Open Angel Forum presenter Contently aims to clean up Google

There’s a good chance you’ve noticed the recent decline in the quality of Google’s search results.
While the search giant says it considers dozens of factors in its search rankings, most believe that the culprit is “content farms” like Demand Media and Associated Content that pay writers as little as $15 for a formulaic blog post or article, often laden with keywords to ensure a high ranking.
Contently, based in Philadelphia and New York City, hopes to stop these junk search results by helping to better crowdsource professional writing.
“We want to be on the high end, stuff that is sharable and brandable that you are not embarrassed to put on your website,” says Contently CTO David Goldberg, the company’s Philly resident. Contently’s two other founders, Shane Snow and Joe Coleman work in the 67th Ward.
On Contently, writers fill out a profile, noting their skillset and subject area expertise. As clients approach Contently with writing gigs, the company uses its cache of writers to find the right talent. Contently can use its proprietary technology to automatically assign content, or it can manually assign writers their next gig.
Contently charges a static price point based on the type of content. For example, the company told Technically Philly of arrangement where a single blog post cost the company $100. Contently takes a quarter to a third depending on the type content, not a bad take for writers, especially given the payouts of other content companies that typically hover in the mid-teens.
Goldberg says the company has higher standards for writers than Demand Media and focuses more on quality, not quantity.
“If you’re a good writer and Demand Media is sucking your soul, we’d be glad to have you,” says Goldberg.”But we’ve found that most writers [from content farms] are formulaic.”
According to Goldberg, the company is in the black, signing clients like Mint.com as well as a host of marketing agencies. Currently, he says Contently is seeking additional investment, most recently presenting at the Open Angel Forum in Philadelphia, though Goldberg is mum if the company has received any deals from OAF.