Internet giant Yahoo! began opening up its properties to outside writers, photographers and videographers on November 15, with the launch of the "Yahoo! Contributor Network." Yahoo! said the Yahoo! Contributor Network would give freelance content creators access to popular destinations such as Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports and the Yahoo! homepage.
Yahoo! described the network as the "evolution" of Associated Content, a platform hosting 400,000 freelance contributors from around the United States which Yahoo! purchased in May for a reported 100 million dollars.
Chief executive Carol Bartz said Yahoo! had "retooled" the platform "to bring the people's voice to Yahoo!" "Bringing this authentic perspective to Yahoo!'s most popular sites will deepen our engagement with the millions of people who visit us every day and provide new opportunities for creative contributors who participate in the Yahoo! experience," Bartz said in a statement.
Associated Content founder Luke Beatty, who is now a Yahoo! vice president and general manager, said the Yahoo! Contributor Network will give contributors unprecedented exposure and distribution across Yahoo!'s portfolio. "Associated Content has been known for maintaining the industry's largest contributor base, and with the launch of the Yahoo! Contributor Network, we've added scale and reach that sets us apart from any other crowdsourced media platform," Beatty said. Yahoo! said Yahoo! editors will "assign and select crowdsourced contributions" for all of Yahoo!'s media properties.