
Does Livestrong.com have a spam content farm hidden behind it? - bdickason
http://www.livestrong.com/business-beauty-lounge-nyc_845-566-8490/
======
gexla
The site has Demand Media creating content for it. I would consider that low
value content, I suppose others might call that spam.

~~~
fourspace
Indeed, it's the same company behind eHow.com and other SEO spam. I'm frankly
a bit surprised that Lance Armstrong's organization would partner with such a
company.

Here's an excellent Wired article about Demand Media:
<http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_demandmedia/>

~~~
bdickason
Good call! I'm familiar with Demand, but didn't realize it extended past blog
posts to copy/pasting google maps entries.

I agree with you on the organization partnership. It really surprised me when
I saw it, and the content never actually gets surfaced to their homepage. I
was googling for my business' name to see where we came up in search (note:
the link I posted is not my business) and was surprised to see it surfaced on
the second page of results.

Super shady, especially coming from Lance :\

~~~
noarchy
I can't say that this surprises me. Though I don't necessarily share what may
be the dominant opinion regarding the guy's character, Lance probably has
nothing to do with any of this.

------
cullenking
Due to being in a similar business space (they have a google maps based bike
route planner), I signed up for an account to check it out. They send out a
spam newsletter once a day filled with fad dieting aimed towards fitness
minded people. It's a pretty shady endeavor.

~~~
jchrisa
A geek's shady can be a normal's valuable. I've met more than one fitness
minded person who told me I should sign up for the livestrong newsletter.
Apparently it really hits the spot for a certain demographic. Nothing wrong
with that.

Never underestimate how far you are from the mainstream.

~~~
acangiano
A million times, yes. What geeks would consider spam, often ends up being
roasted ham for regular people. As web entrepreneurs we must not forget this.
If we do, we'll needlessly be judgmental of other people's work, as well as
missing out on good opportunities that appeal to mainstream web users.

------
SoftwareMaven
I really like the tools and the food database at livestrong.com. I've never
found any value in any of the other content. Guess I know why, now.

~~~
kellishaver
Same here. I can't say that I've even read any of the content, but I do make
regular use of the tools on the site and mobile app and like them a lot.

------
Uchikoma
I'm amazed again and again how Lance Armstrong is perceived in the US.

~~~
Vivtek
That begs elucidation. I can't even tell if you mean it positively or
negatively.

------
mbesto
So Lance is not only scheming the sport of cycling but the search industry as
well?

(sorry, someone had to say it)

------
bkaid
If Google isn't going to start filtering this low quality (spam) like they
say, then someone hopefully will write a Chrome plugin to filter out search
results for anything created by Demand Media et al.

~~~
jamesbritt
There was an earlier hn discussion on this very topic, and someone posted a
link to their chrome plugin for exactly that. Check the threads over the last
week or so.

~~~
bkaid
Wow you're right. I missed that. Thanks. It is here:
[https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jiicbcimbjppjbck...](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jiicbcimbjppjbckmoknagndlhjbeohb)

------
klbarry
First of all, non technical people have no idea that something like demand
media might be "bad" for the internet. There's certainly nothing obvious about
it.

Secondly, if Google ranks based on certain factors, is it wrong for a business
or charity to take advantage of it? Would you rather a charity got the income
or a random person?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Demand Media, the company behind Livestrong.com, is allegedly about to go
public. Richard Rosenblatt and Lance Armstrong ('random people') have a larger
stake in the company than the Livestrong Foundation (a charity) does. So, sure
it'd be nice if a charity got the income, but that isn't the case here.

[http://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-poised-to-
mak...](http://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-poised-to-make-a-
killing-on-demand-medias-ipo-2011-1)

<http://www.cnbc.com/id/41155886>

~~~
trotsky
_The exact amount of Armstrong's equity is not known, but the offering is
expected to put [Demand Media's] valuation at around $1 billion. More than a
few investors think the stock will be a dog, but that won't necessarily
prevent major backers from cashing in first._

Wow, demand valued at 1 billion? WTF?

