A few changes

1. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

   We deployed a few changes to the site in the last hour.  You may have noticed some funny behavior briefly.  The biggest change is that we modified the location of advertisements on hubs a bit, in a way that hopefully will increase your (and our) earnings.  Give it a few days to optimize before you pass judgement.  One other change, that you'll probably notice is that we now display the IP Address of the person that left you a comment (you can only see this on your own hubs, when logged in).  This may help you detect if there is any funny business going on in your comments.
   
   If you experience anything strange on the site, I'd recommend holding down shift and refreshing the page.

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      LiamBeanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I know my hubscores went up, in some cases dramatically. My view count went down though so I'm a bit confused. Are views per day determined by the time of day the hub is published?
      
      No complaints though. Many of my hubs broke the 90 score...finally.

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      trakker14posted 16 years agoin reply to this

      The only thing i see different on my hub is my videos are gone...

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   RFoxposted 16 years ago

   I did notice something funky. Thought I had angered the computer gods. Thanks for clearing it up.

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   Iðunnposted 16 years ago

   thank you.

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   rogue nestlingposted 16 years ago

   You don't think displaying IP addresses of members to the general public (even in the form of registered users) is a wise thing to do?
   I don't like having my IP address displayed like this without my prior knowledge & consent.
   I seriously disagree that this is an advantageous solution, and think this is more of a privacy breach than an answer.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      The same concern occurred to me.  Can someone more knowledgeable than I explain what someone could do if they had a person's IP address?

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         darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         If you had your own blog or forum you'd be able to see peoples IP addresses.
         
         
         Be able to see if different people posting messages in your hub are in fact the same person.
         
         Which is what I'm about to go do now. To see if there's been any sock puppet action been happening in a couple of my hubs that I previously suspected but didn't have evidence.

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   College politicoposted 16 years ago

   I don't think I like the new placement of adsense ads... I don't like how they break up the hub

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   1. STAFF

      pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      If your hub is not commercial, try setting the ad level to medium.  That will eliminate the half width ad that will usually appear near the top right of your hub.

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         College politicoposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         First, let me say thanks for addressing my concerns. But I think that most of my hubs are set to medium and I get an ad that is full width about 2 paragraphs down into my hubs that I checked. Thats the one I dislike.

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         1. STAFF

            pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            Well, might I suggest trying low then.  That will typically give you only the ad in the footer and the sidebar.   There is obviously some interplay between how the ads intermingle with your content and how frequently they will draw the reader's attention.

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               College politicoposted 16 years agoin reply to this

               I understand that you're trying to improve profit all around but I just wanted to express my disapproval with the placement. I'm not trying to criticize hubpages, I just generally don't like ads that break up articles... many other sites (foxnews for example) use similar tactics and I always find them annoying and I feel like it lowers the prestige of the site overall.
               
               But I'm willing to defer to hubpages' judgement and see how things turn out. Perhaps the average reader feels differently than I do.
               
               (sorry if there are spelling errors, I'm not at my computer and dont have spell check in this browser)

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   Iðunnposted 16 years ago

   best of my knowledge it just gives a drift of someone's general location.

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   relacheposted 16 years ago

   I would have preferred to be asked ahead of time about the IP address change, not just informed after the fact.

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   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   Frankly I don't care about my IP shown to everybody. I don't have anything to cover, and I work from McLean, VA through Verizon FIOS

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   Kenny Wordsmithposted 16 years ago

   Thank you, Paul, for this constant improvement.
   I don't know about the potential dangers, either, if any.

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    Iðunnposted 16 years ago

    have to go with darkside on this.  I've been on the receiving end of sockpuppet activity in the past and like having the same opportunity to know.
    
    also, now I can compare what is coming up as IP numbers to known IP numbers of a woman who is stalking me and her small entourage (through old board admin), so at the least, knowing I can see them discourages them from interacting with me while pretending to be new people.  it cuts down my paranoia level considerably.
    
    I wish I had known before I suspected some poor girl from india it turns out I had wrong suspicians on just because of her wording.  I should write her.
    
    dunno what it does for everyone else, but it gives me a chance to trust new people.

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    stephhicks68posted 16 years ago

    If its an improvement, I'm probably too naive to know of any dangers.  I'll check out my published hubs and see what I think.  Thanks.

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    Iðunnposted 16 years ago

    yeah, on the dangers, none to me.  the woman after me has my IP, my home address and everything else already, keeps files on all my posted photos, posts, poetry yada.  and I had to keep getting my phone unlisted over and over from "undercover spies" in fake names in her little "game". 
    
    I have nothing to lose and have everything to gain from this.  even footing.

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    rogue nestlingposted 16 years ago

    Those who don't want their IP addy shown can find the means to disguise it. I think this is merely a false sense security offered to stop the drama. Mods/Admins could easily, and with more knowledge of the process, compare and analyze IP addresses instead of making them public.
    I didn't register thinking that my IP address would be common knowledge, and it bothers me that  the rules have changed mid-game.
    My two cents.

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    Hovalisposted 16 years ago

    I noticed the hiccup and then the ads changing location. It'll be interesting to see the results. I know there are people concerned about the logging of IP addresses, but I can see that it has more benefits than bad points.
    
    Thanks for letting us know what is going on. :-)

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    rogue nestlingposted 16 years ago

    I just wanted to point out than a simple cursory glance shows that some posters have more than one IP address shown, depending on when/which Hub they commented in. This shows that displaying IP addresses isn't a sure way of identifying problems.
    
    It would be nice if the Admin would give us some feedback on the potential for this to bring more concerns than comfort to the community.

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    Iðunnposted 16 years ago

    I did notice I came up on my own hubs two ways, and have no idea why?  I'm static as far as I know.  :shrug:

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    LdsNana-AskMormonposted 16 years ago

    Help me understand... I have definitely had funny business to deal with, but I don't get it?  It is not from those commenting, but not getting comments and having comments removed, before I ever see them...
    
    Yes, having IP public only helps with identifying spam from same source?  What else?  How should we use this information and consider this an improvement?
    
    So do we just block that IP?
    Kathryn

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18. STAFF

    pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

    Some of the concerns about the ip address change people had seemed reasonable.  Therefore effective immediately, we are only going to display the IP address of comments made from this point and forward (and as before, only to the author of the hub).  Consider yourselves warned.  If you want to keep your IP address a secret, don't make comments on other people's hubs (or use an anonymizing web proxy).

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    Iðunnposted 16 years ago

    I don't know about all the fall out in other ways, but I do know it gave me an opportunity already to apologize to a lovely woman I had treated poorly, and who was courteous enough to accept my apology.
    
    I have been hounded and terrified for so long and I didn't know how to balance wanting to be safe with wanting to be friendly to nice people.  I didn't know what to do and have made some terrible errors out of fear.
    
    This new thing allowed me to fix one of them so for that alone I am very grateful.  I have to admit, I feel safer.
    
    Thank you, Paul.

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20. STAFF

    pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

    I think this (most recent change) was a good compromise.  People familiar with the comments capsule had a reasonable expectation of (ip address) privacy when they made comments prior to this change -- and that remains, except for the brief lapse which I apologize for.  However, now they do not, and they have been so warned.
    
    That said it should be noted that, achieving actual privacy on the internet is very difficult, and almost nobody succeeds at it.  The protocols just weren't designed with privacy in mind.  Almost all email and web surfing activity pass through a series of intermediary computers, any of which can easily intercept the (typically unencrypted) communication.

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    bloggerdollarposted 16 years ago

    I hope those changes will improve the CTR because my traffic is going up but CTR is going low these days. Let's wait for several days to comment as you said. I don't have any idea how will those text ads convert..

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    jaymzposted 16 years ago

    I agree with those with concerns about the IP address being shown. I don't like it at all! But, apparently it's already set to stay.

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    daflaposted 16 years ago

    Correct me if I have this backward.
    
    People with dialup usually have a static IP address, meaning the same all the time.  People with broadband (dsl, wifi, cable) have a dynamic IP address, which changes usually every time you boot your computer, or turn your modem on/off.  So if you're seeing someone with different IP addys, it's someone like me, who is on broadband.  My IP address changes daily, and every time I reboot my computer.  I can also change it manually by doing a release/renew maneuver on my computer.
    
    Even with dynamic IP addys, there is a string that identifies that user, so that if necessary, the IP can tell you who it is.

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    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Hubpages has always known all the IP addresses of every visitor who leaves a comment - they are just sharing then with us now. Every time you leave a comment anywhere else, the owners of the site know your IP address. I know the IP address of everyone who leaves a comment of all my other blogs.  Not a major issue I think?
    
    If you don't want someone to know your IP address - don't leave a comment
    
    I am all for experimenting with the google ads - It's in both ours and hubpages' interest to get the best from these things before they go completely out of fashion - which they will do when everyone has seen every ad format and style -

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    daflaposted 16 years ago

    I don't mind extra ads, but the dark red ads on one of my hubs is a little annoying, and might turn  readers off.  It hurts my eyes, and is hard to read.  If you're going to put ads in the middle of the hub, between text modules, make them open air ads.

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       We are testing many different combinations and colors of ads simultaneously.  The ads that perform well (ie. get clicked on) will gradually become more prevalent, while the ads that do not perform well will become less so.  Give it a few days to settle down, and keep an eye on your click through rate.  Obviously, we track the click through and other factors fairly closely in our share of impressions, but we can also learn something from what you all are seeing in your share.

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    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    They are just experimenting and eventually the best performers will be shown - give it a little while and see what happens -
    
    And by that I mean see if your earnings/CTR/eCPM goes up or down. I could care less what they look like to me as long as they perform well

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       Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Me too, I'm happy to give it some time.

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       daflaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I got NO revenue from Adsense today, in spite of the fact that I got just as many visits as usual.  I only got 1 click, and obviously, that was one of their ads, because I didn't have any earnings.   Strange thing was, I got fewer page views from Adsense than what I got in my Analytical statistics.

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    Whitney05posted 16 years ago

    I like the new ad placement. I do think that some of the solid red blocks are a little less attractive, maybe making them whit backgrounds with a red border wouldn't be so bad to look at. Either way. I noticed last week or so that the buttons in the middle seemed to have disappeared. I didn't know what was up, but anyway I like the new placement.
    
    As for the IP address, even though there's not much one can do with it, from my understanding, I don't like it. I'd rather the info stay with the HubTeam and not made public. That, or only the hubber can see it- the hubber that composed the hub that was commented on- and not everyone else.

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       College politicoposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       As it stands now, only the hubber who published the hub that was commented on can see the ip address of the commenter.
       
       For me, I don't see a problem with this but I also don't have much of a use for it yet so I'll just leave it up to everybody else to decide if its good and useful or not.

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    Whitney05posted 16 years ago

    Huh? So we can't see them anymore? Just whoever actually posted the comment? I'm confused now...

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       College politicoposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       no thats not what I meant, sorry if I wasn't clear... Only the author of the hub can see the ip addresses of those who comment. Paul explains it earlier in this thread, maybe hes clearer?

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          jaymzposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Inspirepub- I think you're going to have to deal with it until the studies are read and digested. They just can't please everyone.

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    Whitney05posted 16 years ago

    Yea, I agree Marisa and Mark. I think that for now we can just deal with the bright colors since they're watching the results as to which ads work best.

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    Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

    I am happy to keep ugly ads if they improve click-throughs, but I really don't like ads which screw up the format of my Hub.
    
    Full-width ads in a Hub which has a long capsule (eg several photos) aligned right and several capsules flowing down the left completely messes up the Hub.
    
    The second and subsequent capsules on the left get shifted to below the ad, leaving inches of plain white space in the left column.
    
    Right-column-only ads seem to force a corresponding section of white space in the left column - not quite as destructive, but unneccessary.
    
    Why can 't the ad capsules behave like all the other capsules, and flow?
    
    Jenny

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    trakker14posted 16 years ago

    Now all my videos are  missing and  just the titles exist. do I have go back and redu them all?

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    trakker14posted 16 years ago

    Panic attack has passed, once i redid one of the videos they seemed to all come back...Hmmmmm.

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