Associated Content has been criticized for helping to fuel poor-quality Web content, but is it rewriting history, too?
Since Tim Armstrong, once touted as co-founder of AC, has been making headlines for ditching Google to take the CEO role at AOL, I figured I’d poke around the AC site and see what his affiliation with the firm is currently. Well, lo and behold, Armstrong’s name seems to have been scrubbed from the corporate info on the site. Once more than willing to broadcast that Armstrong was a co-founder of AC, the company’s site currently states, “Associated Content was founded by Luke Beatty in Denver, Colorado, in 2005.”
I guess Armstrong went back in time and disassociated himself.
AC has been the subject of criticism over the years for serving to contribute to the clutter of spammy sites loaded with invaluable content used solely for link building to boost search rankings. I was one of if not its first public critic, and the likes of Gawker and WebProNews followed.
UPDATE I asked AC when Armstrong left the company’s board – he was also a board member. According to a spokesperson, he left the board in March 2008, but “He’s still an active investor.”