EHow
Encyclopedia
eHow is an online how-to guide with more than 1 million articles
and 170,000 videos offering step-by-step instructions. eHow articles and videos are created by freelancers and cover a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories. Any eHow user can leave comments or responses, but only contracted writers can contribute changes to articles. The writers work on a freelance basis, being paid by article.
, Peter Gardner of Media Technology Ventures, now Allegis Capital, General Electric
and Fingerhut
. An editing team, led by Bill Marken (former editor in chief
for Sunset Magazine
) and Sharon Beaulaurier, hired 200 professional writers, and the company employed a 50-person engineering team. By 2001, eHow had created ten thousand articles. eHow logged 4 million unique visitors per month. Despite the popularity, eHow was not profitable and ran out of funding in the Dot-com bubble
of 2001.
In 2001, IdeaExchange bought eHow with the hope of charging eHow's readers to access how-to instructions. eHow remained unprofitable and in early 2004, IdeaExchange sold eHow to Jack Herrick
and Josh Hannah
.
To keep costs low, Herrick
and Hannah maintained eHow themselves with the assistance of one part-time software engineer. They restored content that had been lost during the bankruptcy and added improvements that made the site easier to use. In January 2005, they started a wiki-based companion site, wikiHow
, which allowed both anonymous and registered users to create and modify articles. Between March 2004 and April 2006, eHow traffic increased from 250,000 visitors per month to more than 4 million visitors per month.
In May 2006, eHow was acquired by Demand Media
while Herrick and Hannah retained control of wikiHow.
In September 2006, eHow launched weHow.com, which allowed registered users to create new how-to articles (eHow articles continued to be written exclusively by hired writers). In March 2007, in concert with the introduction of social networking features such as messaging, friend lists and forums, weHow merged with eHow.
As of December 2007, eHow.com hosted more than 140,000 how-to articles and videos and has received more than 11 million unique visitors per month. By May 2008, the number of articles had increased to more than 337,000.
In April 2010, eHow closed its ability to accept newly generated user content. Professional writers and topic experts can submit an application via Demand Studios for the opportunity to write articles for eHow.
As of August 2010, eHow was hosting more than 2 million articles and videos and had received visits from nearly 46 million visitors each month.
Demand Media went public on January 27, 2011 at which time eHow was valued (based on revenue contribution to Demand) at $1.8 Billion.
In May 2011, eHow canceled its revenue share program that paid part of the advertising profits of writer generated articles to the writers. The company offered one time cash payouts to buy the rights to profitable articles. The writers had the option to sell the rights to their articles to eHow or remove them from the website.
websites, labeling the company a "content mill
," because of the website's search engine driven content, low article quality and low writer salaries. DuckDuckGo filters out eHow content because of Weinberg's perception that Demand Media produces low-quality content designed specifically to rank highly in Google Search
es for the purposes of promoting advertising.
Another search engine, Blekko
also regards eHow as spam
, blacklists the site and filters eHow results out.
Wired magazine
has also criticized eHow and Demand Media, calling their content: "slapdash" and a "factory stamping out moneymaking content".
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
and 170,000 videos offering step-by-step instructions. eHow articles and videos are created by freelancers and cover a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories. Any eHow user can leave comments or responses, but only contracted writers can contribute changes to articles. The writers work on a freelance basis, being paid by article.
History
eHow.com was founded in March 1999 by Courtney Rosen. The company raised $25 million from venture capitalists, including Hummer WinbladAnn Winblad
Ann L. Winblad is a partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.-Early years:Ann L. Winblad was born on November 1, 1950 in Red Wing, Minnesota...
, Peter Gardner of Media Technology Ventures, now Allegis Capital, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and Fingerhut
Fingerhut
Fingerhut is a catalog retailer and an online retailer.Fingerhut was founded in 1948 by William Fingerhut and his brother Manny selling automobile seat covers. In 1952, the business re-positioned itself to a mail order catalog company and diversified its goods to include towels, dishes, and tools...
. An editing team, led by Bill Marken (former editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
for Sunset Magazine
Sunset (magazine)
Sunset is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. Sunset focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States...
) and Sharon Beaulaurier, hired 200 professional writers, and the company employed a 50-person engineering team. By 2001, eHow had created ten thousand articles. eHow logged 4 million unique visitors per month. Despite the popularity, eHow was not profitable and ran out of funding in the Dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
of 2001.
In 2001, IdeaExchange bought eHow with the hope of charging eHow's readers to access how-to instructions. eHow remained unprofitable and in early 2004, IdeaExchange sold eHow to Jack Herrick
Jack Herrick
Jack Herrick is an American entrepreneur and wiki enthusiast. His entrepreneurial projects include wikiHow, eHow, Luminescent Technologies, and BigTray.In January 2005, Mr...
and Josh Hannah
Josh Hannah
Josh Hannah is a webmaster of eHow and was instrumental in helping to provide the initial funding necessary for founding wikiHow by Jack Herrick. In March 2004, Hannah and Herrick bought eHow from IdeaExchange. In 15 January 2005, inspired by Wikipedia, Herrick and Hannah created wikiHow. The date...
.
To keep costs low, Herrick
Jack Herrick
Jack Herrick is an American entrepreneur and wiki enthusiast. His entrepreneurial projects include wikiHow, eHow, Luminescent Technologies, and BigTray.In January 2005, Mr...
and Hannah maintained eHow themselves with the assistance of one part-time software engineer. They restored content that had been lost during the bankruptcy and added improvements that made the site easier to use. In January 2005, they started a wiki-based companion site, wikiHow
WikiHow
wikiHow is a web-based and wiki-based community, consisting of an extensive database of how-to guides. wikiHow's mission is to build the world's largest and highest quality how-to manual. The site started as an extension of the already existing eHow website, and has evolved to host over 127,000...
, which allowed both anonymous and registered users to create and modify articles. Between March 2004 and April 2006, eHow traffic increased from 250,000 visitors per month to more than 4 million visitors per month.
In May 2006, eHow was acquired by Demand Media
Demand Media
Demand Media, Inc. is an online media company and content farm that operates online brands such as eHow, and Cracked, and is known for creating online content through its Demand Media Studios division based on a combination of measured consumer demand and predicted ROI...
while Herrick and Hannah retained control of wikiHow.
In September 2006, eHow launched weHow.com, which allowed registered users to create new how-to articles (eHow articles continued to be written exclusively by hired writers). In March 2007, in concert with the introduction of social networking features such as messaging, friend lists and forums, weHow merged with eHow.
As of December 2007, eHow.com hosted more than 140,000 how-to articles and videos and has received more than 11 million unique visitors per month. By May 2008, the number of articles had increased to more than 337,000.
In April 2010, eHow closed its ability to accept newly generated user content. Professional writers and topic experts can submit an application via Demand Studios for the opportunity to write articles for eHow.
As of August 2010, eHow was hosting more than 2 million articles and videos and had received visits from nearly 46 million visitors each month.
Demand Media went public on January 27, 2011 at which time eHow was valued (based on revenue contribution to Demand) at $1.8 Billion.
In May 2011, eHow canceled its revenue share program that paid part of the advertising profits of writer generated articles to the writers. The company offered one time cash payouts to buy the rights to profitable articles. The writers had the option to sell the rights to their articles to eHow or remove them from the website.
Criticisms
Search engine DuckDuckGo's CEO Gabriel Weinberg has criticized eHow, along with other Demand MediaDemand Media
Demand Media, Inc. is an online media company and content farm that operates online brands such as eHow, and Cracked, and is known for creating online content through its Demand Media Studios division based on a combination of measured consumer demand and predicted ROI...
websites, labeling the company a "content mill
Content farm
In the context of the World Wide Web, the term content farm is used to describe a company that employs large numbers of often freelance writers to generate large amounts of textual content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engines...
," because of the website's search engine driven content, low article quality and low writer salaries. DuckDuckGo filters out eHow content because of Weinberg's perception that Demand Media produces low-quality content designed specifically to rank highly in Google Search
Google search
Google or Google Web Search is a web search engine owned by Google Inc. Google Search is the most-used search engine on the World Wide Web, receiving several hundred million queries each day through its various services....
es for the purposes of promoting advertising.
Another search engine, Blekko
Blekko
Blekko is a web search engine whose goal is to provide better search results than those offered by Google Search, by offering results culled from a set of 3 billion trusted websites and excluding material from such sites as content farms...
also regards eHow as spam
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
, blacklists the site and filters eHow results out.
Wired magazine
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
has also criticized eHow and Demand Media, calling their content: "slapdash" and a "factory stamping out moneymaking content".
External links
- eHow website
- Demand Media, Inc.
- "For these sites their best asset is a good name", Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2006