This place is being run by robots.

1. 39

   Greg Sageposted 12 years ago

   I just finished a comedy piece, and it refers to some commercials on youtube I have no connection to, and a website I have no connection to, but which I happen to find hilarious.
   
   I just got a warning about ad content being deleted.
   
   However, upon viewing the hub, it doesn't appear that anything is disabled.
   
   Is this one gonna get yanked now too?
   
   I just had a piece ABOUT mlm with zero links, zero financial incentive, and zero ads get yanked.  HP pretended it was for writing quality, but that is utter BS.  It was absolutely NOT human reviewed despite what they claim.  A child could have seen in under 30 seconds that it was extensively researched, exceptionally well written, and that there was zero financial motivation.
   
   So... do I have to yank out all of the references that help people to understand what I'm talking about if they haven't seen those commercials?

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Greg, many of us have been through this frustration! 
      
      First thing - yes, this place is run by robots.  It has to be: hundreds of Hubs are published every day and it wouldn't be humanly possible to check every one of them.  So HP's first line of defence is automated filters.  It's impossible to make them perfect, so HP has made them err on the safe side - which means you'll get warnings that make no sense, sometimes.
      
      However if you read the warnings at the top of Hubs closely, you'll often find they say ads MAY be disabled, not that they have been. 
      
      Second thing - HubPages has hired a lot of new moderators following the Panda debacle.  They're working very long hours and some of them are pretty green.  They make mistakes.  Several of us have had Hubs unpublished by mistake - email team @ HubPages and ask them to take another look.  Don't expect an instant response because they're snowed under - and don't be afraid to send a second or third email if you don't get an answer. 
      
      Finally - for some reason, the feeds don't get updated immediately.  There can be a significant delay between publishing a Hub and it appearing in the feed.  It's normal, though I have no idea why.

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      1. 39

         Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ok.
         
         It was somewhere around 4 hours if I remember correctly, and TONS of others did post in that time.  When mine finally did show, it was pages down, and it showed the disabled icon in account.
         
         Again... I wasn't too concerned about that one.  That was more just irritating.  It's the other one that bugged me... and not because it was yanked, but because of the supposed reason given, and the pretense of human review.  The irony of robo-response claiming to be human response is worthy of Asimov.

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2. 39

   Greg Sageposted 12 years ago

   Now I see too that half an hour after publishing, there's no announcement of it in my feed.... yet much more recent things appear.
   
   Is this gonna get buried?
   
   Is no one gonna see it?
   
   Will it not be announced?
   
   Is there something I should do?

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3. 77

   Garrett Mickleyposted 12 years ago

   Bleep blorp beep bop pew pew whistle bang
   
   This is an automated responce
   
   Pow zing whew boom zowa
   
   We are addressing the situation and will get back to you.
   
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   At least, that's how I feel sometimes.

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4. 78

   frogdroppingposted 12 years ago

   I've read a couple of your hubs. I'd say you're the type of writer that should be encouraged, not censored to the point you're unsure of what you're doing wrong.
   
   If you've half an idea of how to start a web site, do that. You look a long way from braindead so far as I can see

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   1. 39

      Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      thx
      
      The really funny thing is I'm actually not trying to market anything or even make money.  For the time being, my only intent was to write on a few different topics, throw them up and see who salutes.
      
      In the meantime, I'm doing research about seo and all that fun stuff, but nothing I've written has been intended to bring any short term income at all... closest was dong a quick headphone review... but I only did that to get a quick feel for how many hits it would get.
      
      I also used that one to figure out how amazon works, so it's got direct amazon links to buy headphones.  HP started that one out with a higher hubscore than any other, and is still up.
      
      Ones I've had issues with have no attempts at monitization whatsoever.
      
      Go figure.
      
      bleep
      
      boop

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5. 78

   frogdroppingposted 12 years ago

   I never said you had to write to earn money. I just said go start your own website. That way your day won't be interruped by confusion relating to censoreship.
   
   Instead it can be interrupted with a different kind of head-scratching. The type that goes with trying to figure out how these things work. Or not.

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   1. 39

      Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Gotcha.  I just meant the irony of the fact that the censorship is all about trying to stop me from being a money-grubbing spammer... yet they rank my one seemingly money oriented article highly, and yank a couple that have zero to do with making money.
      
      
      I guess they've officially crushed my last one.  It's been over an hour, and it doesn't show up in my feed or in the latest hubs search.
      
      I'm not sure what to do.  All I got was a warning about ads being disabled.  It didn't say anything about being unpublished or anything.  It still shows as published when I view my profile... yet no feed and no announcement.

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      1. 71

         maven101posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You have been with HubPages for less than a week...Quit whining and give the system a chance to get back to you...There are thousands of Hubbers here that produce Hubs on everything under the sun...Some for profit, some just to share their love of the written word...
         I can only offer you encouragement and support if your writing deserves it...HubPages, on the other hand, has a TOS that you are required to approve before being granted membership in this community of writers...As such, they have discretionary editorial obligations...they may use certain robotic editing programs for a " first glance " reading, but generally they will respond to Hubbers queries if there is a problem...
         Good luck, and welcome to HubPages...Larry

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         1. 39

            Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            1  No communication, from day 1 has ever been returned.
            
            2  I did proactively contact HP before publication because of the warnings.
            
            3  This:
            
            "The quality of this Hub does not live up to HubPages' standards. It may be empty or unfinished, poorly formatted (including having a disallowed capsule in the first full width position), contain broken links or videos, or grammar/spelling mistakes that interfere with the readability of the Hub. These factors diminish the value of this Hub to our community.
            
            Please make the changes necessary in order to bring this Hub up to HubPages' standards, ...  Hubs without substantial improvement will not be republished...
            
            This information is based on a human review of this Hub..."
            
            
            
            
            Is just plain and simply not true.
            
            If you're gonna yank something automatically because you DIDN'T read it, then say so.  Pretending it was read by a human editor and needs revision to bring up the writing quality is disingenuous at best.
            
            How about just saying "We've automatically yanked this hub based on keywords.  If you feel this is in error, please contact us."
            
            Actually, they've said the opposite.  They reiterate NOT to contact them or resubmit the piece until the writing quality is significantly improved, and warn that membership can be yanked if it is resubmitted without said improvement.

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6. 69

   Daniel5posted 12 years ago

   Even better, buy a hosting account, install wordpress and no one can pull down your content! I've heard of blogger pulling blogs and webs to.

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7. 78

   frogdroppingposted 12 years ago

   I think (generally) there's confusion about HP. The bottom line is that it's a business. And like any other (excluding the good old non-profits) revenue is the crux. The more the better.
   
   The site is monetized, from the ground up. It was made to make money. Yes there's room for both commercial and non-commercial writers but without the traffic that convert's into $'s, there is no HP.
   
   Even those that don't write commercially still write on a site that has a high level of SEO already in-place.
   
   Perhaps that is why your commercial hub kicked off with a higher figure, who knows?

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   1. 39

      Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm clear about the being a business part.
      
      Not so clear about the getting my hubs to show up part.
      
      I've already got one domain, and doing some keyword searching to find another.

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8. 78

   frogdroppingposted 12 years ago

   I don't see why Greg should be held in a different queue than you or I. meaning according to his length of time on-site. I hope that we're not. His query should be just as valid.
   
   For the record he's a writer, and it shows. And he does have the type of talent and attention to detail that the HP I know and love looked for.
   
   That and the fact that he bothers to ask the right questions and tries to make sure that he's on the right track.

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   1. 39

      Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Honestly, I do feel a bit whiny... sorry for that.
      
      It wasn't my intention.  I really did just want to figure out what I was supposed to do, but I got a bit irritated at having 2 different issues with 2 different hubs on 2 completely different topics... and both for bogus reasons, and within the same day.  The pretension otherwise is what got me upset about it.  I know the real deal.  It wasn't read. 
      
      My fault.... no more whining.
      
      Practical questions:
      
      One just never showed in my feed somehow, yet it shows now that others (fewer than expected) have seen it, so someone is seeing feed on that one.
      
      For the other, message says clearly do not contact them or attempt to republish without significant changes to writing to improve quality.
      
      I just don't know where to start with that one.  I already contacted them without any response BEFORE publishing it because of automated warning.
      
      Do I do exactly what they just told me not to do and contact them again pointing out that it has clearly been yanked without being read?

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      1. 90

         Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I commented on it and it shows in the feed-- "fact or fiction" or is this not the one you mean?

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         1. 39

            Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah... there were a couple that had issues today.
            
            That one seems to have eventually popped up... although it oddly was not shown for first 1.5 hours that I checked back during.
            
            The other has been officially unpublished.

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9. 88

   mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years ago

   Sunforged has a site solely for humorous articles, (innuendo, double entendre, dirty jokes etc) that may otherwise be penalised by Adsense rules. You can still use Amazon and Chikita to monetise your articles. You might want to consider taking a look at it: http://manwalksintobar.xobba.com/
   
   I do feel for you, it is never fun logging in to see your articles have been penalised or unpublished, especially when you are not clear as to why, or the reasoning seems crazy.

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   1. 39

      Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      OK, thx.  Yeah... that was the case with 1.  The topic of the comedy was such that it got ads removed, and the entire hub was deleted from view somehow for a number of hours.  It popped back up, but after it had aged to the point where no one saw it on their new hubs feed.  Not a big deal, but no explanation was given.
      
      The other got fixed this morning.  It took them nearly a week to get back o me, and they never even mentioned article quality... just that the topic is such that if I change anything, I'll have to have it reviewed.  At least they got back to me even if it was with a generic form note that doesn't even address their supposed reason for banning it.
      
      That keyword warning part I totally understand, but I've had a few people slam me on here and perhaps I didn't make it clear enough that I wasn't complaining about the mere fact that warnings pop up... I would assume that.  I was upset specifically about being told it was NOT an automated process, and that a HUMAN had READ my hub and found it to be of POOR WRITING QUALITY. 
      
      All b.s., of course.  It's the dishonesty part I found upsetting.
      
      Go ahead and tell me this hub with zero links, zero ads, and zero attempt to ever make a dime from it is substandard writing quality as claimed:
      
      http://hubpages.com/hub/AM-I-IN-A-PYRAM … -Marketing

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      1. 82

         Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It doesn't have zero ads on it - it seems to have the normal number of ads.
         
         I get your drift, but it's in a 'dodgy' area.  My guess would be someone pulled it and then later read it - it is quite long.
         
         Not to criticise you, or defend HP - but they have a hell of a lot of stuff to moderate.
         
         Accept it is a bit annoying but then so is a site full of crap.  We are glad when they try to weed it out.
         
         Yours isn't crap of course.

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         1. 39

            Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah... I get all that.  Would never expect different.
            
            I just have a personal problem with being lied to.
            
            I'm funny that way.
            
            As for ads, I didn't place any.  If there are, its whatever they placed automatically.  If there's a way to turn all of those automatic ones off, I'm just unaware of it.

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            1. 82

               Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I don't mind so much being lied to.  It's when they can't be bothered to lie anymore... that hurts.
               
               Look, I know what you mean.  My second ever hub got pulled and it hurt like hell.  And a recent amusing comment on Acai berries was given an unpublish warning, because it was in a dodgy area.
               
               Best thing is, wait till you see the crap they allow through. Do some hub hopping...

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               1. 39

                  Greg Sageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I actually laughed out loud when I read the supposed human-reviewed reason for pulling it.  I mean... I've done some hopping, and seen literally the worst writing I've ever encountered.  On random hops, finding someone who understands basic grammar can be a challenge. Someone who actually understands their subject matter, has a sense of STYLE, and basic grammar skills to match...  well, it's quite safe to say those folks are the exceptions.
                  
                  Now if I were looking for broken English makeup tips or a list of one's favorite movies that looks like it's been run back and forth through translation software a few times....
                  
                  About a fourth of what I've found looks like it's literally been tossed up for SEO spidering purposes alone.  The only sense I can make out of some of the stuff on here is that people are just copying it from site to site and spending all of 30 seconds putting new errors into it each time to keep it from being recognized.

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      2. 95

         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         As Mark said above, the main problem is probably that it is in a dodgy area.  Personally I found it well written and valuable.
         
         My understanding of "poor writing quality" in these cases is not so much that it is poor - it is that only exceptional hubs are being allowed.  Personally, I found the hub to be exceptional and apparently the moderators agreed.
         
         I can't really comment on the prime issue, though - I have no idea if it was read by moderators or when.  It would seem that it has been read by now, but I don't even know that.

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