Demand Media, an innovative online media company based in Santa Monica, California, has filed for IPO today with the SEC. It has not set a timetable for going public.

The company's business is based on the 'content farm model.' Its algorithms identify topics that people are searching for on sites like Google. It then has its vast network of lowly-paid freelance writers pump out related content that will perform well on search engines. According to the IPO, Demand has over 10,000 contributors churning out a daily average of over 5,700 text articles and videos.

The company's methods have resulted in over 86 million unique visitors with over 550 million page views globally as of June, 2010. The sites ultimately sell advertising against those page views. Demand is reporting a revenue of $114 million for the first half of 2010 against an operating loss of just $4 million.

Demand admits that it faces a threat by "the possibility that our relationship with Google from which a significant portion of our revenue is generated may be terminated or renewed on less favorable terms."

In other words, if search engines start to filter out the content farms, Demand's business is done.

Demand Media’s web properties include eHow.com and LIVESTRONG.COM. It has also entered content partnerships with traditional media companies like USA Today and SFGate.com and Chron.com, two online news sites owned by Hearst Corporation.