From A Moderator’s Mouth: Overly Promotional Hubs
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Whether you've had a hub flagged for overly promotional content, whether you're looking to avoid being flagged, or whether you're wondering what Hubs merit flagging, it's helpful to know exactly what to look for, so I've put together this Hub to tell you what we at HubPages look for. I hope it serves to clarify our rules and the moderation process, for hub-writers and hub-viewers alike!
Feel free to leave additional questions in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer them.
What is Overly Promotional Content?
When you sign up for HubPages, you agree to our Terms of Use, which prohibit publishing Hubs that are "overly promotional, including excessive linking to any one site or domain," "link to pages or sites that are unrelated to the topic and content of your Hub," or "attempt to automatically redirect Website users to other domains, mislead users of the origins of the content contained in your Hubs, or use your Hubs as storage for remote loading or to a website outside of the website."
The FAQs are a little more explicit about a specific definition of the term itself, but there remains much to be said about the particulars we look for when removing a Hub from circulation and asking an author to revise it. If your hub has been flagged as overly promotional, check against the following common problems to see whether your Hub falls into any of the following categories.
Common Problems
2 links to a single domain
There is sometimes confusion over this, the simplest of the "overly promotional" guidelines. Web newbies may think that, in linking to different pages on the same site, they are not in violation of this rule. We do not look at individual pages, but rather at the domain name (everything before the .com or .net). Affiliate links like Clickbank sites and cloakers** like TinyURL, though they may navigate to different domains, all count as a single domain for the purposes of the 2-link rule. In general, news sites and wikis are exempt from this rule. **Note: cloakers provide their own specific problems, which are addressed in the section of that name, below.
Excessive use of cloakers
Some Hubbers think they can get around the 2-link rule with the use of cloakers or redirections. In fact, the use of cloakers backfires; they are considered "wild cards" and add to the total number of links to whatever other domains you've linked to directly. For example, if you have two affiliate links in a Hub, and one cloaked link, that puts you over the limit. In the same way, one affiliate link and two cloakers would also push your Hub into the category of overly promotional.
Outbound links on duplicate content
The exception to the 2-link rule is when the Hub in question is unoriginal, or duplicated in whole or large part from other sources on the web. Whether or not you own the rights to content, or wrote it yourself, is not relevant for this meaning of the word "original"-it refers to whether or not the content is unique to HubPages. If it is not, you are not permitted to use it to promote your products, affiliate offers, or website.
Short hubs with links
A Hub of only a paragraph, with little substance, or with a teaser and a link to "read more" is also considered overly promotional, since it does not provide our visitors with any real content, and simply bounces traffic to another site.
Promotional RSS feeds
Obviously, the use of RSS feeds often (if not always) means more than two links to a single domain. They do generally provide an exception to the 2-link rule, except in two cases. The first is affiliate feeds. We provide Amazon and EBay capsules to allow users to generate revenue from the display of relevant products on their Hubs, so affiliate links to these sites are redundant, and affiliate feeds to other websites break our 2-link promotion rule. The other is when a user has linked to the same site both in the body of the text and in an RSS feed capsule, especially when these make up the bulk of the outbound links on the Hub.
Unrelated links
Placing links to sites with content unrelated to the subject matter of your Hub is not permitted. This includes attaching a section to the bottom of every Hub advertising your blog, site, or affiliate opportunity, unless the Hub itself is about the same topic. Of course, the 2-link rule still applies in these cases, and "hiding" the link or links at the very bottom of the hub below a comment or RSS capsule won't make a difference in your link count.
Get More Help...
A Few Final Words
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of criteria. If your Hub has been flagged, but does not easily identify with any of these situations, that does not mean it is not overly promotional or was wrongly flagged. I am merely offering up some problems I often run into in the hopes that it helps answer some questions Hubbers commonly raise when their Hubs are moderated. If, after reading these common problems, you are still unclear as to why your Hub has been flagged, send an email to team@hubpages.com, rather than simply resubmitting it without making changes, as this may result in the banning of your account.
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Comments
Thanks. That's helpful.
Thanks for the guidelines, definitely helpful.
Thanks for the clarification - useful info.
Thanks, I just deleted my rss feed after reading this as that pointed to same domain...
Thanks for the clarification.
I have a question about when a hub is considered commercial or not. I have read the FAQ but I am still unclear about what linking "to other commercial sites" means. Obviously if I linked to a site that sells something that would be commercial. But what if all they are an information site and only "sell" advertising. Is that commercial?
Someone on the forums posted a comment saying that if you link to any site that has advertising then your hub is considered commercial (even if you have nothing to do with the site you link to and receive no benefit from that site.) Is that true? If it is then basically any hub with an outbound link would be commercial because it would be difficult to find a site to link to (except of course Wikipedia) that did not have some form of advertising such as adsense. I realize this question is not entirely on topic, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could clear this up for me.
Thanks in advance.
Great advice clearly explained.
Looks great Maddie. Tons of helpful information. A great guide to go to if you get a little confused.
Thanks Maddie, this will help a lot.
Thank you this is very helpful! All of my confusion is gone.
Thanks, Maddie. This does clarrify a lot. I at least understand a lot more than I did before. I still do not know what an RSS feed is. Yes, I know, I am a little slow in this Internet World of technology. I don't use it because I have no clue what it is. Silly me!
Very good info. Thanks for sharing.
good info thanks
quotations:
The issue of commercial hubs is very different from overly promotional ones. Commercial hubs are simply any that have links to outside websites other than reputable news sites or non-profits. If you have affiliate links, links to your own website, or links to a website that sells or promotes any products on your hub, it needs to have an ad setting of high. A reputable news site like CNN.com may have advertising on its articles, but linking to an article as reference would not mandate a "commercial" setting on your hub. In contrast to the standards for "overly promotional" hubs, however, if you're linking to your own blog or to Clickbank, it doesn't matter how many times you do so, that hub automatically qualifies as commercial.
Hope that clarifies.
Thanks for posting this great info! I especially agree with the unrelated links.
I am so delighted to find hubs that clarify how to best use and create hubpages.
Thanks so much for this hub, Maddie.
(Now I've just gotta figure out how to get a picture up by the text like your can of spam! ;-))
~~Mary K
Yikes! I put links to kijiji sites in different countries.....should I pull them out of my hub to avoid being flagged?
Thx, Maddie! You are doing a great job!
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the great info. :D
very useful info
I don't think I promote anything on my hubs, but this is good information to know. Thanks, Maddie.
Thanks Maddie. I have an interesting hub that has been a real challenge for me that I'm working at in draft form right now. It's an interesting subject from a writers standpoint, but because of the content I have to be careful not to be overly promotional.
I just had these exact questions, so glad I found this article. Thanks.
Increrdibbley useful information for a new hubber like myself. Thanks for all the information!
Opps
Glad I stumbled accross this!
Two of my hubs were marked as sub par- but I had put a lot of effort into them so I was confused. This clears it up - it was probably more than one link to the same website.
Will tidy up and resubmit :)
Tah!
Many thanks for this!
Thanks for the information, I wasn't aware of the 2 link rule and while I don't think I break it anywhere I'll be keeping it in mind.
It's also nice to have this sort of information and be told when you've done something inappropriate. Much better than receiving hidden penalties and not knowing what you're doing wrong. I think we're all trying to do the best for all involved here and that's why I like HubPages.
Thanks Maddie for the great info. Clarification always helps!
I am relatively new here so its good to read the guidelines, tahnsk for explaining them
Thanks Maddie for all this. I didn't know about the 2-link rule either, but now that I do, I'll keep it in mind. Thanks again.
Do links to other similar hubs count as overly promotional?
Sir Dent:
Links to other hubs are always allowed, as long as they're relevant to the content at hand.
I think I may need to adjust some of my RSS feeds.
Thanks, Maddie.
Mods and admins of hub pages don't really know how to explain things, do they?
Sorry, but a thumbs down from me. Can't understand any single hub from mods and admins here. Very poorly explained.
Request: Please hire a professional writer who write the explanatory hubs on your behalf so that people can actually understand what is allowed on HP and what is not.
Promotional RSS Feed, Cloakers, Overly Promotional Hubs are the kind of terms i am unable to understand from your writings. I am afraid i will get my hubs and account blocked as odds are high that i can unintentionally break the 'so many complicated rules' if not explained "un-poorly" soon.
I noticed that there are a lot of people on HP who are confused over the rules. I am just one irritated of them. :(
Do you think it will be better for me to delete my account myself and don't re-sign up unless I understand completely all the rules so as to avoid unintentional breaking of the rules from my side?
Hi mdtabish:
I'm sorry you found this hub hard to understand. As you can see, many people above you did find it helpful. If you actually read the descriptions beneath the headings, I give an explanation of each of those terms, or, in the case of cloakers, provide a link to Wikipedia.
I had to deny your two follow-up comments with links to explanatory hubs you DID like, for the use of trackers. It is considered poor etiquette to use trackers on the forums, or in the comments of someone else's hub.
If, upon careful reading, you still have specific questions, you're welcome to ask them here (you can see I've answered several questions in the comments above already) or email me directly at team@hubpages.com
Hi Maddie,
Thanks. Darkside's reply helped.
I now have problems in understanding the text under the heading "Promotional RSS Feeds" above.
What i got from that text is that RSS Feeds are not allowed in the hub under whatever circumstances as they provide more than 2 links. But i am wondering how come there is an option of adding RSS Feed or RSS Feeds (I don't know) in the creating/editing a hub(s).
I am also wondering why would anybody want to add an RSS Feed to their hub in the first place? Can it bring traffic to the hub? If yes, how and why?
Could you be please also kind enough to explain me that what will happen to a person who gets low hubscore, low over-all hubscore, and low authorscore?
Is it that there are different penalties for each of them or the same penalty or penalties for all of them together?
Suppose a person gets low hubscore, but has average over-all hubscore and average authorscore, what will be the penalty in this case?
What types of penalties are there?
I am just concerned that i do not do anything that gets my account or any of my hubs penalized.
Have a suggestion; Please make the Help section of hubpages searchable.
mdtabish:
The first two sentences under the "Promotional RSS Feeds" heading read: "Obviously, the use of RSS feeds often (if not always) means more than two links to a single domain. They do generally provide an exception to the 2-link rule..." and then goes on to explain when they become a problem (either if it is an affiliate feed, or if you link to the same site in the body of the text).
HubScore is based on many factors, among them traffic, where that traffic comes from, originality of content, variety and reputation of outgoing links, etc. Speaking of Darkside, he's written a great hub on the subject, which you can find a link to in the FAQ sticky thread on the help forum at http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/4668. You might also want to peruse some of the other information offered there.
And thanks for the suggestion. Searching the help section is already on our list of features to add.
Hi Maggie,
I am sorry for keep bothering you with my questions, but i really don't want my account or hub(s) getting unnecessarily penalised for unintentionally going against the hubpages rules not ALL of which are told or vaguely told on hubpages.com
As for my query on RSS Feed, you didn't answer why then there is an option to add RSS Feed(s) on the 'create/edit hub' page? Don't you think if adding RSS Feed is disadvantageous for hubpages users, the option of adding one should not be there?
Clicking on the link http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/4668. is taking me to a page that reads this:
We're sorry, that page could not be found!If you typed the URL yourself, please make sure that the spelling is correct. If you clicked on a link to get here, there may be a problem with the link. Or check our tag pages for your keywords: forum topic 4668
...and when i am clicking on 4668, the page that shows up reads this:
Hot Hubs · tagged 4668 No hubs found.I would also like to share my thoughts about the rules and their vagueness which is causing problems.
But first few words of apology, you are absolutely right; from the comments of other hubbers above, it is clear that it was only me who couldn't understand this hub, which clearly means there is nothing wrong in the style of explanation, and please accept my apology for unnecessarily suggesting to hire a writer for writing explanatory hubs.
Now let me come to the 2-link rule. The rule says that a hubber can add 2 relevant links of his two different websites/blogs at the end of the content of an original, exclusive-to-hubpages.com hub. Then the rule says that "linking repeatedly to the same domain across a large number of hubs may affect your HubScore." Now, the phrase "a large number of hubs" is a subjective phrase. I feel it will be a lot comprehensive for hubpages users if you kindly set a fixed number of hubs to which the links can be added. Be it 4, 6, 8, or better something like; a hubber with total number of 2 hubs published can add links to 1 of his hubs. 50% of hubs of a hubber can have links to be accurate.
I really think this will be a lot helpful for hubpages users.
Now, please allow me to come to the 'overly-promotional' rule. On this hub, under the heading "A Few Final Words" what is written is making the 'overly-promotional' rule vague. You see, i can guarantee that no hubber wants any of his/her hubs marked 'overly-promotional'..and since it is the situation, i feel hubpages management should enlist all those practices that can penalise hubs as overly-promotional for the good of hubbers.
I also think this will be a lot helpful for hubbers and they will thank you for doing so.
Hi again mdtabish:
Regarding that link, it seems to have picked up a period. Simply take the period off the end, and it will get you to the right place.
My point above is that you ARE allowed RSS feeds, as long as they are not affiliate leads or point to the same site that you're already linking to in the text. RSS feeds are *an exception* to the 2-link-per-domain rule. RSS feeds, when relevant and used responsibly, are actually advantageous as far as helping to keep hubs fresh and attractive to search engines.
I think you may be misunderstanding the 2-link rule, as well. You are permitted up to two links to EACH domain that you link to (ie, two to yourblog.blogspot.com, two to ezinearticles.com, two to yoursite.com, etc).
Unfortunately, I cannot clarify an absolute number of hubs over which repeated linking will become a problem. It depends on a lot of factors, including your total number of hubs and the percentage in which you link to the same site. However, we are reasonable with such penalties, and well-intentioned hubbers generally have nothing to fear. This policy is merely meant to catch people who come to HubPages soley with the intention of directing traffic elsewhere.
Thanks for raising these questions. Part of the reason I encourage people to ask out here in the open is so that the answers might be beneficial to more than just the one who inquires.
We have recently instituted automated warnings that help to direct new hubbers in the right direction by alerting them to potential problems with their hubs. Also note that one innocent offence will not result in any permanent damage to yourself or your standing at HubPages. I, too, make mistakes. We're all human. If you're even in doubt about why a hub has been flagged, you can feel free to email me at team@hubpages.com for clarification.
Best,
Maddie
Thanks Maddie,
I am cleared on the RSS Feed rule now. Also i found your last and third last paragraphs comforting.
But this is totally new for me:
"I think you may be misunderstanding the 2-link rule, as well. You are permitted up to two links to EACH domain that you link to (ie, two to yourblog.blogspot.com, two to ezinearticles.com, two to yoursite.com, etc)."
You mean i can have two links to each domain (which may also mean "as many domains as i wish whether relevant or not on the hub that contains content that is exclusive-to-hubpages")? Gosh, i am lost again on the rule i felt i have known.
Ok,
What i got from this NEW information about the 2-link rule is:
An exclusive-to-hubpages hub content talking of best books of this past millenium can have two links to myblog.blogspot.com (on baseball), myfathersblog.blogspot.com (on chess), mymothersblog.blogspot.com (on cooking), myunclesblog.blogspot.com (on cigars), mydaughter-who-is-yet-to-born.blogspot.com (on magic), www.booksaregreat.com, and just as many number of domains i wish???
mdtabish:
All links need to be relevant to the contents of the hub. Otherwise you've got it right.
Ok...Thank you. I am crystal clear now on all rules. Thanks. :)
Thanks Maddie and mdtabish...I am now laughing and crying with the last 2-link rule explicit explanation...just what I need. That's why I'm not touching RSS yet. I'm not even done with Amazon and eBay either.
Another crystal clear explanation needed: is this link (the green one above) 'share it' or the 'link to this page' below included in the two-link rule or the one that you provide where readers can read and click within your hub? Or does it have anything to do with the url (optional) you provide when you leave a comment?
I know there's always some missing link in my brain when I'm reading rules. Thanks!
zylla3philippines:
These rules apply to links in the body of your hub (so in text, link, or RSS capsules), and only links to outside of HubPages. I hope that's clear enough. ;) Let me know if you're still confused.
Hi,
Am trying to learn more, however had quite a few of my hub pages suddenly tagged that I had originally done way last Fall. So tried to spot the offenses and fix things..however...there is now no link coming up to resubmit the altered pages like there was before.
I deleted some whole hubs simply because I could not figure out what was wrong with them...
Appreciate you doing this hub to help us understand more.
Also...is there any possibility that if we are placing the Amazon listings on the site and the books that come up are directly related to the hub that the system could pick it up as duplicate content.
Thanks for all you do,
Hi djsartin:
These warnings are a new feature we just added, to help out well-intentioned newbies who might not be clear on our rules. Note that they do not affect your HubScore or the publication status of your hub, they simply alert you to possible problems so that you can correct them on your own and avoid being flagged. Please refer to the thread in the announcement forum: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/4939
Amazon capsules will not turn up duplicates on your hub. If you feel that you've received a duplicate warning in error, shoot me a note and I'll do a manual review.
Thanks Maddie,
Appreciate the very quick reply. As I mentioned, there was no button to resubmit after I altered a few of the pages...so hope I did okay.
Keep shinin',
DJ
djsartin:
There's no resubmit button because the warnings don't actually flag or unpublish your hub! Only when your hub has been flagged and removed do they require a review before republication. Hope that clears up your confusion!
Maddie
Very clear and concise. Thank you.
Hi Maddie,
Just a quick one re. RSS feeds. I have a news site that I was linking to using an RSS feed which although it looks like a subdomain of my main site, is infact on a different server and has a different ip address. I have now removed the RSS feed as hubs which had it on incured a 2+ link warning if I linked to the main site as well. Was this necessary as you mention that news sites are treated differently?
Loan Arranger:
If the feed is coming from your site, it still counts as promotional. If the feed source is a reputable news site (eg CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, etc) it isn't seen as promotional.
Thanks. I'm clear now. :)
thanks for the info. It clarified somethings.
Thanks for the useful information and clearing the doubts which I had.
Thank you for the clarification:)
this whole RSS thing has confused me more then it did in the beginning... I'll just remove all my RSS feeds entirely because nothing makes any sense to me when it comes to the whole social bookmarking subject. my bad for even trying.
Maclauren:
Perhaps I can clarify specifically on the RSS issue. The rules for RSS are all the same as linking in general (so no unrelated RSS feeds, no RSS feeds on duplicate content, etc), except for two things: 1)No RSS feeds pointing to the same domain as links within the body of the hub (text and link capsules) and 2) No affiliate RSS feeds.
Hope that clarifies.
OUCH! Just had to drop in to see what all the 'hulla balloo' was about in regards to my poor little flagged hub.
Okay... sort of... get it, got it, maybe...
I'm sure I'll need another scolding along the way through the learning curve. I didn't go to "How To Netiquette College" but I will try to behave in the future.
Thanks for the incredibly confusing, albeit entertaining romp through the word salads of mdtabish and maddle. Make it a wonderful day ladies (and gents, of course)!!
Hey Maddie,
Are you the nice person who helps me out when I'm really confused? If so, thanks. And thanks for this hub. It clarifies a lot of things for me, reducing the confusion factor considerably. I really do appreciate the length HubPages goes to educate us unruly hubbers. TAlk about herding cats! But you do a great job, and I, for one, appreciate it -- and I bet a lot of others do too. Thanks!
Bruce:
Yep, that's me! Thanks for the kind words. I'm more than happy to help those who actually want to understand and comply... and it's thanks like yours that make up for all the cussing out I get from those who don't ;)
Maddie, if I hadn't said it before, you are one patient and awesome lady. I learned more just by perusing the comments of this hub (having read the hub when you first posted it) and got a good giggle too! All this time I've been keeping myself to two contextual links (most of the time, I think) period. ><
Many thanks, very informative. Also could you please me to understand that
You must verify your email address before you can join a fan club. A verification email was just sent.
each time when I want to subscribe in fans club it asks for code which says its just sent, and at my end I never recieved. How can I be your fan what do I have to do :-)
I went to join HUB and found I was already a member. I wrote an article about six months or so ago. Anyway, I want to use hub again but I was not sure what is allowed as far as affiliate links, etc. Then I found your article and got the answer to my questions. So, I thank you.
I have more than 500 articles at EZA and more at other sites. Sometimes I write humor or humor scifi. EZA doesn't like that sort of thing. I see you do tolerate it. So, I'll be sticking my nose in here more often.
John
Thanks for explaining, it is really helpful..
great! Thanks
i can use that info...thx
Thank you for much for guidance and help.
Another hub full of useful hub nuggots which ive read very carefully!! and also added to my hub!
:)
OK, I also have a flagged hub. Is it true that articles I have published elsewhere on the web are not considered original enough for here? My whole point of doing articles is to get them published in as many places as possible. I guess I'm in violation, eh?
This clearly explains linking and thank you for the refresher and thorough explanation. :)
we need some examples!!! I still don't get it.
I copied from my written notepad is it illegal ?
I copied from my written notepad is it illegal ?
hi maddie
i have rewritten my hubpage twice and it still shows overly promotional, i see very similar post online but doesnt look they are flagged, i dont see mine any different being overly i am not sure what else to do. i have already spent time rewritting it
I was flagged for duplicate content on a Hub. How do I find out what the other site(s) are, so I can see what the supposed duplication is and so I could perhaps edit my hub?
I second the question from RichardSpeaks above. Can I NOT post any of my own articles or blog posts? Should I/may I post things here first and then reference them on my own blog? As much as I would like to bring (hopefully) traffic to hubpages, I would not want to do it at the exclusion of my own site.
My post have been changed twice and I still recive the error posting is a duplicate. sorry, folks but this is not true. I have 4 other blogs so there may be some areas that the feed sees the same thing. I stick by the rules.
Thanks Maddie. This was very helpful. :-)
So what is considered "acceptable promotional" use of hubpages? Could you please provide an example?
Say a hub with one link to a site that is selling something as long as the linked site is relevent to the hub and the content is original and exclusive to hubpages? The rules of what you "can't" do are quite confusing, perhaps an explanation of what is acceptable would clear things up for people who want to educate as well as promote. Thanks :)
This question may have been answered but I cannot find it, so forgive me if this is a repeat.
I want to link my blog to my Hubpages articles so that people reading my blog can connect with HubPages. What URL do I use to make the link to my blog?
I'm new to hub pages, and my personal opinion. I feel it's to legalistic after reading this.
Hi,
When ever you mention a article which is flagged or duplicate you must have proof for that. I am Contiouly submitting a article and the Hubpages are keep ignoring that one again and again. I am very much upset from that there is no reason why they are keep ignoring my article without any proof. My article name is How To Make Money Off Ebay.
Thanks! Helpful info.
Maddie, I just got around to reviewing this Hub and its Comments. I'm cool with the rules but really appreciate not only your original article but all of the "spot on" responses you've made here. Now I realize in full why I joined your Fan Club in the first place--originally, I don't believe I even noticed you were on Staff!
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If you have specific questions about your hub, please email the team email box at the address above. You're welcome to leave more general questions about policy here.