As well as its conventional sense, the word farm often crops up in compounds describing an area of land and/or buildings where animals or other commodities are produced on a large scale for commercial purposes. In each case, the modifying noun usually specifies what is produced, so e.g. trout farm, pig farm, etc. In this sense the word farm often denotes the concept of mass production and the associated negative connotations of churning out something for pure profit at the expense of quality (or indeed other ethical considerations), as in e.g. battery farm, puppy farm, and hence, by metaphoric extension, content farm. Recent discussion surrounding content farms has developed the farming metaphor even further, describing Google’s adjustments to its search techniques as ‘pesticides’.

As well as its conventional sense, the word farm often crops up in compounds describing an area of land and/or buildings where animals or other commodities are produced on a large scale for commercial purposes. In each case, the modifying noun usually specifies what is produced, so e.g. trout farm, pig farm, etc. In this sense the word farm often denotes the concept of mass production and the associated negative connotations of churning out something for pure profit at the expense of quality (or indeed other ethical considerations), as in e.g. battery farm, puppy farm, and hence, by metaphoric extension, content farm. Recent discussion surrounding content farms has developed the farming metaphor even further, describing Google’s adjustments to its search techniques as ‘pesticides’.