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05 August 2008

Bye, Bye, About.com!

Can you spot the difference between these two pages? The first is from my post of 2 July, About.com's Redesign. The second is from today...



...Yes, the ads are different, but that's not what I'm talking about. Look closer. Reason: 'Our main concern was the quality of the reader experience with the site.' • I also had a concern: Wikipedia is eating About's lunch and About staffers think it's a problem of SEO.

In parting, I would like to say, 'Good luck, About.com! You might need it.' I don't want to sound disgruntled, so I'll end this post by saying that I enjoyed my time working there, which started September 2002.

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10 comments:

  1. Ryan05 August, 2008 08:14

    Sad news. Thanks for all your hard work. I hope you find interesting new avenues in the future.

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  2. Tom Chivers05 August, 2008 08:40

    Yes, sorry to see you go from there, and thanks for all the support you've given our blog on the site.

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  3. Robert Pearson05 August, 2008 23:24

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Robert Pearson05 August, 2008 23:28

    "[T]he quality of the reader experience" was excellent, Mark, so I'd say they screwed the pooch on this one. Looking forward to reading you in this and other venues. Chess Life really needs some livening up--I recommended that chessloser take over the mag, since apparently they publish his photos without his knowledge, but like about.com that's something of a sinking ship...you definitely don't want to go from one to the other.

    All the best for the future!

    Robert

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  5. BraRoe Chess06 August, 2008 04:52

    Mark,

    I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to reading your thoughts at this venue instead. About.com certainly choose to end their relationship with a true chess fan.
    -Bradford (aka braroechess)

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  6. Mark Weeks06 August, 2008 09:51

    Ryan, Tom, Robert, Bradford - Thanks very much. I hope to be a more frequent contributor to the chess blogosphere. Does anyone have some tips for keeping up? - Mark

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  7. BomTrown06 August, 2008 16:07

    Mark,

    Interesting. Maybe it was time? You gave a lot...a whole lot to the about.com chess site and to the forum...for a long time.

    I look forward to your next move.

    -Tom

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  8. Tom Chivers07 August, 2008 14:27

    Tips for keeping up? Umm, use google reader. I reckon that's about it!

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  9. Ryan08 August, 2008 19:33

    I think you keep up very well! :)

    Personally, I subscribe to lots of chess rss feeds and read the popular websites every day.

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  10. xplor16 August, 2008 18:17

    Thank you mark for the great work
    xplor

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