My account is suddenly showing 50 red skulls this morning

1. 81

   Janet21posted 12 years ago

   Did hubpages change their linking policy or something?  Because this morning my account is showing 50 hubs with violations for linking to prohibited sites.  Are affiliates links such as Commission Junction, ShareaSale and Google affiliate no longer allowed?  I am at a complete loss here.
   
   Edited to add:  Just saw this thread http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/95543  They have banned CJ links, really?  Have they also banned Sharesale & Google affiliate?  Is there an official announcement somewhere?

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      Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I missed that post on CJ, and now I am curious as to the other two you mention. It is hard to keep up with the changes here...some happen rather quietly, for sure. I simply don't have time to read every post in the forum every day... I sleep, occasionally eat and work, lol.

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages has never published a list of which affiliate links are allowed, but it has always said links to "reputable" networks were permitted.  I think this has to be a glitch.
      
      However it does say, contact us if you think this is wrong - so I think individual Hubbers should be contacting the team about their specific Hubs.

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         Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I hope it's a glitch as well, but I got rid of the links for now...
         
         I really wouldn't be surprised if they added it to the big bad list. 
         
         I mean we're getting all this new stuff that's supposed to look nice and flashy, why not pull the tablecloth out from under the new "dishes" as we stare at the new fine china they are offering us?

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         EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hmm, dunno about that. This wouldn't be the first time they've launched a change without giving people much (or even any) prior warning.
         
         Surely a mass email to everyone giving a couple of weeks' notice about the change, plus a time frame to do something about it and a clear indication of the consequences, wouldn't have been beyond them.
         
         I don't even have any affiliate links on my pages, but I can just imagine the effect on someone with several hundred of them.

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            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I don't have any affiliates either, but I have watched the several threads on this topic with interest.
            
            It is increasingly looking like NOT a mistake, or an HP staff member would have answered by now.
            
            This is just another change which will scare off experienced hubbers that know how to make money on the web, and who have been assets to HP in the past.
            
            Looks like they will just have to find another platform to place their affiliate links, and maybe even their hubs too, which is going to be a loss to HP.
            
            An explanation (or a warning) from staff would have been nice.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I'm not so sure about that, given how rare it is for HP staff members to read forum posts these days.

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                  Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Plus it's the weekend.
                  
                  I'm sure we'll know of some reason for all of this soon...
                  
                  Well shall see.

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      relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It certainly appears that links to Commission Junction are now prohibited.

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         lorlie6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         relache, indeed it does.

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2. 58

   lisa42posted 12 years ago

   I hope it's a mistake. I don't have a lot of affiliate links in my hubs, so I started to delete them and then I decided to come here first. It seems like a change like that would be announced officially. I haven't seen such an announcement and the other thread you linked to didn't seem to have one either, so I'm going to hold off on deleting any more links until I see something official.

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3. 72

   galleryofgraceposted 12 years ago

   I have never even seen any reference to "allowing affiliate links". I just assumed we were not supposed to make our hubs personally promotional.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The purpose of being a Hubber is to make money from your Hubs.  You can do that in a variety of ways - the HP Earnings Program and Adsense are only the most obvious.
      
      Affiliate links are also permitted, but no more than two to the same network in any single Hub, and only to "reputable" networks.  HubPages won't say which those are, except that Clickbank isn't one of them!
      
      In the past, I've had no difficult linking to Linkshare, Google Affiliate Network, ShareASale and Affiliate Future.

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      Barbara Kayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't know before this that we could add other affiliate links either.

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4. 59

   iefox5posted 12 years ago

   You should check the link by yourself before you put it in your article. Some links are not allowed.

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      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Duh!
      
      Read the thread - these are experienced hubbers talking about a previously allowed affiliate that has SUDDENLY become disallowed.

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         lorlie6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Suddenly? 50 red skulls?  Oh, my.  Janet, that's bizarre.  Email the team to find out what's up.

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5. 81

   Janet21posted 12 years ago

   I did contact them yesterday and will let you know what they say if I hear back.  All of the prohibited links were to Commission Junction.

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   Louidam1posted 12 years ago

   I'm glad I found this thread because I have several skulls on my Hubs too and I also use Commission Junction.  I'm glad to know it is not only me!.

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7. 83

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years ago

   I had a couple of 'broken link' exclamation points, but no skulls.  I wonder if they loaded some new programs or something to search for bad links, and then a bunch of Hubbers got notices? 
   
   I also didn't know we could load affiliate links.  Is there any information on that anywhere?

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The only information is that they allow affiliate links to "reputable" affiliate networks, but they won't say which ones.
      
      I don't use Commission Junction because I find their interface too annoying.  But I have links in my Hubs to ShareASale, Affiliate Future, Skimlinks and Viglinks and do not have any red skulls.
      
      If CJ does turn out to be prohibited - and we still have no confirmation or otherwise - then Skimlinks is an option, it enables you to continue promoting CJ products, though you do lose some commission.  I wrote a Hub about it.
      
      I'm still more inclined to wait and see, because there has been a glitch in the violations filter twice before so there could be again.

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, it wasn't for broken links... just violations - saying we linked to a prohibited site or something.
      
      Still waiting to see what happens.

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8. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   I assume you have all opened a few hubs in edit mode to see which exact links are being flagged?  I randomly get blogs and things I linked to red-skulled as phishing sites for no apparent reason. For me, it is easier to change the link than get into it with Hub PTB.

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   1. 81

      Janet21posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      I have and they are Commission Junction affiliate links....

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9. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 12 years ago

   Norah just posted on another thread.  It was a mistake.

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10. 94

    viryaboposted 12 years ago

    Yes, it was a mistake. I got a reply to my email to HP and they said it WAS a mistake.
    
    I had removed over fifty and left a handful Wanted to hear from HP about it.
    
    So it was a mistake,fine. BUT the few ones i left STILL shows the skulls!

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11. 94

    viryaboposted 12 years ago

    Okay, its all gone now.

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