Attributor

Attributor is a subscription based Internet-monitoring web service targeted at publishers. Attributor also offers a free service - FairShare - for bloggers through a partnership with Creative Commons.

Developer(s)	Attributor Corporation
Platform	Internet
Type	Digital distribution

Features

Attributor digitally fingerprints each piece of content (a paragraph, an image, a video) to uniquely identify the content based on its essential features. Each content owner can define permitted use of their original content, such as how much can be copied, what kind of attribution is required and whether and on what terms commercial use is permitted. Attributor’s system then scans over 30 billion pages on the Internet, reports back the instances where the content has been copied and estimates the size of the audience that has viewed the piece.

Criticisms

Attributor's web crawler ignores the robots exclusion standard and spoofs its user agent string. This is common, and arguably necessary, for Internet monitors, but webmasters may choose to block it more aggressively.

FairShare crawlers honor the robots exclusion standard and identify the user agent string clearly.^{[citation needed]}

History

Attributor was founded in 2005 by Jim Brock, and Jim Pitkow. It received Series C funding in April, 2007 totaling $ 12 Million led by JAFCO Ventures and previous investors Sigma Partners and First Round Capital.

Competitors

A handful of companies are trying to weed out unauthorized uses of content online, each focused on a specific content type.
Text: Copyscape uses the Google Web APIs to find copies of your site elsewhere on the Web. The free Copyscape service permits up to 20 searches per site per month but there is a premium service if you require more.
Images: Picscout and Corrigon provide image copyright owners with periodic reports about potential clients who may not have realized they actually need to pay to use the image
Music: Audible Magic provides registration services to owners of music. Registering your creative works in Audible Magic’s database will reduce chances for your works to be pirated.^{[citation needed]}
Video: Vobile and Auditude provide similar services for media and entertainment companies to protect their content online

See also

• Search engine optimization
• Content marketing
• Article marketing
• Intellectual property
• Copyright Infringement
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Web Syndication

External links

• AP licenses a Content "Radar" System
• Harry Potter Spoiler Count
• Attributor to help Reuters track digital content
• New York Times: Publishers See a Way to Track Their Content Across the Net
• TechCrunch: Attributor Launches Service to Track Copyright Infringement Across the Web
• The Untapped Potential of Celebrity Images
• VentureBeat: Associated Content Signs Up with Attributor
• TechCrunch: CondéNet Approaches Infringement as a Business Opportunity
• Reuters web content tracking deal reveals thirst for 'infotainment' stories
• Video Interview describing how the service works
• Google Now Controls 69% of Online Advertising Markets
• Attributor Secures $12 Million in Series C Financing
• BusinessWeek: Big Media is Watching
• Huffington Post: McCain's Internet Muscle Revealed In New Study
• Attributor adds world's 3rd largest news agency and supports five new languages
• Attributor Quantifies Monetary Value of Off-Site Content Viewership Across the Web.
• Ad-Revenue Sharing Model For Publishers Emerges In 2009
• Attributor and Creative Commons go public with FairShare
• FairShare launches
• Closing the Online Revenue Gap
• Attributor "Fair Syndication Consortium" Completes Newspaper Trifecta
• Startup Tries to Rally Publishers with Ad-Sharing Proposal