Hubpages Adsense vs Amazon Earnings

1. 94

   Jonathan Wylieposted 6 years ago

   Last month, and in other recent months, my Amazon earnings are almost twice as much as my Ad Program earnings, yet, every month, I get notices from Hubpages saying that they removed Amazon capsules from my articles. I add them back in and they take them back out, and so the dance continues. I am getting tired of it. Whether it is on purpose or not, Hubpages seems hell bent on lowering my monthly earnings by removing Amazon capsules. Many of my articles don't even have Amazon capsules any more, and no explanation is given for why they are removed. I have personal experience with all the products I add and they are relevant to my articles, so this is getting very frustrating. More communication, and less automation, is needed. Guidance should be given on how a capsule could be retained.

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2. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

   I agree, it's frustrating.   HubPages is paranoid about Amazon capsules, there is no other word for it! 
   
   I just had a capsule snipped on my Hub about a particular Spanish folk dance.  In the whole world there is only one instructional DVD on this dance, and it's a good resource.  I recommend it for those who can't get to a real teacher.  It has been snipped twice, and I've put it back twice - and I'm going to keep on putting it back.  It's patently obvious that it's relevant and useful to the reader.

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      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Have you tried using a text based link instead? I've not had problems with amazon here. Also, the text-based links are doing much better on the conversion rate than the capsules (personally).

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3. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

   One question, Jonathan - do you mention the product in the text, and do you have wording which makes it clear you have personal experience of it? 
   
   Even if a product is totally relevant, if you don't have a sentence which uses "I" or "my" (e.g. "I recommend this product because..." or "..... is my favourite brand because..."), it will get snipped.   Reviews stating the benefits of the product in impersonal terms don't survive.

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   1. 94

      Jonathan Wylieposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks. I will try to be more specific and see if that works.

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      modern housewifeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I had products removed and I did say “I use...” I explained why I use that particular product and why I like it.
      They are relevant and useful to me audience. I am getting so frustrated.

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4. 97

   Glenn Stokposted 6 years ago

   Jonathan, As Marisa said, make sure you clearly mention the expertise you have with the product. I might also add that you should include content about your experience in the Amazon capsule itself. Don't just include an empty capsule with just the product. I find this helps a lot.
   
   Also, you said the products are directly related to the hub, but are they really? Many people misunderstand this part of the puzzle.
   
   For example, I have seen recipe hubs with Amazon ads for cooking utensils. People searching Google for recipes are not looking for cooking utensils. Therefore that is not directly related. See my point?
   
   You have to ask yourself if showing an ad for the product you're listing actually adds value for the reader. If it doesn't, it will be removed. You might think you're losing revenue, but the idea is to get Google to show your hub more often in SERPs. So in the long run you'll be making more money.

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   1. 94

      Jonathan Wylieposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      The hub was about the pros and cons of Chromebooks and my capsule was recommending a good Chromebook, so in my mind, the relevance is there.
      
      By adding more to the capsule, do you mean a subtitle? Because that is really all you can do, right? You can't add paragraph text, can you?

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         Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I am talking about adding descriptive text to the capsule. There is a field in the capsule where you can add that.
         
         When I add enough text, the "buy now" button gets pushed down below my text. I find this seems to help because people don't get to the button until they've read my description. Then they are more inclined to click it.
         
         By the way, if you recommend a Chromebook, you need to explain why you recommend it. Otherwise the ad is taken as spammy and has a chance of being removed. The best place to put this explanation is in the capsule description text as I mentioned above.

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      2. 95

         theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, you can add a description right in the Amazon capsule. Look for small italicised text that says "Add a description."  Having said that, I tried to add one a couple of days ago and it wouldn't 'take'.

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5. 88

   toptengamerposted 6 years ago

   I have had issues with all types of Amazon links and capsules in the last few days. The other day I had 3 niche site article that had all of their Amazon capsules, in-text links, etc... snipped. Every single one. I have NEVER gone over the 300-word limit. Also, I have extensive knowledge of the products I write about, so they are personal expert recommendations as HP requires.
   
   Without the Amazon capsules and text links in these hubs, they are basically worthless. So, this is a big deal. I don't run Adsense ads on these types of articles, either.
   
   All I really want to know is what the standard is so that when I make edits, they won't get changed. The frustrating part is that I think we all want to follow the rules. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure what those are right now.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Toptengamer, I have a Hub about the "Basic Rules" which explains the rules for Amazon in detail.  You'll find it on the slider on my profile.
      
      The 300 word rule is basically irrelevant. They should get rid of it, because it's misleading. These days you would be lucky to get two Amazon ads approved on a 1,200 word Hub, let alone four!

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6. 87

   ThePracticalMommyposted 6 years ago

   I'm so glad I found this thread, because I thought I was the only one. I emailed HubPages about it two days ago and didn't get a reply. My Amazon capsules are relevant to my text as well and include descriptions, but they keep getting snipped.

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7. 84

   Terrielynn1posted 6 years ago

   It keeps happening to me too. I stopped trying. I Can't figure out why they are being removed unless it's a new editor. alot of mine were even on niche sites and weren't removed until recently. not sure way all of a sudden they are gone. oh well, I won't stop writing here. Maybe they are going to stop Amazon ads.

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8. 95

   theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

   This thread is quite old. Things are changing all the time. Any items you link to have to be essential to the process or to the topic... being related or useful just isn't enough.

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