Forum & Blog Posting Guidelines Regarding Rate Changes, Performance and Today.com's T & C
>> Monday, April 20, 2009
The lastest update from Today.com. This was posted in the ~private~ forum earlier today. Personally, I think it is time that we use our new-found SEO skills to ensure that anyone searching for "advertising opportunities" or "advertising Today.com" come up with some ~interesting~ posts. As IF they are going to hand our content over to whoever the hell they want.Moving forward with our plans to get the message out to potential advertisers and to work with current and new bloggers interested in revenue sharing with Today.com we wanted to address some of the most frequently asked questions we get when a blog’s pay is cut.
Due to our renewed goals for the network, here is what Today.com can and cannot do for any blogger not happy blogging with Today.com.
Today.com no longer offers transferring to free blog hosting. If you leave Today.com the URL and content remains online and Today.com reserves the right to reassign the blog with the content (Blogs do not become “inactive”, accounts do.)
Today.com will not change the Terms and Conditions in regards to content rights. Since the content is purchased under a work for hire agreement , content is the property of Today.com. Any blogger who wishes to purchase their content back can contact Today.com directly to purchase it at the value Today.com paid plus 10%.
Today.com will not lower the payout amount from $50. We feel that if it is not your goal for your blog to make more than $50 in a month or two than [sic] Today.com is not the network for you. We are looking for people whose goals are in line with ours, working beyond the minimum to get maximum returns.
To reiterate in our previous post, Forum & Blog Posting Guidelines Regarding Rate Changes and Performance, if you determine you are no longer a fit for the Today.com program than [sic] we of course wish you the best in your future endeavors however “Goodbye” posts announcing you are leaving or moving your blog to such and such link(s) will affect the close of your account.
For bloggers who remain in the program, we will get the programs and tools out there for you to make your blog profitable beyond what pay per post could do for you.
Sincerely,
The Today.com Team
So, they're hiring a ROCKET SCIENTIST to use MY CONTENT and pretend to be me?
I don't bloody well think so.
They've just moved down a notch or six below helium.com. Perhaps this little nightmare should be forwarded to Preditors and Editors and other watchdog sites.
yep...I'm thinking 6 minimum... they just keep right on shooting themselves in the foot... soon won't have a leg left to stand on.
Thanks for the heads-up on the Today Expat post; I'd intended to drop by everyone's blogs this evening but hadn't gotten to it yet.
I just love this part---
we will get the programs and tools out there for you to make your blog profitable beyond what pay per post could do for you.What, like requiring readers to log in to post comments again? Maybe by removing even more options for tweaking the blog theme? No, let me guess---they're going to contract with Don Lapre for a new outstanding money-making opportunity that you can only get by signing up with Today.com...act fast, this is a limited time offer!
I was referring to Today.com as the blogger's gulag months ago. Guess I was more right on than I knew. :-(
I may have to tweak a post I am working on about my today experience.... we need to get the word out to as many people as possible to avoid them like the plague....
I also think once May 10th comes around and the next group gets their pay, more will speak out....
Kelly
http://30somethingandsearching.blogspot.com/
interesting post. I'll be writing something on this on my blog as well.
Beth
http://mymutterances.blogspot.com
Unbelievable.
Just... wow.
Great idea about getting the word out through SEO. I'll have to put my evil thinking cap on to think about ways to put them out of business for good.
Helium, now that's another entity I've tried and ran like hell from too.
Every time I think they've shot themselves in the foot enough they go doing it again ... this latest really pisses me off.
give MY content to someone else.. as if.
I had a look at their T & C and decided that since they broke it by not following through on their payment arrangments (i.e they promised $2/ppm and then made it so most uvs wouldn't count, or would count for less than that) they can sue me if they object to the few blog posts I am swiping and reposting.
My understanding is that if one party breaks a contract, neither is bound to it any longer... they do have a clause at the bottom that basically says that they can do whatever they want without breaking the contract but those rarely hold up in court.
Thx for the info, it has helped alot..
Has anyone seen this? Doesn't look hopeful... :-(
My Final Story with Today.com
Dear ,
Are you against today.com or you want to promote it.It seems that you have promoted a lot today.com and you have provided permanent link to it.Are you planning to delete them in future or keep as it is if yes then you have promoted today.com a lot .I am totally new to today.com and it seems that you are unhappy with today.com but their terms do not seem to be objectionable they are also online for earning my dear and won't make a bad deal.
Furthermore this is called negetive publicity in which you have promoted a lot ,
thanks
where do you see any links to today?
Today rips people off. Regularly. They lie to their bloggers and their advertisers. Regularly.
Eventually, yes, I hope this negative publicity will show up high enough on the search engines to let unsuspecting bloggers & advertisers have a better idea of what they are getting into.
that would be rather the point.
oh - and if you mouse over or check any of those links above - they all go to articles ABOUT today, not to today themselves.
Can anyone get a screen shot of that post? Something undeniable, before it disappears? I have a funny feeling they will rescind that offer for bloggers they have already axed or something. I'm going to contact them and require that they remove any unpaid content of mine from their servers anyway. >:-(
So nice to see this about today.com. I myself got sucked in and wish I had seen it before I wasted 3 months with them.
I wold like to know who could write From Huskies to Husbands at today.com if not me??? Granted mine could be easier to give to someone else but who would want to read it??
And to get my content back I also have to give back 110% of the bonuses they gave me?? Ummm isn't that the opposite of what a bonus is!!
So glad I have started the new From Huskies to Husbands already!! :)
Ha!! I would love to see someone else trying to be NIPPLELICIOUS... OMG.. that idea has me simply rolling!!
To even entertain the idea that they can have "clones" writing as us, well good luck with it.
this is sad, what happened. why had we been trapped all along? i do not think i am banned there (yet) but i am not surprised of what is going on since that was the reason why i moved out.
Geesssss you have a death in the family keeping you from being able to keep up and the rug gets pulled out...again. I was just beginning to do well on Today, then the EC nightmare began, once I deleted the widget I've had next to no traffic. I've done a few other things, not a lot due to time constrants. Trying to focus on the EC mess as things there seem to spiraling out of control too. Is it time to throw in the towel? The day after I joined Today, the nixed the themes, I have one ok month when the EC explosion starts. I get everything transferred to a new blog on blogspot to use a EC widget when they lower everyone's ability to earn ec, lock people out of the forums etc. Doesn't anyone want new people? I've not been happy with adsense and was thinking Today was the answer to that. Groan Not looking like making $ on any of them is much of a reality.
sigh
Sandy
adsense takes time ... but it is starting to bring in some earnings for me, Sandy ... actually, it was doing considerably better when I just had flitting.org on it...since I added the new blogs it seems to have tanked again ... but I'm hopefull
my son does a webcomic blog on today.com. He likes the address but earnings are very slow. He signed up when it was supposed to be a dollar a day, and they switched him. The $50 payout is quite high, but I suppose they figure a lot of people will stop before they have a chance to get paid
I'm thinking of a DMCA notice regarding the content still on notnews.today.com (now alive and well on newstechnica.com). They broke the contract, they don't own my content.
I'm fairly sure I can get a declaratory judgement in the UK to this effect with reasonable ease, if I can be bothered.