I got all angry about Google’s Matt Cutts waxing poetic about Amazon Mechanical Turk as a form of sweatshop labor for linkbait. I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re not just interested in getting the written word on the cheap… they actual want professional artists to work for free! (Because Google really has to worry about their budget these days – they only reported a profit of nearly $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year.)
Formerly Known as QualityGal
In case you missed it, my name is Christina Gleason. You may be more familiar with me by my former identity, QualityGal. Until February 9, 2009, I was the Content Manager at We Build Pages. Oh sure, that wasn’t my official title. But I created the content writing team from the ground up, recruiting and managing over 250 writers and editors to write thousands of pages of content, so I think it was a fairer description of my job than anything else that was bandied about.
I helped develop a proprietary writer panel for the management of writer assignments. Sadly, I only got to use the new incarnation for two business days before I was let go. This tool had been in development since July 2008, and I’m sad that I won’t be able to enjoy it without all the bugs.
I developed an online style manual along with two of my editors, Jen and Michelle, which helped promote the quality of the content we produced. I also developed several very basic tutorials about SEO writing.
With the experience I gained from my time as a Google Quality Rater, I’ve always ensured that the content produced by the writing team I managed was valuable to users. User intent is so firmly ingrained in my brain that I would never, ever attach myself to any “content” that could be construed as spam or trickery. And that’s not because Google penalizes spam and trickery; that’s because it’s the right thing to do. I want to help make the Web a better place.
I’m now a solo act. I’m available for freelance work. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about my services and introductory rates.