Ok, so yesterday I was reporting about some potential red flags in the world of guest posting. Today we found something that might just be related to that over on Threadwatch.
The thread details an email that went out to Technorati authors that submit posts over on TechCrunch. It goes like this;
“Sorry, but we’re not going to publish writer submitted pieces any longer. We’re moving in a new direction and are only leveraging content produced from the editorial staff. We’re focusing on linking to some of the top blogs in our directory (after all, this is what TR is known for). We want to highlight all the interesting bloggers, their content, creative videos and more.Please ensure you’ve listed your own blog in Technorati, to provide the opportunity for us to review it’s content as well. The editorial team appreciates your submissions and hard work in the past. Please feel free to contact Executive Editor Don Martelli at <REDACTED> if you have any questions.”
Member ‘GrowMap’ says,
Most likely they are afraid of Google’s Penguin, too, or may have already been hit. They probably won’t say that is why, though. And they have always been selective about what outgoing links they allow in their content. “
And in another instance over the last while, Search Engine Journal nuked the links in author bios.
One has to wonder if some of the issues surrounding how Google might be treating not only ‘guest posts’ and authors, but also UGC (user created content). We’ve seen a few penalties of late on that kinda stuff as well. Or hey, maybe they’re just trying to get more peeps in the directory. Unsure.
What’s your take?
