Fark has been a longstanding aggregator of news site for more than a decade. You might have seen a Fark button on news articles so you can “Fark” a story, much like you’d do with a “Digg” button. But now that Facebook has its “Like” button across the Web, how has this changed the landscape for these established curators of news, like Fark and Digg? Basically, is it the news aggregator napalm?
I asked Drew Curtis, the founder and CEO of Fark. For Fark, which drives 50 million to 100 million visits to other sites per month – has an opportunity to get visits back to its site. The difference between Fark and, say a Digg, is that Fark actually adds editorial value by creating an unique headline for a story. The popularity of a story lies more in the headline than the actual content. To this end, there’s an opportunity for readers to “Like” their favorite headlines, Drew explained.
Drew also touches on new publishers, such as Demand Media and Associated Content – both content-churning machines. How are they changing the news business? I asked.
The big story that media misses out when writing about these companies is that these new publishers are an SEO vortex. They’re great at attracting traffic through SEO. But can they keep them? “Just because you’re attracting traffic doesn’t mean you’re attracting an audience,” he said.
Watch and listen to Drew’s thoughts on the two biggest changes in news over the last decade.
