John B. Killoran

Papers

Total Citations

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About

John B. Killoran’s research sits at the intersection of technical communication, digital rhetoric, and the economics of online visibility. His most-cited work, “Targeting an Audience of Robots: Search Engines and the Marketing of Technical Communication Business Websites” (2009, 12 citations), provides a foundational analysis of how small technical communication firms navigate the dual audience of human clients and search engine algorithms. Drawing on a survey of 240 business principals and follow-up interviews, Killoran reveals the strategic tensions between crafting content for human readers and optimizing for machine-driven discovery—a prescient insight that anticipated today’s SEO-dominated digital landscape. This study remains a key reference for scholars examining the commodification of technical communication in the age of algorithmic gatekeeping. Beyond this paper, Killoran has contributed to understanding how professional writers adapt their rhetorical practices to platform economies and automated systems. His work is particularly valued for its empirical grounding and its ability to bridge practitioner concerns with academic theory. With a career focused on the evolving role of technical communicators in a search-engine-mediated world, Killoran offers essential perspectives for students and researchers exploring the intersection of writing, technology, and labor.