Demand Media Creates Facebook "Websites" to Drive Social Media Traffic

By Demand Studios Review Editorial

Posted On 5/19/2011

By now everyone readily accepts that the   Google Panda update has hurt Demand Media owned websites. It looked like they had gotten off clean the first time around, but now traffic has decreased and they   have admitted, to some extent, that it had an effect.

One of the main points coming from Demand Media execs repeatedly in post-Panda interviews has been an assurance that they’re driving more traffic from social media than ever before. They have been vague on details, but it turns out they’ve been accomplishing this feat by some more sly techniques than just adding Facebook like buttons to articles and slowly gaining more followers to their websites’ Facebook pages.

Now it looks like they’re creating Facebook pages for non-existent websites, where they post links to on-topic eHow articles.

I discovered this by searching on eHow when writing a potentially similar article through Demand Studios and noticed a Facebook follow button for something called “The Corporate Climb.” Since I didn’t recognize this as a Demand Media entity, or at least not one I’d ever heard of, I clicked on the link and was taken to a Facebook page listing itself as representing the magazine The Corporate Climb.

The links were all bit.ly-fied, so I started clicking on them, expecting to be taken to a new Demand Media run website called The Corporate Climb. Hey, I thought, I’m approved for eHow Money, so maybe I can write for this special project too.

Instead every link posted on the page brought me to an eHow Money article.

So I started investigating. Were there more of these fake website Facebook pages, or was this an anomaly?

Turns out, there are more. Plenty more. I logged into the Demand Studios Review Facebook page (shameless plug), and started liking them so I wouldn’t lose track.

 I found the following: Chaos & Kisses (“The Joy and Pain of Raising a Toddler,” linking to eHow Family), Holly Daily (“Dedicated to the best days on the calendar,” linking to eHow Food, eHow Family, eHow Home, etc.), Spackle and Shine (“Your community for home repair and renovation,” linking to eHow Home), Learn Upturn (“Tactics and trends in modern education,” linking to eHow Family), my life in money (“Helping you take control of your money and life,” linking to eHow Money), Spirited Tails (“Your Home for Adventurous Cocktails,” linking to eHow Food), Fierce Felines (“A home for stylish cats,” linking to eHow), Hobby Knob (“When work ends, your hobbies begin,” linking to eHow), Pre-Heated  (“The best treats are made at 350 degrees,” linking to eHow Food and eHow Money), Sit. Roll Over. Stay. (“Dog training for beginners and experts,” linking to eHow), Vine & Vintage (“A wine community,” linking to eHow Food), means to green (“From garden greens to saving green,” linking to eHow Home), and Eat What Why (“Fresh eats + healthy treats for the curious cook,” linking to….) Wait! What’s this?

There appears to be a pseudo website for Eat What Why, listed as being in beta. The web address has a dot ehow and is listed as “Presented by the eHow Food Network.” Some of the articles are linked to eHow, and are presented as being “via eHow.” Others are housed on the site itself.

This begs the question, are they going to do this with the other Facebook pages as well? It could be a wise decision. Not only would they get a bunch of incoming eHow links, they’d also be creating numerous niche sites which are becoming more and more valuable post-Panda. We’ll keep our eyes on this as it develops. 

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