PrWeb announced that will stop to distribute free press releases starting from October 23, in order to improve the quality of their distributions and reduce "noise" to the media. What do you think of this? I found very unprofessional the fact that they are not publishing PRs that were submitted before October 23 but were scheduled for a later date.
They announced it a little while ago, so if you set it for a date later than they said it would be in effect, it's your own fault. I'm glad they're doing it. There's too much garbage posted there, and I'd like to see whether or not they can compete on a quality level with bigger newswires with their pay model versus subscription models. Kind of interested to watch and see how much it really changes things.
[sarcasm]yet another directory switches from free to paid![/sarcasm] I agree with Jen, this is ultimately a good thing for those who are using press releases to reach the media. Here's their announcement: http://www.prweb.com/changes_preview.php
Yep I too saw this news few days back on Digg.com What are the other alternatives, you are talking about???
Free or not, I see no point in using them. Last week I did an article with associated press (free) and it was picked up by at least one major metro newspaper in every city in the country. Tell me again why I should use pr web... free or not.
It's more of a tool unfortunately for those who care more about backlinks than actual media coverage. A lot of the releases distributed through them aren't of great quality (sure, there are exceptions), and probably wouldn't have much chance of being picked up by AP, so they simply distribute where they can. It's unfortunate. Congrats on your pickups. What was the story?
That would depend on if it's got an international or national interest, or more regional or local. http://www.ap.org/pages/contact/contact_pr.html
I'd add this to what has been said: If possible, find an article by AP on your subject area and contact the AP journo who did that article and send them your release. Or, if you get a story covered with AP, get the journos contact details and go back to them directly next time. With all press release stuff, the end game is getting a relationship with a journo who will take your call and accept a release and call you for comment on your topic area. Get to that point and your website will get the best super authority links it has ever had and regularly.