Over the summer, we started building bridges to sites like Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News and omg! from Yahoo! by releasing custom assignments for our Contributors to tackle. We've also been distributing work from the AC library to further test these in-roads, and figure out how our Contributors' voices can best be showcased on these popular destination sites.
Like any major endeavor, this integration process has not been without its hang-ups & hiccups, but our whole team is happy about the way things are shaping up. Stand-out successes from these early publishing trials have included first-person stories landing on the front page of Yahoo.com (most recently: veteran Contributor Steve Thompson's article for Yahoo! Finance), Halloween tips from our community being featured prominently on Shine's Halloween page and regular Yahoo! beats for some of our best Contributors in different topics (for instance, check out Jolie du Pre's celeb Twitter series for omg!). This is a small taste of what's to come.
All of this excitement aside, there's one piece of feedback that's been loud and clear from our community throughout the integration process: Publishing from AC to other Yahoo! sites will feel a lot more rewarding once Performance Payments are in the mix!
Our current methods of publishing content outside of AssociatedContent.com — custom assignments and distribution — carry flat rates. The beauty of the Performance Payment model, launched for AssociatedContent.com back in 2007, is that it ties Contributors’ revenue to the popularity of their content and gives each piece literally limitless earning potential.
We've said from the get-go that we intend to enable performance payments for other Yahoo! sites, and now we're ready to put an ETA against that goal: We plan to launch a new performance payment system, applying to Yahoo! sites beyond AssociatedContent.com, by the end of January 2011. A variety of Yahoo! sites, including Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports, will be a part of this initial expansion and others will follow soon thereafter.
Some Contributors have asked why it isn't possible to enable these new features immediately, or open them across the Yahoo! network in one fell swoop. The reality is that this next step is a technologically tall order that involves creating open channels for the free flow of content and data between our platform and each individual site. Those are the connections we've been working toward steadily for 5 months. Soon, all of that hard work will start paying off in a major way.
Many thanks to our community for working alongside of us, and stay tuned for more details as our integration continues!
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59 comments:
Glad to hear it, and looking forward to implementation. Thanks for the update.
This is awesome news! I have enjoyed participating in opportunities with Yahoo! and can't wait for what's ahead. Thanks for listening to everyone's concerns.
Darnell- could you please post this in the Bulletin section on AC's forums for others who don't come to this external blog for info.
Thanks- Linda
Just did that very thing, Linda! :)
Will the Page view model be the same? Are clout 10'ers like me still going to receive our AC $2 per 1,000 views? We know you are working on integrating systems, but could you please let us know if the payment model will stay the same?
Pinching Abe,
Too early to release any of the details about the new system but there will be more updates before the end of January.
Thanks for the update, Darnell. Appreciated!
Wow! This really is exciting news! Thanks for the update and a glimpse of what's ahead. Great opportunities for AC Yahoo! Contributors in the weeks and months to come. Keep us posted!
Regards, M.G.
I'm not likely to be chosen by Yahoo for much, but it's good to know Yahoo will be open in its communications with writers.
Performance Payments sound amazing! This answers my one grief about writing exclusive content for Yahoo!Movies, which some of my pieces have been featured on. I partake in heavy Social Networking promotions, and I do the same for pieces that appear on Yahoo! I've also diligently linked all my Entertainment content on AC to Yahoo pages, which I hope extends the relationship. If performance $ comes into play, it certainly will....
Thanks for the update. It is nice to have an ETA for the initial rollout.
Very exciting to be part of this! Thanks, Darnell! Congrats, all!
I appreciate the update. Thanks!
Sounds like good things are in store. Thanks for the update.
Wonderful news! I've been watching and evaluating the chatter about the performance views. AC is listening!
I plan to continue writing for AC for years to come. It's been fabulous so far!
Jeanne Baney
Awesome news. Thanks for the update!
Thumbs up, y'all! Can't wait to see how this will all work out!
YAY. Just more great reasons to continue my love affair with AC and Yahoo!!! Thank you for sharing what's to come -- looking forward to it :) !!!
It's good news. I think we'll all be more inclined to re-tweet and spend time looking at and possibly responding to comments left on Yahoo articles like we do at AC if we know there are residual dollars.
However, the flat fee of $15 is nothing to complain about, considering the average price at "content mills" is $4-10, even at some that don't pay clicks after. It's great immediate upfront money, and I have talked to some leads about other writing assignments and it seems Yahoo News (and possibly a couple other Yahoo outlets) is becoming an impressive addition on a Writer's Bio as people begin to understand how much competition print publications have from the Internet.
Great news! Yay!
I wasn't sure about what was going to happen when Yahoo purchased AC. I LOVE it! I'm paid more for my articles, and I feel like I'm treated better.
More money in 2011? Bring it on, I can handle it!
Looking forward to a great future with Yahoo!
Sounds like a great plan. I look forward to its implementation!
Thank you for the news!!! It is exciting!
That's great news! I've been honored to be featured on Yahoo Sports and Yahoo News, but it will be even better when the PP's are added back in for those articles. Thanks for the update!
Thanks for the update!
Very glad to hear that this is finally going to be integrated into the system.
Thank you for the opportunities that AC/Yahoo afford to us all. And thank you for the update.
I look forward to watching what's in store.
Congratulations on all the successes.
Coral
This is great news for AC contributors like me who have had some experience working on the spotlight for Yahoo! The work I have been so excited over is now offering a bigger pay out. Thanks AC!
I'm glad I decided to pop back into the AC community -- so much is propelling this site and its writers!
I'm thankful that the format has not changed and that you still accept writings in all genres, including the creative.
Looking forward to the new developments
All of these "exciting changes" are great....but I would like to know what the "bottom dollar amount" will be to our earnings and what the changes to our earning potential will be. Will we have Featured Contributors? Will there be a bunch of crappy, inexperienced people able to join AC and infiltrate the site with junk articles that are spammy?
I like the current accountability system. It has it's flaws, but it has it's strengths too.
thanks for the update
Not exactly on topic, I have to say that the latest assignment, an election recap for my state has an absurd amount of required details for 400 to 500 words. In addition to a US Senate race and state offices, there are a dozen ballot propositions.
Great to hear this news! I've had assignments from Yahoo! and love when I see them appear in my inbox. Am really excited about this new step forward.
This is great! I can't wait to see what's ahead for all of us!
Wow, what a great time to be starting with AC. I just got my first article approved and have others waiting for review. Looking forward to more great news for the coming year.
This is good news. I'm glad it is being done gradually and not rushed. We don't need glitches. Cheers!
That's great news! I've submitted several pieces with Yahoo! and am anxious to see the page view payments!
This is great news! Thanks for sharing! :)
Thanks for the updates. It's nice to have this blog, and I appreciate the time you put into keeping us informed.
That's great news! Thanks for sharing! :)
Great news! Thanks for sharing! :)
AWESOME! I'm glad to hear this. A HUGE thanks to the AC contributors and staff who worked to make this happen.
This sounds great. But I hope it does not affect the upfront payments like the first performance ratings did.
This is awesome news! I can't wait to see what the future holds!!!
This is great news! Thanks for sharing it with us!
That is awesome! Win-win for everybody -- now just for everyone to dig in and get to work.
Looking forward to a bold, bright purple future!
That is wonderful news! Thank you!
This is great news - thanks for the update!
This sounds like we will be able to participate in more, and make more money through AC Yahoo! That sounds great to me. I'm looking forward to working with AC :)Easier communication between AC Yahhoo! and the contributors sounds very nice.
Thank you-Atlanta Page
What a great development and very exciting for contributors everywhere! One quick question: Will this new earnings model also include the previous content we have published or just new stuff?
My feelings about this are mixed. I do think that the Associated Content and Yahoo combo is exciting but I frankly enjoyed the upfront payments and am a little concerned that we are going to nothing but performance payments. Of course I do realize that those are exciting in their own way but so were the upfront payments now and then. At any rate, good luck to all!
Good to know!
its about time you your moving forwards and i am right behind you guys :)
Interrsting news. I should spend more time reading the blogs, I realize. I might learn what I need to know...
Great news. Thing are really happening on AC/Yahoo. I know I've really enjoyed the political blogging and the experience has taught me a lot. I do need to read the blogs and forums, more...
Wonderful News! Thanks for Update!
Thanks for great news and update:)
Peformance payments for Yahoo work sounds great. We also need better communication. Noticing that you have been paid and then going out to search whether your article is on Yahoo, AC, or both is not a good system. I hope addressing this concern is part of the upgrade package in the works. Thanks for the news!
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