Google change hurts writers: Freelancer

Job openings for online writing gigs have plummeted according to data from outsourcing marketplace Freelancer.com, with its quarter one update attributing the fall to Google's new Panda search algorithm.

Google recently changed the way its search engine returns results in an attempt to bring higher quality content to the top of search results, rather than lower quality "content farms" that often forgo quality reportage in favour of search engine optimisation (SEO).

Google's search algorithm change has had some success on the return of content farm results, but it has also been reported to have negatively impacted legitimate sites like Cult of Mac and the British Medical Journal.

Freelancer.com believes that as a result of the new algorithm, dubbed "Panda", ads for article submission positions are down 29 per cent in the first quarter, with copywriting and ghostwriting places also down by 19 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

It's not all bad news for job seekers, however, with hardware development and design jobs in a boom. Places for Solidworks computer-aided design (CAD) operators were up 25 per cent and mechanical engineering gigs were up by 18 per cent, for example.

Mobile phone and desktop software design jobs produced a mixed bag of results, with placements for Android and Apple jobs rising across the board. Microsoft and Nokia-related jobs, however, both reported a steep descent. Windows Phone-related jobs are down 16 per cent, while jobs for Symbian developers are down by 32 per cent.

Microsoft and Nokia recently announced a partnership around Windows Phone 7, resulting in job uncertainty for thousands of Nokia Symbian developers.

"We see changes in the world of online work every quarter, which provide interesting insights into the fortunes of companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, and reflect trends of what's happening globally in the world today," said Freelancer.com chief Matt Barrie.