Examiner.

com
Examiner.com was an American news website based in Denver,
Colorado, that operated using a network of "pro-am contributors"'
Examiner.com
for content.[1][2] It had various local editions with contributors
posting city-based items tailored to 238 markets throughout the
United States and parts of Canada in two putative national
editions, one for each country.[1][3][4][5]

As of early 2014, Examiner.com was a property of Philip

Anschutz-owned[3][4][6] AEG, and announced it would be
partnering closely with ticket merchant AXS.[7] Subsequently,
Examiner operations were announced to be shutting down on July
10, 2016.[8]

Growth The logo of Examiner.com

Type of site Citizen journalism
In August 2009, Examiner.com was named one of the fastest- Available in English
growing network of localized websites by Nielsen Online. It grew
faster in the 12 months from August 2008 than any of the other top Owner Anschutz
30 Internet news sites in the United States, as it increased page Entertainment
views more than 342 percent, attracting 7,569,000 unique users.[9] Group
Examiner.com reports that it received 20.8 million unique visitors URL www.examiner
to Examiner.com sites in July 2010, with 60.1 million page views .com (http://www.e
served, according to Omniture.[2] xaminer.com)

In October 2010, Examiner.com reported adding over 3,000 Commercial Yes

articles a day, to a growing library of 1.5 million pieces of Registration Optional, required
content.[2][10] to comment
Launched September 1994
Pay scale (domain registered
by San Francisco
Examiner.com was criticized for the low compensation received by Examiner)
some contributors.[11] The site claimed it told contributors that they April 2008 (launch
should not consider this full-time employment, and "tries to be in present format)
very clear and transparent that this isn't a 'quit your day job'
opportunity."[12] Current status Defunct (July 10,
2016)
Examiner.com offered a variety of pay scale options to its
writers.[13] Examiner.com based compensation on variables such as subscriptions, page view traffic and
session length.[12]

History
The domain was registered by The San Francisco Examiner on September 13, 1994, and was used by the
San Francisco newspaper until 2004 when Anschutz/Clarity acquired the examiner.com domain as part of
its acquisition of the newspaper.[14]

In 2006, David Schafer, Clarity Digital Media's CEO (former MapQuest general manager), transformed the
domain from being San Francisco specific to being a hyperlocal news aggregator for the 60 markets in
which Clarity Media trademarked the name "Examiner".[15] By using online geo targeting technology,
users were placed into their closest city where they could read the most recent news and updates from both
their city's broadcast and print media streams. Readers could also view local, state, national, and
international content from the Associated Press.

A small team of engineers and developers worked over the next 18 months to develop the site into
something more than a collection of news headlines. Schafer was replaced[16] by the former AOL
executive Michael Sherrod in February 2008. (He stayed on as Chief Operations Officer).

In late April 2008, Sherrod unveiled the current model of using "Examiners", local writers and columnists
recruited for expertise in a variety of areas, to feature local material about numerous cities. Launching the
new model, which he called a "community knowledge site," were 115 "Examiners" in five markets:
Denver, Seattle, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The latter three already had free
distribution of printed Examiner newspapers in certain neighborhoods of those cities. The flagship national
edition was for users outside designated market areas.[16]

In March 2009, Sherrod was replaced by Rick Blair, also formerly of AOL.[17] In September 2009 Clarity
Media purchased NowPublic, a Vancouver-based website consisting of "citizen journalists" contributing
from around the world.[18] Clarity Media developed the Clarity Digital Group, including both
Examiner.com and NowPublic.[10] Blair is the CEO of both Clarity Digital and Examiner.com.[10]

On October 29, 2009, the website's first international expansion took place when Examiner.com Canada
was launched in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, along with a national Canadian
edition.[4][19] In 2010 it moved from a Coldfusion to Drupal platform.[20] In February 2011, Google
changed its algorithm, significantly reducing how high Examiner.com and other aggregators, particularly of
"how-to" content, appear in search results. It is trying to spot and downplay what are called "content farms"
and to highlight more reliable sources. Commentators suggest that some readers may rely more on articles
recommended by their social networks.[21] Due to Google's change, search results decreased by 79% for
Examiner.com.[22]

On January 23, 2014, Examiner.com announced that it had been acquired by AEG and that it would be
partnering closely with AXS.[7]

On July 1, 2016, Examiner.com announced it would shut down on or around July 10, 2016.[8]

Criticism
Matt Smith of the San Francisco Weekly noted in 2007 that numerous articles and photos by Sharon Gray
were from other sources, including the Sacramento Bee, and constituted apparent plagiarism. Smith
suggested that the case showed that "free isn't always a bargain".[23] When questioned, Jim Pimentel,
executive editor of Examiner said, "They're blogs. They don't get edited. We don't give any direction to
people on what to write in their blogs. And that's standard operating procedure."[4][23]
After Smith brought the issue to Pimentel's attention, the voluminous Gray material was removed from
Examiner.com. Pimentel said the Examiner has "a less-strict standard for accuracy and attribution in stories
that appear on the Web" than for publications in print.[23]

See also
Content farm

References
1. Lee, Edmund (June 7, 2010). "Does Who Creates Content Matter to Marketers in a 'Pro-Am'
Media World?" (http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=144286). Advertising Age.
2. "Examiner.com Execs Push for Quality, Refute 'Content Farm' " (https://www.pbs.org/medias
hift/2010/10/examinercom-execs-push-for-quality-refute-content-farm-tag280.html). PBS
MediaShift. October 1, 2010.
3. Stelter, Brian (September 2, 2009). "Examiner.com Buys NowPublic, a Citizen-Media Web
Site" (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/media/02public.html). The New York
Times. pp. B2. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
4. Rocha, Roberto (October 29, 2009). "News website chain expands into Canada" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20091101181556/http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/News+website+ch
ain+expands+into+Canada/2157017/story.html). The Gazette. Montreal. Archived from the
original (https://montrealgazette.com/life/News+website+chain+expands+into+Canada/2157
017/story.html) on November 1, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
5. "Examiner.com expanding into Canada" (http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technolog
y/examinercom-expanding-into-canada-20091028-hjac.html). The Sydney Morning Herald.
Agence France-Presse. October 28, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
6. Harden, Mark (April 18, 2008). "Examiner.com recruits local bloggers" (http://denver.bizjourn
als.com/denver/stories/2008/04/21/story2.html). Denver Business Journal. Retrieved
November 16, 2009.
7. "Examiner.com Acquired by AXS" (https://web.archive.org/web/20141005191613/http://www.
aegworldwide.com/about/newsdetail/12142#.VDLu4vldWHQ). AEG Worldwide. 23 January
2014. Archived from the original (http://www.aegworldwide.com/about/newsdetail/12142#.V
DLu4vldWHQ) on 5 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
8. "Online Content Platform Examiner.com Shutting Down" (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2
016/07/05/online-content-platform-examiner-com-shutting-down/). Retrieved 2016-07-05.
9. Harden, Mark (September 29, 2009). "Nielsen: Anschutz's Examiner.com is fastest-growing
news website in nation" (http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/09/28/daily25.ht
ml). Denver Business Journal.
10. Takahashi, Dean (October 1, 2010). "As AOL rushes to local news, Examiner.com is already
there" (https://venturebeat.com/2010/10/01/aol-examiner-com-hyperlocal-news/).
VentureBeat. VentureBeat.
11. Hoycom, Angela (May 13, 2009). "How Much Are Examiner.com Writers Really Earning?" (ht
tp://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/005364_05132009.html).
Writers Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
12. Behling, Ellie (September 8, 2010). "Update: Examiner.com explains low wages, hyperlocal
strategy" (http://emediavitals.com/content/update-examinercom-explains-low-wages-hyperlo
cal-strategy). eMedia Vitals.
13. Luscombe, Belinda (December 9, 2009). "Why Does Google Search Love Examiner.com?"
(http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946348,00.html). Time. New York.
Retrieved December 9, 2009.
14. Harden, Mark (February 27, 2008). "Anschutz's Clarity Media names online chief, recruits
new editors | Denver Business Journal" (http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/02/
25/daily29.html). Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
15. Raine, George (December 22, 2004). "What's in a name? Plenty" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/22/BUG16AFEBP1.DTL&type=business).
San Francisco Chronicle. sfgate.com. pp. C1. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
16. Harden, Mark (February 27, 2008). "Anschutz's Clarity Media names online chief, recruits
new editors" (http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/02/25/daily29.html).
17. "New executives named at Anschutz's Examiner.com" (http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/st
ories/2009/03/23/daily41.html). Denver Business Journal. March 25, 2009.
18. Steltner, Brian (September 1, 2009). "Examiner.com Buys NowPublic, a Citizen-Media Web
Site" (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/media/02public.html). New York Times.
19. "Examiner.com invades 5 Canadian cities" (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-1038577
7-2.html). CNET. October 28, 2009.
20. "Examiner.com conversion" (https://drupal.org/node/701104). drupal.org. 2010-02-01.
Retrieved 2011-03-31.
21. "Google Tweaks Algorithm To Spot 'Content Farms'" (https://www.npr.org/2011/04/22/13562
5124/google-tweak-s-algorithm-to-spot-content-farms?ps=cprs), NPR, 22 April 2011
22. Beus, Johannes (26 February 2011). "Google Farmer Update: Quest for Quality" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20130123033135/http://www.sistrix.com/blog/985-google-farmer-update-q
uest-for-quality.html). SISTRIX SEO Blog. Archived from the original (http://www.sistrix.com/b
log/985-google-farmer-update-quest-for-quality.html) on 23 January 2013.
23. Smith, Matt (December 4, 2007). "Blogos-Free" (http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-12-05/news/
blogos-free). SF Weekly. SF Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2009.

External links
Official website (http://www.examiner.com/About_Examiner)

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