Anyone here heard of ChronicNews.com? A friend discovered through Copyscape that one of their affillate sites was running her blog. She registered with the site and "claimed" her blog so it would show that it was contributed by here and not someone she'd never heard of.
A couple of things bother me: First, that they apparently pick up any RSS feed they want and run the content. I've seen a few text ads. Bloggers can get paid via a tip jar, but I have yet to see evidence that the tip jar works. I could be wrong - maybe you need to be a registered user to make it work.
Their news seems to come from Google and other online sources. They're essentially an aggregator. I don't know if they have any original content. Whois lists their domain as registered with Domains By Proxy, so they apparently want to keep private. (DPB company claims to ditch all postal mail sent to the domain holder except for legal orders.) The site is very skimpy on "about" and contact information, and typos abound. I also don't see any legal information. For example, if I were to contribute my feed, does that mean they have the right to use it however they see fit?
I see a couple of "name" bloggers listed on their sites, but I honestly don't know if they submitted the content themselves or got "contributed" as my friend's blog was.
They claim that they'll remove your content if you only ask.
According to their site, they're gearing up for a big launch in the fall.
So what do you think about sites like this? Is it okay for someone to take your content without asking? My friend's blog was fully credited, and there was a link to her blog, but it wasn't exactly prominent. It's flattering to think that someone would want you, but doesn't it seem that asking permission is the appropriate thing to do?
This set of sites doesn't seem to have questionable content, but I worry that other sites may not be so picky about their content. What's to stop my blog showing up next to an ad for "girls?" Or ON one of those sites? This isn't my idea of exposure, if you'll pardon the pun.
I suppose that my RSS feed can show up anywhere. I do put a copyright notice on it, but is that going to stop someone from posting my blog to inappropriate places? In addition, I just post a summary, so someone would have to click through to read the whole thing.
Just curious to see what the rest of you think about this.
A couple of things bother me: First, that they apparently pick up any RSS feed they want and run the content. I've seen a few text ads. Bloggers can get paid via a tip jar, but I have yet to see evidence that the tip jar works. I could be wrong - maybe you need to be a registered user to make it work.
Their news seems to come from Google and other online sources. They're essentially an aggregator. I don't know if they have any original content. Whois lists their domain as registered with Domains By Proxy, so they apparently want to keep private. (DPB company claims to ditch all postal mail sent to the domain holder except for legal orders.) The site is very skimpy on "about" and contact information, and typos abound. I also don't see any legal information. For example, if I were to contribute my feed, does that mean they have the right to use it however they see fit?
I see a couple of "name" bloggers listed on their sites, but I honestly don't know if they submitted the content themselves or got "contributed" as my friend's blog was.
They claim that they'll remove your content if you only ask.
According to their site, they're gearing up for a big launch in the fall.
So what do you think about sites like this? Is it okay for someone to take your content without asking? My friend's blog was fully credited, and there was a link to her blog, but it wasn't exactly prominent. It's flattering to think that someone would want you, but doesn't it seem that asking permission is the appropriate thing to do?
This set of sites doesn't seem to have questionable content, but I worry that other sites may not be so picky about their content. What's to stop my blog showing up next to an ad for "girls?" Or ON one of those sites? This isn't my idea of exposure, if you'll pardon the pun.
I suppose that my RSS feed can show up anywhere. I do put a copyright notice on it, but is that going to stop someone from posting my blog to inappropriate places? In addition, I just post a summary, so someone would have to click through to read the whole thing.
Just curious to see what the rest of you think about this.
