DPReview appears to be transitioning into a FStoppers / Petapixel type shithole

[Andrew Reid]

They have a relentless posting rate now on the front page news feed... 20 articles PER DAY and sometimes more?!

That's crowding out the last few good remaining writers and reviewers there like Richard Butler... crowding them out of their own damn site.

They have hired click-bait writers from FStoppers like DL Cade.

Indeed the In The News column that runs all the way down the right of the site is populated by articles from other sites like FStoppers and Petapixel.

Is there anybody I respect left in the photographic blog community? I don't know!

They have almost all gone down the drain.

It's so sad.

I want competition, I want to like and respect the work of others.

The internet is going to implode under the weight of it's own shittyness at this rate, with this much quantity of clicks over quality, it isn't sustainable.

[Jonesy Jones]

A race to the bottom. 

Everyone is in a competition to get noticed by talking, posting, preaching etc. 

Doing. No one is doing that anymore. 

[thefactory]

This is straight from the "new age" SEO play book and Googles recent algorithm changes loves this kind of shit. 

An example is the "The pros and cons of natural light vs off-camera flash" article/video they posted. Take someone else's content and embed it, put a couple 100 words around a video. Because of the size of DP it already out-ranks the original video post on Youtube for the term "Natural light vs off camera flash" which is the name of the youtube video. 

Next, they will start blasting social channels, reposting stuff often "in case you missed it" blah blah blah.   Signal, signal and more signal. 

Its thin content but if you have the audience and you don't piss them off too much their search rankings go through the roof.  

And what about the original poster?  They are probably happy with the extra views anyway so they might not complain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arikhan]

4 hours ago, thefactory said:

This is straight from the "new age" SEO play book and Googles recent algorithm changes loves this kind of shit. 

I agree with this aspect. Though, there is another important point, I can NOT agree with you: People putting their work / videos / photos on social media platforms, do it to get it spread - more awareness, more visibility, networking, building an audition, etc. And this is - without doubt - what an DPReview article mentionning & embedding your video does for you: It helps your content to get a very good awareness and many, many views, you wouldn't have gotten without having beeing mentionned on a major imaging website. So what? Reducing awareness on Google SEO aspects only, is a liitle bit odd nowadays. Should we rely on Google SEO mainly? Never ever...The coming algorithm change could kill your business / search engine visibility...

If you don't want your visual content to be shared on other platforms, just don't post it on YT / Instagram / Facebook, etc. Just post or stream it on / from your own website or server and pay extra for adds and public visibility and awareness (or just do excessive SEO for your website - waiting for next Google algo change to get "killed"). 

[thefactory]

35 minutes ago, Arikhan said:

I can NOT agree with you:

That's not my point. Of course, the original creator will want the extra views and exposure. It's easy for big sites to "repurpose" other peoples content. But in Googles eyes,  the higher ranking site is often credited as the original source. It would have taken all of about 10 mins to create that article. A lot more effort went into the original video. It's not exactly fair. 

My point is that DP will get many benefits by doing so. Often more benefit than the original. Its lazy but it works. 

We are now bombarded by thin content, repurpose content, click bait etc. Google does not care as long as we keep typing shit into Google and clicking on those ads. And now its so easy to get rankings using these techniques it's not going away anytime soon. 

 

[Inazuma]

I actually quite like the increase of posts. They are still a lot better than the petapixel junk for the time being. 

[jonpais]

Who clicks on those ads anyway? anyone here? 

[thefactory]

5 minutes ago, jonpais said:

Who clicks on those ads anyway? anyone here? 

Heh. Maybe not here but many do. In my other day job / web business we get 1000's of clicks a day from those ads. 

[Arikhan]

2 hours ago, thefactory said:

And now its so easy to get rankings using these techniques it's not going away anytime soon. 

 

"Easy"? Hmm...with a older domain and a HUGE domain & link popularity it's easy - as in Googles eyes you are an authority. And DPReview is an legit authority with an organic backlink structure - nothing desperados can get or buy in siome months without getting banned. But getting there is not as simple as claimed in forums. It takes years - or the risk to get banned...

Still disagree with your second point. Embedding your video, DPReview gets views(clicks/visitors without having to create the content, yes...But you (the creator and owner of the content) get visibility...It's a win-win for both...

Don't care too much about Google: In the "pre-Google" era there were billionaires too...Just try to take a look at the "old-fashioned" business principles...Connections, real life, networking, talking to people instead kidding SEs and discussing in internet only...It could pay out...

[Andrew Reid]

2 hours ago, Arikhan said:

But you (the creator and owner of the content) get visibility...It's a win-win for both...

The original content creator gets visibility but not as much as you think

In my experience, 7 years running EOSHD, during that time it has been featured prominently on DPReview, Gizmodo, Engadget, 43Rumors, SonyAlphaRumors, etc.

Yet over 90% of the traffic originates from Google and Facebook.

Referrals from others are almost not worth bothering with.

The main problem is the business model of the internet, it rewards lazy reposting of other people's hard work surrounded by your own ads on some shitty Wordpress template -

And the really sad thing is the audience by and large - are still clicking it!

It seems people can't help themselves!

Clickbait works!

[Dan Sherman]

7 hours ago, jonpais said:

Who clicks on those ads anyway? anyone here? 

People don't have to click on them, they get paid just because somone loaded the page and saw them.

[Andrew Reid]

I think the rumors blogs are going to die off anyway.

I'd much rather collaborate with YouTube channels, and much rather watch them, than wade through a sea of shitty deals and ad banners just to get to a made up headline they plucked out of their ass.

[thefactory]

8 hours ago, Arikhan said:

"Easy"? Hmm...

Yep easy. Even for new sites if you have the right structures and workflows. It does not even cost that much to do. You can do this without getting banned or buying links and still get right up the rankings from nothing. 

8 hours ago, Arikhan said:

Still disagree with your second point. Embedding your video, DPReview gets views(clicks/visitors without having to create the content, yes...But you (the creator and owner of the content) get visibility...It's a win-win for both...

Think you should re read my second point. Never said the creator won’t benefit. 

[Andrew Reid]

Here's what needs to happen -

Google and Facebook should take on more editorial responsibility, have actual humans boost quality content up the ranking, rather than leaving it all to machines.

They don't even curate the front page of YouTube, it's all numbers, maths.

Facebook should allow content creators to reach 100% of their followers for free with each post. Those followers are not for sale. I don't want to have to pay Mark Zuckerberg a cent to speak to you guys.

Next up, the aggregator sites (Nofilmschool, 43rumors) should be demoted down the Google search rankings every time they post non-original content and the content they post should go UP in the search ranking. Eventually you will get the original creator on the first page of Google and SonyAlphaRumors on page 26.

Finally, for privacy reasons there should be an opt in on every single banner ad on a page. If you go to SonyAlphaRumors and it has 27 ads on the front page, every one of them stuffing a cookie in your mouth to track what you do on the internet. Browsers should pop a dialogue box up saying OK / Confirm to tracking for every single one of those 27 advert cookies. The more ads, the more hassle for the user, the more people turn to cleaner sources of info.

Finally, I'd like to see YouTube PAY FOR ORIGINAL CONTENT like Netflix. No, not $1 cent from a million advertising impressions... A real contract, written on paper, mega bucks.

Otherwise, fuck the entire internet, it is going down the drain.

[Dan Sherman]

@Andrew Reid

I work in the industry (developer), and these types of issues where addressed several years back, its just that a lot of people outside the industry don't know about them.
https://moz.com/learn/seo/canonicalization
https://news.googleblog.com/2010/11/credit-where-credit-is-due.html

Other ways to combat this, is to have an xml sitemap so search engines can find your urls faster and easier. 

another thing you can do is file a DMCA take down request when you see someone is using your content without your permission. I've personally done this, and gotten a few click bait sites shut kicked off google. For example if someone uses your words or imagery even if it links to your site, you can get them penalized.
https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7347743?hl=en
 

[JurijTurnsek]

I've condensed my thoughts on social media/internet content over-production/consumption in a short article if anyone is interested: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/liking-physical-media-jurij-turnsek

We need to slow down and up the quality and again establish the authority of "editors" and "curators"

[Andrew Reid]

21 hours ago, Dan Sherman said:

@Andrew Reid

I work in the industry (developer), and these types of issues where addressed several years back, its just that a lot of people outside the industry don't know about them.
https://moz.com/learn/seo/canonicalization
https://news.googleblog.com/2010/11/credit-where-credit-is-due.html

Other ways to combat this, is to have an xml sitemap so search engines can find your urls faster and easier. 

another thing you can do is file a DMCA take down request when you see someone is using your content without your permission. I've personally done this, and gotten a few click bait sites shut kicked off google. For example if someone uses your words or imagery even if it links to your site, you can get them penalized.
https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7347743?hl=en
 

It's not the same as a DMCA take down, it is someone referencing your post and videos - that is fair use.

And I don't mind it

But the problem is as I've already described.

The issues are not copyright related.

The issues are moral, cultural and about quality standards.

And Facebook / Google / Industry should be doing more to uphold all three.

A lot of what Google puts on the first page of their search engine is clickbait top 10 lists for instance, shit content, and even regular search terms for piracy. For example, type the name of some content in that's paid software or a document and you will get "free download" or "free PDF" after the keyword suggested by Google themselves, or indeed "stream online free" when you type a film in. How can that be right?

This is what happens when you leave moral issues to machines...

16 hours ago, JurijTurnsek said:

We need to slow down and up the quality and again establish the authority of "editors" and "curators"

You are absolutely right.

[Andrew Reid]

Apple just did a very good thing -

Who trusts some shady ad company with their internet browsing history?

[BTM_Pix]

21 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Apple just did a very good thing -

Who trusts some shady ad company with their internet browsing history?

When your 'economic model' is more or less stalking then you deserve to have it sabotaged.

I would happily pay a subscription fee for an internet service thats free of this intrusive bullshit.

Sometimes 'free' is really way too high a price to pay.

[Dan Sherman]

37 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Apple just did a very good thing -

Who trusts some shady ad company with their internet browsing history?

With respect, then I don't want to hear a single Apple user complain when their favorite "free website" shuts down, or content creator stops producing content because they cant afford to.