Associated Content Raises $6 Million in Series C Funding

Big news at AC today! We just announced a new round of funding, full press release with details below.

Investment Round Led by Canaan Partners and SoftBank Capital will Drive Company’s Future Growth and Expansion

Associated Content, the Web's leading online publishing platform, announced today it has closed a $6 million, Series C financing round. The round was funded with full participation from the B round investors: SoftBank Capital, Canaan Partners and Tim Armstrong. Associated Content is one of the fastest-growing, ad-supported properties on the Web and the company will use the funds for consumer, platform, publisher, and advertiser growth.

Patrick Keane, recently appointed CEO of Associated Content, said, “The new investment in AC is a testament to the market opportunity and the commitment of our investors. We plan to complement our explosive contributor and advertiser growth with an increasing partner and consumer focus.”

Associated Content has built one of the most expansive consumer-facing, multimedia content libraries online today. With an archive of more than one million pieces of unique content, Associated Content is rapidly expanding its network of 250,000 professional and amateur site contributors and has developed a proprietary platform that enables highly efficient personal and automated curation, payment and editing.

“Associated Content is redefining publishing on the web,” said Mike Perlis, Partner at SoftBank Capital. “Huge participation from contributors and the resulting traffic metrics are off the charts. Patrick Keane joining the team, with his extraordinary experience and market presence, is powerful testimony to AC's leadership position and bright future.”

“Since our initial investment in Associated Content in 2007, the company has exceeded our expectations and represents one of our most promising and unique investments,” said Warren Lee, Venture Partner at Canaan Partners. “We are excited to continue our support of the company as it strengthens its leadership position in the web content space, builds a talented management team, and further scales its innovative technology platform.”

About Associated Content:
Associated Content, Inc. is an open content network. Founded by Luke Beatty and originally funded by Tim Armstrong in 2005, the Company operates a proprietary content publishing platform that enables individuals and media companies to publish content on any topic, in any format. Associated Content distributes that content to consumers through its site, associatedcontent.com, and through its network of partners. Learn more at www.associatedcontent.com.

About Canaan Partners:
Canaan Partners invests in visionary entrepreneurs and provides them the networks, insights and operational guidance required to build high-performance technology and healthcare companies. For 20 years, they have taken an active and committed role in the companies in which they invest, and have completed more than 72 mergers and acquisitions and 53 IPOs. With $3 billion under management and a worldwide footprint, the firm’s technology team is committed to catalyzing the growth of innovative companies in the digital media, communications & mobility, enterprise and clean tech industries. Among its successes are Acme Packet, Amicus Therapeutics, Cerexa Inc., CommerceOne, DexCom Inc., DoubleClick, Intralinks, Match.com, SuccessFactors and WebLoyalty. Other Canaan investments include Active Networks, AdvancedBioHealing, BharatMatrimony, BiPar Sciences, Blurb, Chimerix, Inc., N-trig, Prime Sense, ReVision Optics, Inc., Transoma Medical, Inc, Tremor Media and Xirrus. Canaan has offices in California, Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information, visit www.canaan.com.

About SoftBank Capital:
SoftBank Capital is an independent venture capital firm focused on high-growth, technology-based businesses benefiting from the rapid deployment and adoption of broadband and mobile technologies. Through its current fund, SoftBank Capital Technology Fund III L.P., the firm has invested in numerous successful companies. For more about SoftBank Capital see www.softbank.com.

Associated Content's Redesign Goes Live on Tuesday

Associated Content's new look, which has been in previews for most of the month of December, will launch in full on Tuesday, December 30th. After tomorrow, all site visitors will experience in full the new look of AC.

We received tons of feedback during the previews and we truly appreciate your ideas and insights. Keep in mind that we designed the new Associated Content with the goal of making it more dynamic, professional, easier to use and more attractive to visitors and advertisers. The advertiser part is especially important, since ads on the site are how we are able to pay you for your articles, photos and video.

After the redesign launches we will continue to monitor site traffic closely, and make gradual refinements in order to maximize the exposure and earning potential for your content. Associated Content's success is directly related to that of our awesome Content Producers, so we are pursuing the best results for everyone.

If you notice any new issues moving forward, please report them by sending a message to admin[at] associatedcontent.com directly. We'll be fixing them as quickly as possible.

Finally, a sincere thanks for everything you’ve done to make 2008 a year of unprecedented growth for Associated Content. It's been exciting, and everyone here at AC is looking forward to an even more productive and successful 2009.

Happy New Year!

More Previews of AC's New Look

Merry Christmas! Last night we unveiled another round of previews for the remainder of the site. Associated Content's new look is nearing completion, and now logged in CPs are able to see the publish pages and the Community section (including the ever-active Forum) in the swanky new gray and blue color theme. Every page of the site is now available to be previewed with the toggle feature.

There is new navigation and other things to explore, so click on that blue bar at the top of yourscreen to toggle to AC's new look and let us know what you think! There's a thread in the Forum here and you should email admin at associatedcontent.com if you come across any issues that we need to be notified about.

Associated Content on Dataopedia.com

Dataopedia is a new web service that provides comprehensive information about "websites available on the Internet."

Wishy washy name notwithstanding, this KillerStartups-owned site is pretty neat. They aggregate information about websites from several sources on the web and would like to be a one stop shop for web company data (profiles, traffic, boards of directors, the works). There is an article on them at Techcrunch right now.

Associated Content is on there. You should go check out our profile here: http://dataopedia.com/associatedcontent-com. They've captured the old AC look (before the redesign) so I'm looking into having it updated to reflect the new look (like the blog!) but it's otherwise a really cool site.

Straight From Associated Content: This Is Why We’re No Scam

Yes, you’ve heard it before. “Associated Content is unethical! It’s a scam!” This unfounded smear occasionally rears its ugly head around the blogosphere, and I feel the need to directly correct these misconceptions and rumors about Associated Content. Despite the fact that AC is NOT unethical and NOT a scam, there are, unfortunately, inflammatory posts out there claiming it is. I contact their authors directly when possible in an effort to open a dialogue with them. Amazingly, many of them have never published with Associated Content, so they don’t understand the way our publishing process works. I explain it to them, we have a nice conversation and often the issue is settled. On a few occasions I’ve come across posts written by disgruntled individuals we’ve had to ban from AC for trying to scam us. Below are my answers to the Associated Content scam accusations.

CLAIM: Associated Content is not truthful in our page view reporting or Associated Content lies to its Content Partners

RESPONSE: FALSE. Associated Content views our relationship with our Content Producers as a partnership that is critical to the success of our business. We strive to provide the best, most honest publishing experience on the Web because we want our Content Producers to be happy. We keep users apprised of their page view information frequently (numbers are updated site-wide twice a week), and we are working every day to shorten that time. CPs see the same traffic numbers that we do at the AC offices. We keep our system as transparent as possible so that Content Producers continue to place their trust in AC and publish their content with us. Some of the shady operators in the online content world do not share exact page view numbers on articles or allow you to continue to earn residual payments for content that has been paid for up front. Working with us is safe. Associated Content is not unethical because we are honest, reliable and we truly partner with our Content Producers. Are things perfect? No. But we are striving everyday to make our system quicker, more user friendly, and as transparent as possible.

CLAIM: Associated Content is a scam because it doesn’t pay enough

RESPONSE: FALSE. Associated Content offers the most versatile payment options for your content. Other sites only offer you a deferred payment based on the eventual performance of your content over time or a single, one-time upfront payment. Unlike any other site, we offer performance payments in addition to upfront payment for your content. We can do this because we have developed a sophisticated and proprietary set of algorithms that helps us to evaluate the future performance of content right when you submit it. With this system in place, CPs can get paid in a matter of hours or days, not weeks or months like the other guys. And your content keeps earning for you. If you want your content to earn more, be proactive about promoting your work and driving page views to your articles. You get out of it what you put into it. Scam sites are those that promise easy dollars, magically appearing in your bank account for little-to-no effort and we don’t make those kinds of claims. Our PPV system of Performance Payments at $1.50/1,000 page views is a higher rate of pay than most ad networks that are commonly used on blogs and personal websites (not to mention your rank in search is far higher on AC than it is on a personal blog). Additionally, our new “clout” program gives our most successful producers higher levels of compensation on the back end. If a CP is unhappy with their earnings, there are numerous ways to learn how to up earning potential outlined by tutorials and helpful articles by other Content Producers, as well as a great community of Content Producers in the Forum.

Many Content Producers have addressed these topics directly. For testimonials about how Associated Content is not unethical or a scam straight from the keyboards of actual site users, visit our Forum section to check out these threads:
Payment per article
Monthly Page View bonuses

If you want some outside analysis of our business model, read Work at Home No Scams to see what people who don’t work for Associated Content have to say.

I and everyone else at AC stand by our honesty in our relationship with our Content Producers. We truly believe that Associated Content is a great opportunity for everyone to earn money in the new content economy. Flame-war blog posts and libelous slams crying "scam" may be easy in this age of Internet anonymity, but they’re not professional or constructive.

Anyone who has experienced problems with Associated Content is welcome to contact me directly (email me through this blog!) and engage in a reasonable discussion about our business.

Friday's Featured Content: McCain Has a Goldfish

Looks like the debate is on for tonight! As an appetizer, I thought you might enjoy this funny bit from wbva3fan (aka Gustevson Gornadi), resident of Harrisburg, PA, called "McCain Has a Goldfish."

In a style similar to George Saunders's humor for the New Yorker, wbva3fan writes facts about Senator McCain that you probably already know, like how he is "part of the government" and "wears a suit."But he adds details that you may not be so well acquainted with, such as how McCain has three pet goldfish that he sings to but has not named. Head to wbva3fan's CP page for other articles including "Hillary Clinton is Nice" and "Bush and Cheney are Nice."

It wouldn't be fair to laugh at only one presidential candidate so check out Angela Coleman's roundup of "Best Video Political Parodies of Barack Obama."

Follow AC on Twitter

Associated Content is Twittering! Tweeting? Anyway, we are on Twitter and you should follow us by adding acnews. Click here for a link.

We're updating daily with fun links and brief AC updates. That character limit on Twitter really does go a long way in teaching us to economize our thoughts. It will force us to be pithy and get straight to the point.

If you don't Twitter yet you should sign up and follow us! If you're already on please add acnews so that we can follow you, too!

Associated Content on the 7th Anniversary of 9/11

Today we remember 9/11/2001, in our New York offices (where a few of us experienced the events downtown) and around the country. It's amazing that it has been 7 years since the attacks, and time has not made the events of that day less shocking or painful.

The Associated Content home page featured several articles from our large collection 9/11-related content. Please take a minute to read the following:

• Tony Vega recounts responding to the events as an NYPD officer and why he will truly never forget
• Gregoriancant discusses whether 9/11 should be a national holiday
• 2buzy tells about a miracle of birth amid tragedy

There are so many excellent pieces on AC about 9/11 that it was impossible to find all of them. If I missed something that you particularly like please send me a link in a comment and I'll update the post tomorrow.

Learn More About Us by Perusing AC's Staff Content Page

Associated Content's staff has been busier than usual lately. Not content to simply focus on operating and improving the site while reading, watching, and listening to everything that our CPs create, we decided to get in on the action. We've been producing content!

A new page called AC Staff Content has just been created--click on the shaded words and bookmark it so that you can check back occasionally to see what is new.

You'll discover so much! What some of us did on our summer vacations, the kinds of movies we like, how to volunteer for Obama, what kind of RSS reader you should have on your iphone, which Philosophy beauty products are superior, who is among us is musically inclined, and basic file manipulation on Linux are just a few examples from the wide array of content on the staff page. In short, you'll see what a talented, diverse, funny, interesting group of people works behind the scenes in Denver and New York City at Associated Content every day.

What Associated Content Saw at the DNC

This post is courtesy of News Director Tim S. and AC's Content team.

To paraphrase real estate's mantra: citizen journalism is all about local, local, local.

That's what AC saw at the Democratic National Convention last week in Denver - local writers localizing a national event. The DNC included speeches, rallies, protests, caucus meetings, art shows and more. And because many of these events were open to the public (Denver Mint levitation, anyone?) it's a great vehicle to show how CPs can shine.

Take, for example, the video reporting efforts of Dave Maddox, a Denver resident. From protests to outdoor theater, Dave caught firsthand on video what many of us could only see on the evening news.

Then there's Connie Wilson, AC's go-to CP for national politics reporting. Flying in on her own dime from Chicago, Connie covered much of the on-the-floor action at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field. Connie is aggressive and willing to talk to anyone - and photograph them, too. Just ask the Kennedys.

Those are just a couple of examples. Many CPS, from convention aficonados to political novices, contributed their experiences.

AC's efforts last week also included camping out at Google's Big Tent (in the heart of lower downtown, just a few blocks from the main convention site) to spread the word about AC. In pairs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, AC Content Managers talked to bloggers and other media types about what AC does - we publish what's important to you, get you exposure and pay you along the way.

Here are some numbers from AC's efforts at the DNC:

• 50 first-person, original reporting stories
• 6 photography slide shows
• 7 video stories

But the numbers weren't even half the story. Most importantly, the DNC allowed AC to showcase what it can provide for readers and how it can improve the chops of citizen reporters.

We hope to have similar success this week at the RNC in Minneapolis-St. Paul. If you live in the area or know folks interested in writing about their experiences, check out your Calls for Content assignments or shoot us an email at news@associatedcontent.com.

Updated: New numbers for our DNC coverage just in on 9/4

• 50 first-person, original reporting stories
• 9 photography slide shows
• 10 video stories

RNC Coverage on Associated Content

It's a new week with a new political conference and that means more insightful and breaking coverage of the events on Associated Content. Highlights from Denver and the DNC are coming to the blog tomorrow courtesy of our Content team, but I'd like to take tonight to direct your attention to our Republican National Convention-related content.

• Sarah Palin's VP nomination and the ensuing media frenzy (which seems unlikely to die down anytime soon) has gotten the treatment from our CPs as you can see here.
• Ron Paul's rally in Minneapolis was covered by two of our intrepid writers, Connie Wilson here and Sylvia Cochran here.
• Of course, Hurricanes Gustav and Hannah have revived memories of Katrina's tragedies and receive their due treatment from our CPs here.

Keep up the good work!

The New & Improved AC Forum

The AC Forum has just gotten a makeover. Newly expanded and redesigned, it'll be an even better place to connect with other members of the AC Community. Our forums house a wealth of information for CPs, touching on everything from tutorials on content creation to local meetups so that you can hang out in person with fellow AC enthusiasts.

Please stop by the new Forum. Let us know what you think by posting your questions and comments in the brand new "Talk Back to AC" category.

Don't miss our Town Halls, either. Next Town Hall is on September 3rd and will focus on Custom Content. More about that next week.

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