Where ARE the Editor's Choice hubs?

1. 95

   purl3agonyposted 10 years ago

   I know there's been a lot of discussion on the forums about the Editor's Choice hubs.  First, I want to say that I really appreciate all the hard work and creativity that the HP staff put into our community, but I guess I just don't understand the idea behind the Editor's Choice hubs.  I thought that there would be a link somewhere (at least under "Topics") that would list and have links to all the hubs that have been chosen for this distinction, but I can't find a link anywhere.  Where ARE the Editor's Choice hubs?  If these hubs are supposed to be a teaching tool for the rest of us for what makes a great hub, shouldn't the Editor's Choice hubs be linked somewhere for everyone to see them?
   
   Secondly, one of my hubs has now been chosen as an Editor's Choice, and yet there's no banner or icon on my hub announcing this accolade.  The only notation I can find about my Editor's Choice award is when I look at the list of my hubs under my account.  If the Editor's Choice program is a way to promote quality hubs (as stated in the last email newsletter from the HP staff), shouldn't there be some official seal/icon/whatever on the hub that indicates it has been awarded this special distinction?
   
   I would love to hear a response from the HP community, but I also hope to hear from the HP staff.

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The day HP publicly promotes one of my hubs as the "right" way to get traffic will be the day that hub is taken down.
      
      It's one thing to quietly promoted it somewhere on the site with a link or two, it's quite another to scream out that it is among the best of the best.  Give a thief a list of what you consider to be your best work and you will quickly have a list of copied hubs.

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      1. 95

         purl3agonyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I can understand your concern.  But I'm curious, what is your understanding of the purpose or reason for the Editor's Choice hubs?  I guess I still don't really understand what it's about

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            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            My understanding?  Understand that it is only a guess as HP does not include me in their internal discussions, but I think it is to make the core domain of HP once more of real value, just as it was in the past.
            
            The means that the core needs to be filled with high quality (in google's eyes) hubs, and that appears to me to be what HP is trying to do.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               HP is not making its selection based on Google traffic but on QAP – two very different formulas.  To have your URLs on the main domain puts them into a mishmash of quality content in Google's eyes.  Keeping them on your own subdomain means that you control the quality of what appears there.

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                  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Although they have not said so (as far as I've seen) I think you're right - QAP is the determining factor of being an EC.  The QAP that, I think, is Hp's effort to rate hubs as google does - to give HP the ability to pick out "quality".  Whether it does so or not, it is HP's best effort to do so.

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            2. 95

               purl3agonyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks, Wilderness!  I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
               
               Thanks, Writer Fox - with just your answer above, I understand better why you opted out of the program.  Thanks again.

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         Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Very good point, Wilderness! I hadn't thought of that, but your 100% correct! Those hubs will be copied in a hot-minute. EVERYWHERE.

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         Stacie Lposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I have three and now you have me worried....

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There are many threads on the forum about Editor's Choice Hubs.  I think it would be wise of you to read the seven pages of posts on this thread:
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/115372
      
      I opted out of the program.

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      1. 95

         purl3agonyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your response.  I've been glancing through these as they are posted, but I guess I need something in the plainest English to explain the pros (and cons) of the program.  If you don't mind me asking, why did you opt out?

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I made six replies to that forum post.  My reasons are there.

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      Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think the idea was to give the hub a special award. The hub will now have the weight of Hubpages ranking instead of your own domain's. Hopefully these hubs will do better at Google since Hubpages has a better ranking then our subdomains.

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         Thief12posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I really hadn't notice this (the domain thing), so it should be cool for these hubs to receive more focus in Google.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         No, the Editor's Choice Hubs don't have a 'better ranking.'  They don't get any increased PageRank whatsoever.

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            Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            You cannot grasp the point of EC hubs because you do not understand Panda and the way it has affected this site.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I am an authority on Google Panda.  It is you who are not.

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                  Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Good grief.

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                  calculus-geometryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Are you a Google employee?

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            Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes they do get a better ranking. One of mine that is Editor's Choice is now on page 1 and before could hardly be found. Hubpages has a rank of something like 6 and mine is only 3.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               What is the PageRank of your Hub now as compared to before?

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      The Dirt Farmerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I noticed in the blog about EC hubs that there will be an Editor's Choice icon in the future.

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         purl3agonyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Jill

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   5. 93

      Christy Kirwanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi purl3agony,
      
      I did a recent Newsletter on Editor's Choice to provide a little more clarity. Hopefully some of the answers there will be helpful!

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         purl3agonyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Christy,
         I saw your newsletter, and now I do see that you said a icon was in the works.  But I don't feel that it answers my first question.  Can you provide more clarification?

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            Christy Kirwanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I can certainly try! As well as rewarding great Hubs and Hubbers, we intend to curate a corpus of excellent work on HubPages that we hope will help make us a go-to destination and brand that readers will recognize for exceptional, high-quality content.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               So, it's not about anything in the Newsletter post; it's about curating a corpus to impress readers if they can find the exhibition. What you have made clear is that the Editor's Choice program is not addressing the site's problems with Google traffic and was never intended to do so.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Authors are leery of changes without warning, especially when it involves changing the URLs of their Hubs – which is a drastic change.  Most writers here are writing for the goal of income and that is the understood goal of HubPages Inc. as well. So authors and stock holders are on the same page, but I do think most authors do not understand the implementation of Editor's Choice.
         
         I read that your background is in history and advertising and know that Web content and pleasing Google is a horse of a different color for you. That's OK.  Everyone starts from nothing learning about Web content and Google algorithms.
         
         HP authors have valid concerns which HP corporate has never sufficiently addressed, which is why threads keep popping up on the forum about the EC 'award.' Many Hubbers are just discovering that their URLs have been changed! The reality is that we want to hear from the Pauls. I think most writers want to know the real motive behind the EC designation and the intent of HP for the future of the website.
         
         If it is really just an award, why is the URL changed on a Hub?  Why is the option given to 'opt out' since that option appears for no other accolade?  Do you not understand that this leads to a certain amount of suspicion from authors?
         
         I just re-read your Newsletter post and I still do not understand:
         
         1."Honor our best writers for excelling at their craft" – Where and what is the 'honor' in simply changing the Hub URL and causing confusing for Google and Bing?
          
         2. "Provide more exposure for the highest quality Hubs" – I don't think a link from Facebook or the Newsletter brings outside visitors and continual, increased traffic to these Hubs.
         
         3. " Showcase examples of the community's best work on the HubPages domain" – I don't find that changing the URL does anything to 'showcase' any Hub.
         
         4.  "Reward Hubbers for their continued hard work and effort with an Editor's Choice Accolade" – Since there is no such accolade after six weeks of the program, it does seem like an accolade is more of an afterthought for the change rather than a reason.
         
         5.  "Additional perks are in development, so keep an eye out!" – This, too, seems like a diversion from the real intent of HP.
         
         HP's inability to coordinate its content efforts with Google's Quality Guidelines is frustrating for many authors here.
         
         For example, I have a Hub which has received 19,354 visits in the past 30 days and it has a Hub Score of 81. I have a Hub which receives over 100 visits a day from search engines and is only rated 72 on the HP algorithm. I have four other Hubs which are receiving over 1,000 views per month (sent from search engines) with Hub Scores under 80. So, I know for a fact that HP is not paying attention to what Google considers quality content and that raises my concern for the health and the future of the HP website.
         
         I realize that you personally may not know the reasons for this, but maybe you could ask at the proverbial Thursday meeting.
         
         With the original poster on this thread, I, too, "just don't understand the idea behind the Editor's Choice hubs."  And, further, I don't understand why HP isn't making a visible, substantial effort to match its QAP with Google's Quality Guidelines. Google Guidelines and Google search rankings have nothing to do with polls, quizzes, tables, maps, original images, word count, videos, nor updating (except for news sites).

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      My take on this is totally different from what I've seen others say.  I am looking at these changes strictly on a business model basis.  Here's what I think, for what it is worth.
      
      HP was going so well that the team got sloppy about allowing poor content on the site.  As a result, they lost favor with Google.  To try and remedy this, they decided to set some standards (the QAP).  Many writers who were used to writing without them and who started getting slapped around, became unhappy about them and started complaining.  Many closed their accounts or simply left the site. The QAP was poorly designed and caught many quality hubs in its trap.  This made more people leave.  The QAP also was moving too slowly, so many low quality hubs remained on the site.  HP decided to separate itself by putting all hubs into subdomains.  This caused a lot of confusion and problems, and more writers left.  Ranking also dropped as did CPMs and views.  Since it was going to take forever for HP to distance itself from poor quality writers, it decided to cherry pick what the team considered to be the very best articles and put them back on their domain.  The rest would either sink or swim on their own merits.  However, for many, the EC has not worked well, and now some of us don't want to get involved with it because we know Google frowns on changing URLs and making big changes all at once and also has been slapping HP around pretty good this year, which has dragged everybody down.  Furthermore, some of us write series types articles and if you remove one, you mess the series up.  In addition, if  I have 100 hubs and you take the top 10 earners, I am left with butkus.  And if those top 10 don't do well because of the changes, I'm in trouble.  The bottom line is that HP keeps trying to fix its problems, but unfortunately has not considered the deeper consequences of some of the changes it has made.  What I think it is trying to do is build a new, stronger core that will survive and become the basis of a new HP that will rise from the ashes of the old one.  Whether they can succeed is questionable.  So, this is my view, and it may be totally off base, but it makes sense to me.  I wish I was wrong about all of this.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Bravo!

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         jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         "....build a new, stronger core that will survive and become the basis of a new HP that will rise from the ashes of the old one."
         
         I see truth in your statement and hope for the future.

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            But it's not a "new, stronger core."  Every EC Hub is an old Hub and has, for better or worse, already been evaluated by Google.  Right now, more Google traffic is going to non-EC Hubs than to those in the program.  EC Hubs have lost their URLs and non-EC Hubs have lost their navigation.

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      KenDeanAgudoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Here is the form friend if you wanted to vote on the 3rd Annual HubPages Hubbie Awards! good lcuk and hubpages is awesome , i love there awards and rewards
      https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Z81Z5e … Y/viewform

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   Doodleheadposted 10 years ago

   The "core"?   What is the "core"?   There may be a lot of Editor's Choice hubs, but my guess is that there are "way more" slobs like me out there who own zero Editor's Choice hubs. 
   
   In other words, if there is a "core" they are outnumbered by us losers so I don't know how much overall influence this "core" could have.
   
   Plus, what happened to the lady with the eight kids and all her hubs?   I don't know her name so I can't look her up.   Is she part of the "core"?

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3. 92

   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   So glad you asked this question, purl3agony. I've been wanting to post the same, as I remain confused as to where they are as well. I'm not sure where the "main domain" is located. I also don't understand the difference between the "All Topics Featured Hubs" and the "Editor's Choice Hubs." (Yes, I read the info on the blog and in the LC, but it doesn't answer questions about how to view them.)
   
   I can tell you that I opted out as well because I didn't quite understand the pros and cons for me as an individual hubber. I am now beginning to comprehend that the larger goal of Editor's Choice was to help increase the quality, ranking, and traffic of the entire site. The recognition of particular hubs and awarding of hubbers is nice but secondary to the larger goal. I think it's meant to be a win-win but I was never really sure and still not clear.
   
   So I probably will opt in at some point out of curiosity but I'm in no hurry to do so. If it ain't broke . . . .

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There is no difference between Editor's Choice Hubs and non-Editor's Choice Hubs on Topics pages.  The only difference is that Editor's Choice Hubs are filed like this on the HP website: hubpages.com/hub/name of your hub
      
      And, non-Editor's Choice Hubs are filed like this:
      your subdomain.hubpages.com/hub/name of your hub
      
      Note:  There is no location hubpages.com/hub or
      your subdomain.hubpages.com/hub. What this means is that your Hub is only found on Topic pages according to the site architecture and on your subdomain.
      
      To locate all of the Hubber subdomains on the site architecture, this page lists them:   
      hubpages.com/authors/best
      That page, however, is boycotted by Google PageRank, according to the last visible update in February.
      
      People who say there is some advantage to being on the "main domain" are losing site of the fact that everything is on the main domain. All subdomains are on the main domain.  The only "authority" your Hub gets from being on HP is from the Topic pages, from your subdomain, and other internal links (from other Hubs, etc.).
      
      Changing the URL of a Hub is not something you do without careful thought and an overwhelming reason, and doing so has repercussions.  Another problem down line is that HP staff has said that the change in URL for Editor's Choice Hubs could be temporary, meaning that in 60 days or so, the staff might change the URL again.  Revolving-door URLs is definitely not something I choose for my Hubs, which Google loves just the way they are!

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         jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you so much, Writer Fox for this comprehensive explanation. It is finally starting to gel. One thing that's been bugging me, even before EC rolled out: When I look at the performance of my hubs on GA, I see two different URLs for one hub, some of my best hubs, just as you've described. I've never understood this. Who changed the URLs? I vaguely remember hearing something about HP was changing URLs months ago. I have this weird feeling that I was a guinea pig back then and may have screwed up the experiment by opting out of EC. What do you think?

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            According to your Profile, you weren't writing on HubPages when the initial change was made to subdomains.  The Editor's Choice URLs were changed beginning on August 8, 2013. It sounds like some of your Hubs are Editor's Choice.  Are they?  If so, there will be confusion about which URL is the correct one.  You can manually remove the incorrect URL from Webmaster Tools.

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               jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               No, as far as I know I have no EC hubs, no indicators on my stat page. If I recall correctly, it rolled out on a Thursday and I opted out on Saturday. So I shouldn't have any. But as I indicated above, I'm smelling a guinea pig. Something isn't right. No harm done I guess, but it is strange.

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                  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Go to the individual Hubs which are showing two URLs in Webmaster tools and see what the true URL is right now.

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                     jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I'm clueless, never used it, just tried it and now I'm lost. Do I need to put my subdomain URL in that box, then click the box that says "verify?" Ei-yi-yi.

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                        Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        This is what you wrote: "When I look at the performance of my hubs on GA, I see two different URLs for one hub."   Go to that Hub from your subdomain page and see what URL it has right now.

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                        jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Just looked under content/pageviews in GA. So far, the few I saw are showing my subdomain URLs. Also opened articles from my profile page and found the same. Will return later. Thanks for your help.

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                           jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           Writer Fox, I finally came across what was confusing me about one hub with 2 URLs when I'm in GA looking at pageviews under content. For example, one URL has the word "slide" then the title, and it ends with a seven or eight digit number. The other URL (same hub) has the word "hub" then ends with the title. Sorry if I'm not giving a clear explanation. So what does this mean again?

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                              Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              Is the Hub one that you have put in the spotlight/slideshow?  That could be what 'slide' means. Or, it could be from 'Recent Images' when the Hub was new and the first few pictures were featured on your subdomain landing page.

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                                 jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                 Yes, got it. So the reader may have clicked on it from the spotlight carousel, I guess. Thanks.

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   Will Apseposted 10 years ago

   This search brings up a mixed batch of pages but it is easy to pick out the EC hubs. Drop into Google search.
   
   site:hubpages.com/hub
   
   My EC hubs have done well so far.
   
   Also the criteria must be well beyond the QAP test. I have had hubs chosen that do not look anything like the 'style guide' model. Some were obviously chosen for the read times and other signs of engagement.

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      sallybeaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I asked the same question a week or so ago  on the forum pages but only got three responses.   Thanks to Will Apse for providing the link above.  It does seem from looking at the Editors Choice hubs on the link that they  have  largely been written by Apprentice writers!  Perhaps this is the criteria being used for Editor Choice selection!

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         There is no such thing as: hubpages.com/hub
         
         What you are seeing in the search results is not a list of Editor's Choice Hubs!

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            Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Well done, you noticed. Now you might like to read my original post.

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         Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         This may seem to be so just because APs are among the currently active and productive writers. However, I am not an AP and suddenly got 8 new EC designations yesterday.

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            Pearldiverposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Good one Rochelle... 
            
            For me -
            
            Ssshhh.... The Editor appears to have chosen to ignore the immense wisdom I have sown into the lining of my hubs! 
            
            

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   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   If HP were to EC one of my hubs that's getting no traffic, I'd be fine with it. But if HP were to EC one of my hubs that is already getting traffic, that would make me extremely nervous; probably to the point of opting out.

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6. 86

   Dorsiposted 10 years ago

   I just found out last night that 6 of my hubs have been chosen as Editors Choices. I am very surprised and also honored at this. I have decided to opt "in" to this and see what happens. One of the hubs that was chosen used to be my top hub getting over 1,000 page views a day. Now it is lucky to get 100 or so after the Panda/Penguin/Poodle update.
   
   I have been here 5 years through the good and the bad. I am continually learning and put my trust into HP to do what they need to do. It has not been easy for any of us, trying to figure out Google's next changes. It is frustrating and irritating. I trust HP, always have - and will continue to put my faith in them to make wise decisions. I am the writer and don't want to worry myself about the way they promote and run their business.
   
   I have my own website to learn about and that's enough headache for me. I rather like to give the reins to HP to make the decisions they need to for the overall site. JMHO.
   
   I am not worried about thief's stealing my content. I have always managed to fight them off with the help of HP through the appropriate channels.

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      Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Congratulations, Dorsi! What an honor! None of my hubs have been selected as Editors Choices, even my Hub of the Day article. Instead, a bunch became unfeatured, including some of my good performers (!?), so again I'm perplexed.
      
      It's soooo refreshing to hear your optimism about HP after being here for 5 years, through thick and thin--I really needed that. I had a really bad HP day yesterday and was losing my faith in HP. I'm trying really hard to have an attitude adjustment. The removal of all my Amazon capsules was a huge blow, however, followed closely by allowing only one search-based eBay capsule per hub, and it required days of reworking some of the hubs to even make sense (you can't do a book review/recommendation on a book that's not there!). I think I'm done with most of that now. I only had to take a few articles down altogether. Hopefully they'll add back in the G+ button because I don't know how to "claim" my hubs without it (I'm off to look that up now). Maybe that'll improve my traffic and scores and simultaneously my attitude. LOL
      
      Congratulations again on all of your Editors' Choice hubs--I'm totally jealous! Someday I hope to have an Editors' Choice hub selected. That would be very cool!
      
      Keep up the good work, and thanks for your inspiring words. I shall try to live by them. :-). --Laura

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         Dorsiposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         awww your sweet Laura. I am pretty much an optimist, been through alot of trials in my life and it's the only thing that keeps me sane lol :-)
         
         I am glad my words helped you and you know being here at HP is just like any other thing in life, we need to deal with the good and the bad - and learn to trust the process (or at least try lol) I have personally met Paul and his wife and alot of the HP staffers and they are a stellar group of people. I have learned so much here and am very grateful for that. Just stick with it Laura and things will work out just fine!

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            Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, I'll do that, Dorsi! I have no doubt that HP means the best, but sometimes the best still marginalizes some, regrettably. Matthew is one of my favorites because I know he'll always "tell it like it is"--good or bad. I love that. I'm sure I'd love the others at HP, too, there are just so many changes lately that make me have to rework and rework and rework hubs rather than "keep writing new, good content" as they say--which is what I want to do--and I get frustrated when old rules are reversed. (Google gets a good share of my frustration there). I'm having a good day today, though, thanks to you. I'm pretty much an optimist, too, thank goodness, so I have faith that the rate of rework will soon slow down and I can actually get back to writing new stuff again. LOL
            
            Congratulations again on your Editor's Choice hubs! And, thanks again for sharing your positive attitude.
            
            Cheers!
            
            --Laura
            
            --Laura

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         agvulpesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         G'day Laura just a heads-up on the ebay capsules!!!
         To my knowledge the restriction is NOT on the amount of Capsules in a Hub, it is on the amount of 'searches' in each capsule! 

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            Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            OHHHHHH! < stupid me! > That totally makes more sense! I misread it completely, and was bummed because who knows what a particular eBay seller will have to sell on a given day if I were to specify the merchant--could be totally irrelevant to my hub. Boy do I feel stupid and relieved! Thank you so much, agvulpes, for setting me straight! I really appreciate it! --Laura

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               agvulpesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Not stupid at all   We don't know what we don't know do we ?

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                  Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  You are a kind and generous person, agvulpes! You've made my life (and my earnings! LOL) on HP possible again. (I'm in one of the states that can't use Amazon capsules. :-( So, it's Ebay only for me.) Cheers! :-)

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   A new stronger core without crap like my hubs.
   
   Forgive my lack of enthusiasm.

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe the non-EC Hubs are the "new, stronger core."

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         DDEposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I have an Editors Choice Hub

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   abetterwaytoliveposted 10 years ago

   I agree purl3agony. It does seem a bit confusing. I think it would be a good idea to make the editor's choice banners visible to the public.

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   Alison Grahamposted 10 years ago

   If you look at any topic page and mouse over a few of the hub titles, it should only take a few seconds for you to find a hub that starts with hubpages.com rather than a hubbers user name followed by .hubpages.com (the url for the hub shows up at the bottom of your screen when you do)  - I believe that all of these are EC hubs - I think this is correct as I believe all hubbers had to swap to their own subdomain - but if that is not the case, I might be wrong!

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      abetterwaytoliveposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That makes a lot of sense Alison. Thanks for clarifying. I think we would all still like to be publicly recognized for our editor's choice awards... I'm sure I'm not the only person out here that thinks that it is silly and downright pointless to recognize and "award" someone privately behind closed doors. I mean, in the Olympics the first three people to earn a medal are put on pedestals and given medals in front of the entire world. I'm sure " I hope" Hubpages has recognized this and is working on a solution that will be implemented soon.

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         agvulpesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         For those who have not read it the latest blog entry gives us some insight :
         http://blog.hubpages.com/
         I hope it is sooner rather than later

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         Alison Grahamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I think it would be great if hubpages could recognize our Google authorship on EC hubs (as we are no longer highlighted as the author in the search results) but to be honest any 'badge' is far less important to me than Hubpages promoting my EC hubs for me, taking steps to protect them is they get copied by someone else and most importantly getting the views and income back that the recent changes have decimated. I hope "the management" will do all these things for Hubs they have identified as prime content, likely to benefit the site as much as the authors!
         I think HubPages have done far more for their authors than Squidoo and seem to be faring better now - time will tell.

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            Laura Schneiderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Great points, Alison Graham! I totally agree!

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               Jean Bakulaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Hi purl3agony,
               I've read this massive thread, and Time Traveller2 is giving you the most honest explanation. Many of the others have done their best, and are not wrong. But if you strip away all the BS, basically HP had way too much spam, and they allowed it for years. Finally Google slapped them hard with the first algorithm change, an attempt to get all the garbage off Google, it was not only aimed at HP. HP has tried all kinds of changes to bring the site's traffic back, and some people have indicated they were helped by these measures. I got 2 EC's and immediately lost all traffic to them, and so I opted out.
               
               Most of the changes have been arbitrary, and if you think them through they don't really matter one way or the other. The one allowing one Amazon product per hub took days to fix, and that was unnecessary, especially because we are writing to make money, so why take away one of our tools to do so? As Wilderness pointed out, advertising EC's will just get more hubs stolen, that's been a big problem for about a year now. Will explained how getting an EC will change it's Title to a subdomain, meaning your hub will have a different URL address. Google doesn't like it when people change addresses or titles, in the old days people could have basically the same article under several titles, and just change the wording a bit. When the big slap came, they gave us all separate HP addresses under the HP umbrella. That's what the subdomains are, and the address has your name in it. The old way if some wanted to read a hub of yours, they had to log into HP and then enter your name, it was not automatically in the URL.
               
               Since this EC thing, I have so little traffic it's not worth it to write here anymore. I have 138 hubs, and right now 2 of them have red arrows. There used to be 30 or 50 each day at different times. So it appears the EC change made a bad situation worse, although that may just be in the short term. I write things in a series form, so the EC hub thing hurt me. I had 2 and they were both parts of series, but not the beginning piece that explained the series. It could just be a matter of time, and I hope that it is. I am not moving all these hubs, because I don't know what site is doing a lot better, and its a lot of work to move them. Many say they will put them on their individual blog, but I have one, and that's all changed now too, I have to refigure out how to even post on it.
               
               So EC is an attempt to revive HP. It is one of many, and that's why so many people left. All the good writers from the past left, and only the newest bunch of them remain. I would wait before I put a large body of work on here, and see if traffic picks up. I hoped it would in the Fall, it usually does, but it's even slower for me than the summer was. Best of luck to you.

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         SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sorry but no, not "all" of us want a banner or an award. Thieves are a real threat, and an award is basically an advertisement to thieves. Readers do not care whether or not an article has a gold star on it. Other than a few competitive hubbers and some thieves, no one is looking for gold stars on our articles.
         
         Additionally, I do not believe a gold star is the point of the EC program. The point of the program is to gain favor with Google, and as a result to have Google send us more traffic -- if all goes as planned. EC is not a writing award, it is a  strategy for dealing with the whims of Google. It's just another filter, like the QAP, but it's a step up from the QAP.
         
         If EC doesn't work, HP could eventually move our EC hubs back to our domains, and/or discontinue the program. If it doesn't work, HP won't want to pay people to read and classify every single hub for no reason other than to give out gold stars, and I won't blame them. Don't get too attached to the whole EC thing.

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    brakel2posted 10 years ago

    Time traveler explains it well. I know those with EC want recognition  I dont blame them as they and you Jean are out on a limb and hoping for success.

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       Jean Bakulaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Audrey,
       That's pretty much the way it is. I don't think it's worth it to move all the hubs to my blog, that doesn't get a lot of traffic either. I know a lot of people on here have their own blogs, and get a lot less traffic than I do on mine, yet they claim to make quite a lot of money each month, while I've made about $100 in a year, from Amazon things I put on my blog. Since it's Astrology people may view it as a "self help" topic, like I'm Dear Abby or something. I realize I was too free to give people "mini readings" when I came to HP, and also the title of my blog may suggest to some that it is a religious site, but it's not.
       
       I'm on Bubblews now, the latest craze. It's a lot of fun, I'll say that. You only need 400 characters, so you write a paragraph about anything that pops into your head. You get pennies for every comment you make, any connection you make, practically anything you do, and it adds up fast. I was only on for 3 days and have been sick today, but I am going to see how I do with that. Online writing keeps changing so much, so I don't have a big plan now. My blog isn't worth the time I put into it, so I'm going to finish a few topics and leave it, I bought the domain name for another year before I decided to give up, and I'll leave a link or comment to remind people it will be a complete tutorial for learning the Tarot before I finish, and they can still order horoscopes or Tarot readings. We just have to see what changes and what new things happen.

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    Solarasposted 10 years ago

    Bubblews is paying well but it requires a lot of "community service" and in the long run it relies on mutual appreciation. I consider HP a better bet for long term passive income.
    
    Okay, I have no EC hubs, and that's fine with me.  I am encouraged that some posters her are still getting 1300+ views a day per hub. That gives me something to strive for.  Not all is lost, and that would beat the sh!t out of the Bubblews daily grind.
    
    I will keep trying to hit that home run (or two or three) over here! I have not given up on HP!  Tell me a better platform and I will give it a whirl...But I will still write here as well.

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       abetterwaytoliveposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the feedback Solaras.

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