GiantWow.com is a GiantRipoff: A Guest Post by the Craigslist Curmudgeon

 

Thanks to Jodee for today’s headline and topic. This morning she sent me a link to GiantWow.com, a site looking for writers. I was about to write a long diatribe  but thought it better to bring in an expert. Please welcome the Craigslist Curmudgeon for today’s guest post.

From what I can gather, GiantWow pays at a scale which increases as the writer sends in more articles. What a scale it is! Take a look:

From the website: (No, don’t go there. That would be sending them traffic. Geesh, people.)

Payment Guide

Upfront Ability Rating Payment

0-50 articles : $.10 – $.25 each
51-200 articles : $.25 – $1.00 each
201-500 articles : $1.01 – $3.00 each
501 – 2000 articles : $3.01 – $5.00 each
2000 plus articles : $5.00 plus

WTF?

It’s probably best to start off by explaining these are to be 400 worders. 400 word articles for a dime. I have no words.

It’s not until you enter into the 200 article threshold one starts to earn an actual dollar for one’s hard work. Can you imagine? Having to write 200 effing articles before you can earn a dollar for each? If you’re hoping to earn $5 you have to submit 2000, count ‘em, 2000 articles.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I doubt too many writers will reach that coveted .25 to 1.00 threshold before suffering from burnout and saying it’s not worth it anymore. I’ll even go as far as to say that may be what GiantRipoff is hoping for. They stock their site for cheap, rake in the Adsense and life is good. Mostly they’ll pay out dimes and quarters. Not too many writers will stick with them to see the glorious and ever so generous $5.00 payment.

This is what I hate about these low paying content sites. They pay dimes to their writers while earning hundreds of dollars for the same article. For that money you may as well put the same article on your own website or blog and if you’re lucky, you’ll earn a little more.

But then they get really ballsy…

3 Steps to get Published

So, you have made it to our site, you’ve heard the calling and now you want to write and     
get paid for it. There are a few great sites out there that pay for original content but none    
that pay you based on your ability to consistently create articles.
3 Steps to get published:

1. Submit original material for review.
2. Get accepted for upfront payment or rejected for revision.
3. Get Published, Paid, and start building your online portfolio

For a dime you want original or revisions?

If you’re paying a dime, you’re not going to get Dickens. To expect originality, rewrites or revision for ten effing cents is even more insulting than the pay. How bad does something have to be to get sent back for revisions anyway. Considering this is a person who thinks "upfront" is one word, will he even know the difference? The mind boggles. Does no one consider writing is a job? Does it ever occur to the purveyors of assery and creators of lamery how writers have bills to pay and mouth to feed? Does anyone care cheap, crappy content is polluting the interwebs and creating a generation of kids who can’t speak facts, only regurgitated Internet content?

But it gets better. I took a peek at some of the links at GiantRipoff and the webmaster is putting the articles on generic (free) Blogger.com pages. So you’re not really contributing articles, but 400 word blog posts. Hell, we can do that ourselves, slap on our own Adsense and make our own money. And the writing? Well, I’d tell you to judge for yourself except I don’t want to send traffic there. Suffice it to say, there are people taking them up on their offer.

People. Do not be taken in by this less than generous offer. Being published isn’t enough. Be mindful of the company you keep. It’s not a good deal for the writer and it’s not a good deal for anyone looking for content on the web. It’s only a good deal for the cheapskate webmaster.

Say it with me, folks.

 

Ass.