordpress logo there, I see no mention of any affiliation.
Open Source licenses don't discriminate based on field of endeavor - so that means the "bad guys" can use it just as much as the good guys . . .
Well, maybe it is a problem, not for genuine bloggers but for SPAMMERS. But of course they don't give a sh*t if the number of spam blogs on the blogsphere get doubled within few months as long as long as they get paid.
Cant' wait to create my own content packed, automatically updated, SEO friendly, oh so popular blog to compete with mashable LOL!
Hmm. A putative Web 2.0 thingamabob relying on old skool PR/self-serving hyperbole. Strike one.
I'm all about *legitimate* aggregation of other people's stuff, which is to say: 1.) content selected and actually commented upon by a real, live human being, with at least the barest modicum of original insight, 2.) fully attributed/credited to the original creator(s), and ...3.) fully disclosed as such.
BTW, it appears that WPD needs to be installed on your/ISP's server, running against your Wordpress and mySQL instances. Even if you buy the premise, better pray the thing doesn't misbehave.
Bah humbug.
The first several screens are upsales for hefty monthly fee services. The free stuff itself is a little confusing, surrounded by the MOST slippery feeling content, ad, sales, service manipulation stuff I've had the displeasure of trying to wade thru in a while. Ugh.
You could add AdSense, affiliate marketing, YouTube feeds, text answers, and way more. Yeah, they know who they are marketing this stuff to. I might have thought that it had some informational value going in, but the experience has quickly dismembered that notion.
I need a shower.
I look at it as a simple solution to adding new posts to a blog in between longer, hand written posts. A relevant YouTube video (linked to the source) or an article from an article directory (linked to the source) that I've hand picked can keep my readers satiated while I'm composing original content.
@Doug aka Nullvariable - Michelle isn't selling the software.
If you said this was a case of a sales pitch backfiring, I'd agree 100%.
Everyone wants the easy, lazy solution - and WordPressDirect spun their pitch to give it to them. And now, it doesn't matter what they do, the Mashable crowd is going to think WordPressDirect is spam software.
For newbies who are setting up their first web-site, for experts doing a lot of niche or affiliate marketing, and 6 or 7 other types of people in-between - nothing is easier to set up a blog.
Re: AutoPosting Content - If you're going to splog, you'll get slapped. The idea is that you use it to find good quality content (that you manually vet), schedule content to be posted, and use it to supplement content that you write yourself.
But if people don't vet the content, and just use it to auto-upload junk, Google-et-al's algorithms WILL spot this, WILL slap them, and WILL stop them getting any benefit from their content.
You get what you give.
If you deliver value, you get value.
I actually use this service because I know very little about web hosting, wordpress blogs and wordpress plugins etc. This service sets it all up for you. I have not used the content generation side of the service because I don't believe it will add value to my blog.
As for the genuine contributors - in most cases, it's just spreading their work further (i.e. YouTube videos, reprintable articles, etc)
no seriously though... if this actually worked well I could set up a site which offered me EXACTLY the information I would be interested in...
ethically it may be a problem... but if you visit a site which obviously is doing this then you're not going to bookmark it. and if you cant tell - then enjoy it...
half of what we read online is just aggregation with comments...
Ironically, I came across a site that publishes entire blog posts making them look original, but with a minimal link or signature from the original. Again, aggregation with no real intervention and bordering on plagarism (except for the credit).
I think this idea needs to be seriously commented on publicly as much as possible, it isn't muchdifferent than other forms of piracy, except it won't be recognized as such by the casual visitor.
WordPress Direct is great for anyone wanting to setup a blog with no technical knowledge or for people who maintain multiple blogs. Their dashboard allows you to create, update, delete posts remotely via one interface.
As for the auto content feature... Michelle gave a great example of the CORRECT USE of this function. Of course some people will use it for spamming. That's life. There are people who would abuse anything and everything in order to MAKE AN EASY BUCK. These people are just looking for the easy way out of everything and will exploit anything that gives them the opportunity to do it.
Just because a service gives some d$#k heads the chance to spam doesn't mean that the service itself is bad.
But... this post is not going to make a bit of difference... Napoleon's words will prove itself true... Just wait and see... Guaranteed that most people will fixate on the only slightly negative thing about the service...
Shannon
The supporters of this service continue to comment and promote the ease for a non-techie to set up a blog, like this is the main purpose of WPD. Too bad the marketers of the service do not do the same. 101 words of their 230 word press release refer to the use of aggregated content (and ultimately the ease of building a following based on other's work). Call this service for what it is and don't try to make these guys look like saints because they provide a way for my grandparents to build a blog.
Quote from "The Wisdom of the Crowds" wiki... "Not all crowds (groups) are wise."
It wasn't that long ago that the "mashable crowd" made their contribution to the "twitterank" fiasco.
I see it time and time again. Most people want to just follow the crowd and other people just want to argue with the crowd. A few will actually try the service and give their honest opinion, but those people will usually be ignored as "trying to sell the service" or "must work for them".
Shannon
They'll probably keep operating, but will change the name and get much less press when it doesn't look like they're affiliated with WP.
Google SEO Tools
I've seen these before in the affiliate circles, but never anyone so blatantly trying to sell it to the public.
"...legally gathering the information from other websites, so your blog can always look active to the search engines even if you don’t have much time to put into them."
Is it legal to grab content in this manner?
Who is Wordpress Direct for?
"... anyone who: wants to create multiple niche blogs quickly and easily; wants their blog to be optimised for their keyword phrases; and isn’t concerned with every post being 100% original."
...
Rather, here is an example, a well known one since it has been used to teach best practices to our users. One best practice is to use 'sticky-posting' to place the original content at the top, as the focus of the page, and let the supporting content scroll below. Take a look at http://www.vintageelectricguitarblog.com
...
So tell me, if you were a guitar enthusiast who came across the site above would YOU think it was a spam blog? I hope not.
Ed, do you not think this comment would apply just as equally to WPD ?
The pitch for this service is that it allows the inexperienced to get blogging quickly, but they can do that anyway with a regular Wordpress install.
Having registered with the WPD site and looked at its videos what it really seems to be talking about is how the auto-content generation will improve google rankings.
I signed up for this service as a self hosted WP user, BUT my foot hit the brake as soon as they asked for my ftp login information. It is one thing to ask for my WP self hosted, user ID and pw but for the ftp root?
I was able to install and learn about IonCube and with it installed what is the reason for the ftp access? Does anyone know this answer, it might be a simple one I am overlooking. The only thing I can imagine needing root access for is a)bots b)some other type of bot c)zombie programs d)no idea
Maybe you can help with this question because I am not able to get the information from them or on the SE's
Thanks
It would probably be easier for people to see the positive things about it if the promotional material just stated "Our service lets you create blogs quickly and easily with no technical knowledge necessary, and has tools for aggregating content from other sources to assist you in creating your own content".
Instead it is promoted as an automated blogging system, where you don't even need to create your own content. Just watch that video at the top of this post again. Creating your own content is mentioned as almost an afterthought, and it is quickly pointed out that you won't have to do this to have a sticky niche site, or whatever the term they used is.
Now, before anyone suggests that I don't know how the service really works, I was a user for 2 or 3 months and created several blogs with it. I was also part of the 30 Day Challenge that Ed mentioned in an earlier comment, which is where I found out about Wordpress Direct.
And in spite of the direction the 30DC instructions pointed me, Wordpress Direct still "felt" like more of an automated spam tool than a genuine shortcut to setting up and managing my blogs. I am quite familiar with the technical side of things however, so my opinion of it is probably different than someone who knows nothing about setting up Wordpress themselves.
I believe any tool can be used for good or evil, but when the promotional material essentially sells the evil side, even if they include some disclaimers to the contrary along the line, the people selling it are contributing to the problem.
It sounds like a good idea but I don't think the execution by users etc will be amazing. On that note, I doubt it won't work. I mean Wordpress are a titan in the blogging world, I am sure they put much thought into it. But even the greatest minds can make mistakes.
I think this is a mistake, but then who am I to speak?
You put your name out there in the public and anyone can use it, within reason. I mean not in defamatory or slanderous ways. But you can refer to any brand name, especially when it becomes more well known then the actual item. It's like with celebrities, they can bitch all they want about tabloids and paparazzi, but there's not much they can do unless they really cross the line.
I've noticed 4 or 5 comments about this, one guy over on the 1st page even has google in his website name. Are you part of google or have the right to use their name? That's what I thought... :lol:
Some people are so narrow minded.
As I mentioned above, WPD have controls in place to ensure their service is not used for spam, they have a panel of human moderators, limits severely the number of blogs that you can create in any one month and of course Google already have in place duplicate content algorithms so that we don't have repeats of the dark summer of 2006, were it seemed like every search result came up with complete crap.
it would be a shame that such a brilliant service for getting a complete beginner up and running with the own blog (that is optimised according to Googles own guidelines) be miscast in this fashion. I can absolutely see from the marketing material (in particular that press release) where people could confuse this for yet another piece of worthless spam.
It's not.
I need you to try out the free service just to check out how easy it is to create your own new blog. it's a very clever piece of programming and WPD team deserves to be congratulated. the person putting out a press release like that needs to be slapped up side of the head.
Ed
I try to avoid dealing with companies that try to separate the two.
I spend way too much time each week already tracking down splogs that rip off content I work hard to create -- to the tune of two to four original posts a day. And, of course, the second you get one cornered, another pops up. I'm cringing at a "service" that could make that problem worse.
And as a professional writer, I put this in the same category as copy-spinning software: Just one more thing that devalues a skill I've worked a lifetime to develop.
Marty & Ed, I accept your argument in good faith that you are not scraping & that this is a service aimed to be useful to the inexperienced.
However, I still think its intrinsically a bad idea.
If everybody filled blogs with auto generated content merely for to get higher click thru's, and google allowed them to get away with it, it not only means a morass of duplicate content to wade through when trying to do useful searches, but devalues blogs created with purely original content.
I accept you say this is not your intent, but if WPD became popular and widespread, I can't see it having any other effect ?
There was a bit of a tempest in a teapot a couple of years ago when Wordpress went after some sites that had "Wordpress" as part of their domain name. I suspect they will be knocking on Wordpress Direct's door before too long.
From the lovely but discombobulated young woman reading the script about building your own "nitch" website with - wait for it - "the click of a button" (...not including the requisite DNS, WHM and cPanel server configuration, of course) ...to the cheesy Hostgator affliliate banners the size of a waffle iron plastered all over the site... to the atrocious theme templates - some of which aren't even entirely in English ...to the graphic about the "Secrets of the (largely unknown) SUPERBLOGGERS"...well, you get the idea.
I'm a paying user of WPD, and so far have not used the auto content feature. I've seen quite a few WPD blogs, and with one exception none of them appear to be using the auto-content feature.
The exception is pulling in complete rubbish, and the blog looks a mess. If anyone clicked on it in Google's search results they'd probably leave again pretty quickly. The blog-owner is one of my contacts, and I know that he's not yet earned a dime from the blog, which has been going since early August.
However, yesterday I googled a keyword phrase connected with one of my own blog posts, and one of the results Google brought me had the title and description of my blog post. But it wasn't my domain.
I clicked on it to take a look, and it isn't a WPD blog, but it is a Wordpress blog. It's also quite clear that the blog owner isn't doing anything to moderate what's on the blog. There's no attribution anywhere on the blog that I can see. There was no way for me to contact the blog owner anywhere, and at the bottom of the page it said "Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time." It's obvious that the owner is using either a plug-in or a script that is auto-publishing other people's material, and not looking after the blog.
I agree with everything that's been said here about the WPD marketing material. But before you get too angry about it take a few days searching for webpages that have stolen your own material. It's my guess you'll find it. And chances are you'll find it on a site that's not using WPD.
If you can provide value, for example an aggregator of professional dance class video's your adding value to the end user. As long as you focus on that, and long term viability, there's nothing "wrong" with automation. They are catering to the "get rich quick crowd", and there's nothing wrong with the long form sales copy either, it appeals to some, and not to others.
If you decide that this is garbage, hey, you're just making my life easier, one less competitor :)
I have a background in electronics and computer science and can easily install a blog, unzip and add plugins, edit the pages and customize a theme with my eyes closed, and waste a lot of time too. Or I could use that extra time writing some content or salesletters or working on getting traffic to my blog.
All of the unzipping, uploading and configuring could be done by a so called "SEO expert" and probably would still be less optimized than what Wordpress Direct can do in about 15 seconds.
I joined up back in August, like a lot of others in the 30 day challenge and realized the value and convenience of this service and upgraded to a paying member right off. I started with some crappy keywords that don't have a lot of relevant content, so I don't use the auto-posting on it, but I'm still paying each month because my time is more valuable than the monthly fee.
I have plans to setup a few more blogs real soon and it would cost 10X as much to pay someone to do it. Plus, once I add a few extra sites to what I've already got, it's going to be more work and require more time, that is already in short supply.
If I do better keyword research on the future installs and have more content to choose from, I'll definitely make use of the auto-posting function in conjunction with my own posts so I can have enough time to keep up with my growing VRE and still have a life.
I'm actually off to do another install to convert into a PLR membership site, where someone else will be creating the content. You gotta love it...
DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid for any portion of this commentary. :lol: :biggrin: :stupid:
B. Stone
CAN YOU GUYS SHOW THE PUBLIC AT LEAST 10, GREAT EXAMPLES OF WORDPRESS DIRECT GENERATED BLOGS?
Let's decide after we see these.
The product is great for getting a blog up fast, with sound SEO.
As Ed Dale says, you are supposed to load and maintain it mainly with your original content - and it is a great way to test keywords for SEO. A good product for new bloggers to get started on a sound basis.
But the Gold Membership was a rip off - I wasted several hundred dollars over 3 months before I figured out it was nothing more than a fast large scale spam blog building concept - there is no way of getting away from that, Marty and Ed. Who can build original content enough to maintain 100 blogs - without massive outsourcing?
A fast blog set up with optimal SEO is a good business model - but the mass installation of automated blogs sold as the Gold membership is quite another business model again.
I fell into the newbie trap, and I am not happy.
Make good use of my money, guys - I had to work hard to earn it, and my wife had some much better uses in mind for it.
I run into a lot of people who want a self-hosted WordPress blog but don't because they don't know how to do it. Installing WordPress is still way to technical for the beginner/non-techy folk.
It's a great start for a techy person who can then start tweaking WordPress right away.
would you be willing to show publicly your WPD-generated blog?
I got started blogging about a month ago, and though I'm quite tech-savvy, I decided to use Wordpress Direct simply because it's a timesaver. All of my content is completely original and written by myself, I just use WPD to post it, and it saves me having to do tedious little jobs which would take me hours every week. And the fact that it optimizes your blog for search engines, again, saves me a lot of time.
For me it's a matter of efficient use of my time. It has nothing to do with the content auto-generation features (which I don't even use). If someone here can suggest an alternative which does all of these things with the same ease as WPD, I'll take a look at it. Until then, I'm sticking to it.
I am of course exaggerating but my point should be clear- certain people will use services and tools in ways they are not intended to be used but lets not automatically blacklist wordpress direct for that reason.
I personally tried out the free version and thought that the quality of the articles recommended was terrible. I would have better luck googling a word and looking 10 pages deep in the SERP.
WTH! If you really want to make something of value, it needs to have some of YOU in it. This is weak and any blog built with this will end up sorely disappointed. Decent engines will see these types of sites as what they are, junk.
If you want a good blog, invest some time, start slowly, don't expect everything in 30 days. Take your time and make it something you actually care about.
Duplicate content splogs will get Google slapped so no worries there. Take a moment to get past the marketing materials and find out what the service really does and you'll appreciate how much setup time it saves.
I am curious why nobody on this site has discussed Firepow? Isn't this the basic equal to WPD? I just think that Marty used this forum either with collusion or a plant to change his service from free to paid.
When I first learned about WPD, I said to myself "what's the angle here?" Often in the online gaming business, we use lures like free accounts but if they win, the still need to deposit a matcing amount. With WPD, it is like, offer free service, create a hailstorm of comments, blogs, reviews, etc and then pull the plug because one site - one blog says something negative. Please folks, how many businesses would be shut down if we all applied this thinking. Do people really believe this is the reason?
Face it, Marty had a plan and it was not altruistic and it seems that mashable played a role in that. But business is business and marketing is a part of that. But to have it wrapped in this, is the new form of "spin marketing" using blogs. Genius if you ask me but to have people genuinely share as if this is real...unforgiveable and a black mark on the credibility of mashable.com
Tico
Thank you for the links. I found the first two links on google and the third being this site. What I was asking in my comment, Why has this site not discussed Firepow? There was a very strong reaction to WPD, what happened to Firepow and its criticism or rants or praise?
Cheers
Obviously, there's the whole stealing thing, which is to be abhorred and I suppose handled by at least seemingly aggressive tactics, such that an author can afford. But my second reaction was even more icky.
Like as in: I've got an idea... Why doesn't someone event a technology that people could use to build their own symphony orchestra by entering parameters and having the software go out online to retrieve/steal the required instrumental sounds. "I think I like the tympani player from the NY Philharmonic, and you just have to build something using the cellist from the Pacific Symphony... he's even better if you speed him up a bit."
Or what about a site that would allow you to create your own masterpieces for your own online art museum? Say a Picasso or a Monet. Maybe you could enter at which stage of deterioration you'd like to set for Monet's eyesight as the software helps you "create your very own work of art in minutes for free. Upgrade to our GOLD membership and get access to the Enlightenment".
And in either case, it occurs to me that the sounds or elements of art being "retrieved" from cyberspace would not even have to be real or original. The cello could be synthesized and the art could be picked up from copies.
Hey, maybe there's something out there that someone could use to automatically build an article or even an entire novel. "Let's see, headline options... okay, I'll take this one. Subject? 'D' looks interesting. Perspective? Hmmm... liberal to moderate. Length? 1200 words. Style? Athletic prose. Tone? Let's go with: 'Sunny, yet insightful." Author? Let's see, that would be me: Martin Andel... Oh, and how convenient... 'Register Copyright'? Sure, why not."
Are they seriously making the case that this was developed in response to a need to make blogging easier? Was there a need to make blogging easier? Like the ability to build a blog in about the same time it takes to soft boil an egg (a'la Blogger, et al) was crying out for a more convenient solution requiring even less effort? Really? Horsepucky.
You know... not everything is supposed to be dumbed down so that absolutely anyone can "do it"... without effort... investment... or consequence.
To those of you that are using the service for good, well alrighty then. But the developer's argument that "our" problem stems from his company's sales and marketing materials not properly representing the capabilities offered and therefore in need of change, to me at least, sounds a tad disingenuous. (Something akin to the Second Amendment fundamentalists that want to change the name of "assault rifles" to "sport utility guns," in order to make their availability more palatable to the general population.)
Maybe I'm missing something here and I do plan to look into it further, so I'll write back to say "never mind" if something compels me to do so. Until then... Viva la Revolucion! And someone get a rope.
Well, like I said... Oh my God. And thank you for posting this seemingly inconceivable travesty of technological progress.
Obviously, there's the whole stealing thing, which is to be abhorred and I suppose handled by at least seemingly aggressive tactics, such that an author can afford. But my second reaction was even more icky.
Like as in: Here's an idea... Why doesn't someone invent a technology that people could use to build their own symphony by entering parameters and having software go retrieve the required instrumental components. "I love the tympani player from the NY Phil, and you just have to use the cellist from the Pacific Symphony... he's even better if you speed him up a bit."
Or what about a site that would allow the creation of masterpieces for your own online art museum? Say a Picasso or a Monet. Maybe you could enter at which stage of deterioration you'd like to set Monet's eyesight as the software helps you "create your very own work of art in minutes for free. Upgrade to GOLD and access the Enlightenment".
In either case, it occurs to me that the elements being "retrieved" would not even have to be real. The cello could be synthesized and the art could be picked up from copies. "It's actually 'Ya Ya Mo', but hardly anyone can tell the difference."
Hey, maybe there's something out there that would automatically author an entire article. "Let's see, headline options... okay, I'll take this one. Subject? 'D' looks interesting. Perspective? Hmmm... liberal to moderate. Length? 1200 words. Style? Athletic prose. Tone? Let's go with: 'Sunny, yet insightful." Author? Let's see, that would be me: Martin Andel... Oh, and how convenient... 'Register Copyright'? Sure, why not."
Are they seriously making the case that this was developed in response to a need to make blogging easier? Was there a need to make blogging easier? Like the ability to build a blog in about the same time it takes to soft boil an egg (a'la Blogger, et al) was crying out for a more convenient solution requiring even less effort? Really? Horsepucky.
You know... not everything is supposed to be dumbed down so that absolutely anyone can "do it"... without effort... investment... or consequence.
To those of you that are using the service for good, well alrighty then. But the developer's argument that "our" problem stems from his company's sales and marketing materials not properly representing the capabilities offered and therefore in need of change, to me at least, sounds a tad disingenuous. (Something akin to the Second Amendment fundamentalists that want to change the name of "assault rifles" to "sport utility guns," in order to make their availability more palatable to the more rational population.)
Maybe I'm missing something here and I do plan to look into it further, so I'll write back to say "never mind" if something compels me to do so. Until then... Viva la Revolucion! Someone get a rope.
Like I said... Oh my God. And thank you for posting this seemingly inconceivable travesty of technological progress.
This sounds Lame & Unethical.
In the meantime, if you use WPD for THAT purpose - to auto post content, then you are a loser. I am not opining here, I am merely describing a fact. In a court of law, you would have handed the prosecution a "prima facia" case. Ultimately you will fail as an internet marketer. You will fail because you are not willing, or perhaps capable, of putting in the hard work it takes to learn the business from the ground up. You are uncreative and lacking in wisdom. You couldn't write Ad Copy if your life depended upon it. You can't even write two line on who your market is. You've never actually looked "ethics" up in the dictionary. And you couldn't engage in a conversation that lasted more than two sentences.
I am sad for you. You're not intelligent enough to attend valuable seminars; you're not capable of understanding abstract concepts. You'll bleed to death on $27 ebook purchases. Your wife flogs you to death over it. You want desperately to get out of your day job, and you'll do just about anything to accomplish that.
You're angry now - reading this post - because you see yourself in these lines. If your exceeding stupid, you're mad at me for pointing out the facts. Either way... it sucks to be you right now.
Take heart however, the light at the end of the tunnel has NOT been shut off. Stop using sites that operate like this. Join the community of Internet Marketers who are mostly VERY willing to help you! There are some extremely nice people in this business. Start reading. Start learning how to use your computer. It does not take long.
Most of all realize this. Instant gain never lasts long. If you want to make a living in this business, you really must do the work at some point.
:)
It is just like copying and pasting articles from ezinearticles, only Wordpress Direct has a tool to help you insert them.
WPD has definitely over-hyped what the auto blogging features are. They are not all that spammy. I know of many more tools made by other companies that are far worse.
What it IS... is expedient. You can't wait. You think you HAVE to post. You decide to use WPD. Now you told the world you're a lazy sod who is quite willing to lower his/her standards for the sake of an expedient post.
Sure.. it will work for a while. But you will fail. And sadly... as you froth up about this issue, you know I am right. Your position is not defensible. I'm sorry.
That's how I'd like to see it used for sure. The problem arises when people like Ed Dale round up newbie's by the herds and market WPD in precisely the wrong way. I monitored 30 Day Challenge during that time. You wouldn't believe the number of newbies that poured over this feature. But with questions like, "what's a domain?" I realized they weren't getting too far. Many of them couldn't even set up WPD themselves... and it's pretty much auto pilot! Think of the mess unleashing several hundred of these guys on the net! There goes the pollution scale.
For me... it's like having 200 "nig nogs" move onto your street who own 30 year old cars that pollute!
I believe that there is no real problem with badly done blogs because they just won't get indexed by search engines, the people who do that kind of thing won't do the "real" work to be found online or be successful, so they will just disappear eventually (to be replaced by the next batch, hehe)
Creating a blog built on the efforts of others doesn't offer value, it siimply promotes stolen content and spamming.
Building a business online is not the same as simply making money online. Anyone can make a few dollars selling something but if you want to build wealth on a consistent, long term basis it's goint to take more than a blog that just pulls in information from what's already out there.
I advocate having an online career. If you just want to make money online, then perhaps Wordpress Direct might get you a few ad clicks but it won't build you long term wealth or help you establish a thriving online career.
http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/12/02/wordp...
To quote him:
"If you spam your own blog, using our stuff or anybody else's you are a fool. You will be de-indexed by Google and then nobody will notice your well-written content."
So, I think there is way too much uninformed content about what the creator's intentions were with this blogging tool.
Hearing both sides of this issue makes for a better discussion!
On his blog, Marty wondered if this would be enough to placate the mob. I'm sure Marty must realize that it WILL solve the issue! After all... think about it... 9000 users!!! Why do 9000 flies land on a piece of dung? Huh? Because it's free and it smells good to them!
The quality users who are serious about internet marketing will pay for Marty's great service. And in doing so they will use is wisely because they know how hard it is to do well and to get ranking and quality scores. They know too that it would only be a matter of time before Google slapped them otherwise.
Marty... we won't use your age against you. It was a logical thing to try. Most thinking marketers do appreciate your skill and your company. With the riff raff out of there, I might just try WPD for a few of my blogs. I'm sure you will get others too... who wish to belong to good professional organizations.
Thanks for your efforts!
Cheers...
Nick
Wordpress direct takes care of the hassle.