I'm confused

1. 91

   Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years ago

   With all the snipping that's been happening to hubs prior to their moves to niche sites, I was surprised to see a hub on Bellatory today that has 8 Amazon capsules.
   
   Now, the products are all relevant to the hub, but no more so than many that have been snipped. I would have just thought that would be too many.

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   1. 97

      Solarasposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      It's possible that each of those capsules produces reasonable sales, enough for them to be worthwhile to HP.

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      1. 91

         Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Everything I've seen from HP on the subject puts a lot more emphasis on how it will look to Google than how many sales the products make.
         
         Robin once said you had to consider if even one Amazon capsule was "Worth the risk."

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Exactly.  I think that attitude is complete nonsense but it's their site so I thought, well I have to put up with it.  To then see a Hub that seems to be "taking risks" all over the place is a slap in the face!  It's all very confusing.

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   2. 79

      kenneth averyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Sherry, 8? I was told last year that HP only allowed 2.

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      1. 91

         Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I have never seen them actually commit to a specific maximum number. I believe you had to have at least 300 words per capsule, but meeting that requirement was no guarantee that the capsules would be allowed.

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   3. 94

      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sherry,
      
      It sounds like this is a product Hub geared toward people intending to shop. A "Best Beauty Products" type of deal or something similar. We consider the intent of the reader when looking at products. If they are at your Hub to shop, we consider allowing more products than we would otherwise. However, you must still show personal experience and demonstrate that you, personally, have tried everything you recommend and also include details of why you recommend that particular item over others.
      
      However, if your reader is there to gather information or learn how to do something (rather than looking for reviews or comparisons of products in a shopping context), he/she is not likely looking to buy, so we do not allow many products on informational Hubs unless you can show that the reader really would benefit from the item even though he/she is probably not there to make a purchase.

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      1. 91

         Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Christy, Thanks for responding, I appreciate the explanation. Do you happen to have a link to the example of good use of Amazon capsules that Millionaire Tips mentioned? I scrolled through the blog, but didn't find it.

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         1. 94

            Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            It sounds like this might be the post you're looking for. Robin offers product capsule guidelines with examples of good vs. bad product use.

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2. 76

   JRScarbroughposted 7 years ago

   I have experimented. I believe there is some kind of formula that pertains to how many words per text capsule and total number of capsules with relevant cotent that is aesthetically proportioned to allow for more ads without stealing away from the look and co tent of the hub as a whole.
   
   I jad one ad snipped and really, it needed it. The text capsule just was bland and short. It didn't fit into the big picture well and seemed to be just pushing a product.
   
   I'm not the type to try pushing too many products in one hub. I think it's ugly and any site I visit, if I see a lot if ads I start to discount the quality of the site. I have some hubs right now that I think I have too many ads on and I never have gone for more than four. I certainly want to get in at least 500 words at the top landing area to try to keep ads hidden until relevant to my topic. I believe all this fits into HPs goal of becoming a really respected Information site.

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   1. 91

      Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I did think that, visually it looked like a lot. I think that big, fat "buy it now" button makes it look bad, especially when there are a lot of them.

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   2. 91

      Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I have no problem with the snipping if it will help the new sites avoid the problems HP has had with Google. It just does not seem like that strategy will do much good if it is not applied consistently.

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      1. 86

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

         There's more to it than just the number of ads or how much money they make.  The key is to ask yourself if the ad you want to place is there because it will help the reader or because you want to earn more money.  If it's the second item, you should refrain from using the ad, even if relevant.
         
         For example, I would never place an ad for a bottle of Clorox.  Why?  Because this is a common item people can purchase at any local store, so it is not helping them in any way for me to advertise it on my posts.

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         1. 91

            Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I have always used Amazon capsules very sparingly in my posts. In the current climate, they are a true rarity. I will continue to only use an Amazon product if I feel like the hub just cries out for it.
            
            I just found it odd that a hub with so many Amazon products made it past all the editing and snipping intact. I don't know if it just fell through the cracks, or what.

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            1. 96

               Glenn Stokposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               I'm sure it didn't fall through the cracks. I've had some hubs moved to niche sites with Amazon capsules intact as well. Never that many though. And they did snip where appropriate. They even told me the one's they snipped never had any sales (which I knew). 
               
               But they do leave Amazon capsules that meet the rules (300 words or more per capsule and you must show authority on the product, such as being a user of the product yourself). If all that is met and the item brings in sales, it's a no-brainer to leave it and they don't seem to have a problem with that.

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               1. 91

                  Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  Not sure I agree with that assessment. They snip plenty of ads that meet all of the criteria you mentioned. Just not all of them.

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                  1. 96

                     Glenn Stokposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     There must be other reasons then. They never snipped any of mine that were getting sales.

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3. 84

   julieann26posted 7 years ago

   I have one article on a niche site and the Amazon capsule wasn't snipped.  I think it comes down to how relevant the Amazon product is to your article (mine was an autobiography written by the actor I wrote the article about).
   
   I usually only put one Amazon capsule per article I write no matter how many words there are.  Too many ads within the article would drown out the article itself in my opinion.

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   1. 91

      Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi julieanne26
      
      I have several hubs that were allowed to keep one Amazon product when they were moved. I thought I was pretty clear on what they were after. It pretty much came down to possibly one, highly relevant Amazon product.
      
      When I see an example like this though, it just makes me question what I thought I knew. I will not name the hub, and there was nothing really wrong with it. Still, I think that less products for sale would not have diminished its message. At least no more so than many others that didn't make the cut.
      
      Perhaps, as has been suggested, it is a matter of this being a highly trafficked hub that makes a lot of sales on all of these products.

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4. 92

   Millionaire Tipsposted 7 years ago

   Remember that blog post they had about Spammy elements, which gave examples of appropriate ads and spammy ads?  It had an example of one that had lots of ads that were acceptable.   I think they would be following those guidelines, only if there is any doubt, they err on the site of taking them out.
   
   I think if you have a "5 best gifts for Mother's Day" hub, then it would be appropriate to have 5 sales capsules.  And if they made sales, then it would be appropriate to keep them intact as they move to the niche site.
   
   That's my guess anyway, since I haven't had any of those type of hubs moved [yet].
   
   They want us to take the Amazon capsules out ourselves so they don't have to, and I have been taking out the ones I think don't make any sales, but without sales data, it is sometimes hard to know which ones were used.

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