ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

From A Moderator’s Mouth: Overly Promotional Hubs

Updated on September 9, 2011

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

More than 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.

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.

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.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)