Online Article Writing: Serious Writers or Serious Fraud?
As baby boomers and, well everybody, find themselves out of work but not ready or able to retire, writing articles on the internet has become a growth industry. Everybody, it seems, is an expert on Search Engine Optimization and the Google Keyword Tool, and we’re all Digging each other like crazy. Is writing articles for sites like Triond a forum for serious freelance writers to peddle their craft, or is it just a social computer game that pays real money?
I signed up for Triond about a month ago and have submitted four articles so far, netting me a princely 19 cents. If this article is accepted, I will be eligible for AdSense, so that figure is set to double pretty soon. Everything I’ve posted has been original text, word for word, researched and written by me. Some of the articles I’ve read have read have been carefully researched and crafted, an entertaining and informative read.
Others, however, have been downright bizarre. I won’t embarrass anybody by quoting from an actual article, but I can’t help wonder whether the output is computer generated and just not checked. Titles don’t just not make sense, they contain bizarre punctuation. Article text is pure gibberish. I decided to test a hypothesis. Is it possible to copy a paragraph from an online source in a foreign language, run it through Google Translate and run it through a plagiarism check without setting off alarm bells?
The following paragraph, for example one of three paragraphs, totalling 169 words, in a three-para sample that survived a commercially available anti-plagiarism premium check:
“Defined by one of its designers, William Bachelay as ”seriously and left a serious left”,this program provides a framework within limits of 1 to 20 salaries in enterprises wherethe state is present, as the Sunday newspaper. In this case, the CEO of Renault, CarlosGhosn, and EDF, Proglio should halve their salaries, the weekly wrote.”
Hard to detect what the author is trying to say? That’s because it is a free online translation from an article in the French language version of Le Monde online. Could I have stumbled on a loophole in international copyright law, or have I found a weakness in plagarism software. With a bit of crafty cutting and pasting and a healthy sized social network, it would take less than an hour a day to generate 20 ‘articles’ a day and attractive enough lucrative hits to make a nice little earner.
I don’t want to make wild accusations about anybody, nor do I wish to trigger a crash on translation software sites, but doesn’t it make you wonder?
Who’s got the URL for a foreign language version of Triond? I’ve got this huge pile of stuff written by a guy named William …
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April 4th, 2011 at 10:52 am
I wrote an article not too long ago similar to this one. I’ve definitely seen some false articles on this site, and articles that obviously weren’t even spelled checked. It definitely makes you wonder. Thanks for writing and sharing your thoughts.
April 4th, 2011 at 11:12 am
Wow a whole 19 cents, I hope you didn’t spend it all in one place…
April 4th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
It does take away the pleasure of “reading”.
April 4th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
19 cents for 4 articles is good, adsense will help you increasing your earnings
April 5th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Don’t even go there… this is a huge mess and needs to be sorted out by Triond itself – if these writers make Triond look amateurish we all look amateurish which is why a few of us have abandoned ship and gone elsewhere…
April 5th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
right analysis
April 6th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Interesting…haha
April 18th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
It’s a shame:( Interesting article.