Three years ago a terrible collection of beasts rose from the sea and threatened the Internet we love so dear. These "content farms" churned out low quality prose in SEO-friendly formats to try and garner traffic from Google and other search engines. This traffic was then converted into dollars via ads, affiliate programs, commerce offers -- anything that would yield a profit.
In February 2011 Google started making more specific changes to its algorithms addressing repetitive, simplistic websites. Traffic to these farms decreased - often dramatically - and it was no longer an attractive business. Some companies dried up, others pivoted to focus on content with greater depth.