It'll be interesting to see whether Google will take on some of the bigger sites. Add BizRate to the list too (its pages have a 'Related Searches' keyword stuffing section, and 99% of the site is auto-generated), along with WiseGeek: possibly the worst and most spammy content farm I've seen, IMO.
I personally am always baffled how some of the really large, spammy sites with low quality content are rewarded with premium AdSense accounts and great rankings.
the link given in the first example above got 6 upvotes, and there is little info in the post other than the link.
a basic description is all that most web-users want. if you are doing some deep research, then these sites probably aren't good fits, but when you just want a quick overview (which is what most Google users want), then they can be useful.
I have a sneaking suspicion that you are a webmaster who sometimes finds that your site(s) rank below the sites that you bash.
If people find them useful then that's good to know :) I guess the possibility of Google allowing individuals to have a domain/site blacklist would be a good idea since you're right that I find some sites unhelpful whilst others find them useful.
>> I have a sneaking suspicion that you are a webmaster who sometimes finds that your site(s) rank below the sites that you bash.
Honestly isn't the case :) I'm not a fan of monitoring the SERPs for a bunch of keywords and seeing where I rank. I sometimes do it for a few choice keywords and I've never seen WiseGeek, About, eHow rank above me (or have pages written on the searched-for topics). So that's not the case.
I pointed out BizRate since their site is mainly auto-generated and they have a keyword stuffing section, neither of which seem to provide much/any value to users.
As for WiseGeek, they might have some useful content, but I've seen plently of pages with almost as many words of adverts as text, which clearly isn't desirable. And some of its (no doubt quickly written) content is either unhelpful or in some cases wrong.
I personally am always baffled how some of the really large, spammy sites with low quality content are rewarded with premium AdSense accounts and great rankings.