HELP! My 2-3 year old hubs are being flagged and moderated!?!?!?!?!

1. 59

   Benz Bposted 12 years ago

   I am having issues with the hubpages staff.  Yesterday I updated a hub that was published in 2009.  And notice that I was not allow to resubmit it before it was reviewed.  Then I tried to update another one and the same thing.  I have since attempted to update a few more and evertime I get a message that if I make a single change then my hubs (ALL OF THEM) will have to be reviewed before submission.  I'm in distress and need an EXPERT only to help me.  I have over 200k views and have registered hundreds of new hubbers over the years.  I am confused.
   
   Here are the hub metrics for a hub I have submitted several times over the last 24 hours despite it having been published since 2009;
   
   Word Count:1167
       Revenue Potential: $
       Incoming Links: ∗
       View Duration: ∗∗∗∗∗
       First Published: 12/29/09
       Short URL: http://hub.me/a4t7b
   
   all time
   Page Views
   21805 total views
   
   Top Traffic Sources
   (not all views have a discernable source)
   google.com: 8396
   benzb.hubpages.com: 2498
   linkbucks.com: 2385
   hubpages.com: 2092
   google.co.uk: 1088
   google.ca: 770
   google.com.au: 427
   search.yahoo.com: 152
   google.co.in: 138
   ask.com: 71
   google.dk: 55
   
   It has 21k views and is one of my best hubs and has performed well obviously for 2.5 years.  Now all of a sudden it is flagged as substandard and blah blah blah. below is the message i received after constantly editing I keep getting different variations of the same message but this is the most recent a few minutes ago.  I am VERY frustrated at this point because I have been on hubpages for 3+ years and have published 100+ hubs that have had views of 200k+ and now im suddenly in the crosshairs of hubpages.  PLEASE someone who knows what they are doing help me figure out EXACTLY what hubpages would like for me to put in my hub before I resubmit the hub again and give them a silly reason to delete my account per the message below.  The message says it "may" instead of saying the exact thing that is the problem.  I find it difficult to understand how a human can review the hub and unpublish it negatively affecting my earning of almost 2 years with this hub and then give a generic description a problem that did not exist before yesterday.  PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!
   
   
   
   Substandard
   
   The quality of this Hub does not live up to HubPages' standards. It may be empty or unfinished, poorly formatted (including having a disallowed capsule in the first full width position), contain broken links or videos, low quality photos or videos, use all capital letters or contain grammar or spelling mistakes that interfere with the readability of the Hub. These factors diminish the value of this Hub to our community.
   
   Please make the changes necessary in order to bring this Hub up to HubPages' standards, and then use the Submit for Publication button. We will review your Hub, and if appropriate, republish it. This process can take up to 72 hours. Hubs without substantial improvement will not be republished, and we will be monitoring any changes made to Hubs after republication.
   
   This information is based on a human review of this Hub, and can only be cleared by HubPages staff. Edit your Hub and then use the "Submit For Publication" button to request that it be reviewed and republished.
   
   Repeatedly submitting Hubs for review that are still in violation of the rules will result in the permanent closure of your account. If you have questions about the rules, please review the FAQ, ask for clarification in the forum, or contact us before submitting your Hub for review.

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   1. 59

      Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wow! One word was used 37 times? That would seemingly cause the hub to drop in ranking alone. I have used a "key" word several times or more, but nothing as extreme as this.  I would say that may be one of your problems.

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      1. 59

         Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         However the one words has been on this hub for YEARS and it has nothing to do with keywords you can verify that with google adwords keyword tool. This hub has actually done better in the past few month than it ever has so ranking is not an issue.   I have for years ranked on the first page of google for several hubs and several keywords without even doing ANY keyword research.  I followed the hubpages instruction and wrote about what i know and these hubs were a result of that.  If they were so hideous or substandard why have they lasted for so long without one issue?

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   2. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This happens if HubPages has noticed a few "problem" Hubs in your account.  They slap a restriction on the account, because they don't have time to check all of them.
      
      It's not unusual for a Hub to be published for months or even years before it's moderated - sometimes it's just because the moderators haven't gotten around to checking it, and sometimes it's because HubPages improves its filters, so what got missed last week is picked up this week.
      
      As for your unpublished Hub:  you use the words "drug dealers selling drugs" at one point.  Anything about drugs is prohibited so I'd advise removing that reference in case that's part of the problem.
      
      A couple of other possibilities: 
      
      One thing that strikes me is the lack of paragraphs, which is one of the things mentioned in the email.  I suggest you spend some time tidying up the grammar and splitting it up into paragraphs so it's easier on the eye. 
      
      I also suggest putting the poll into its own capsule, then floating it right and highlighting it with a background colour.  A careless moderator could get to the poll and think that's the end of the Hub (which would make to too short).   Some readers may also not scroll past it to read the rest, which would be a shame as it's interesting.

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      1. 95

         Bedbugabscondposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have some polls and ratings capsules kinda high, just because I want to encourage people to vote on them. I plan to move them when they get enough rates and votes to make them look respectable. This has me worried now though.

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2. 77

   Shadesbreathposted 12 years ago

   It's not published so I can't see it and, therefore, can't advise in any meaningful way. Have you gone through and looked for broken links? If it's an old hub, you may have lots of them in there. I know my older ones get broken links popping up like weeds.

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   1. 85

      WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s … &gl=au

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3. 59

   Benz Bposted 12 years ago

   I removed all links to everything and resubmitted it for a second time.  I checked grammar and spelling and changed what was wrong.  I wish the humans who view the hubs will say exactly what needs to be changed instead of giving such a BROAD range of things that "could" be the problem.  This has been my worst online experience in 3 years, even worse than Google's Panda mess.

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4. 56

   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   Wow, thanks Wrylit I couldn't see how that particular hub  or any in 1000+ word Hubs, can be considered sub-standard it's in English and logical order. Gives helpful advice and tips. Not sure what the problem is once one is flagged, it puts all in the 'manual review' queue. HP has made changes to their TOS and maybe review their latest updates. Hope you get this cleared soon.
   
   I thought all the highlights showed up because of the 'search' used happens to all of us, don't it?

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   1. 59

      Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I mean in the "my account" tab.  When you hub is unpublished there is a pink highlight background it.

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5. 59

   Benz Bposted 12 years ago

   Now several of my hubs all of a sudden have the dreaded red skull that prior to me commenting in the forums the past hour or so was non-existent.  I am afraid to edit them because each on will have to sit in limbo for hours until they are republished.  I am now waiting to see the pink highlight on all 41 of my remaining hubs.  I deleted 60+ under performing hubs shortly before all of this MESS began after reading a hub from jimmythejock about how hubpages suggested he do so to raise his earning and ranking back after Panda.  He stated that he regained his status and earning were back on track and so I tried the same thing.  By doing so my overall hubscore increased and my profile score was 91 until my hubs started getting unpublished by hubpages then it dropped to 88.  My profile score was always in the 90's and i have several hubs that are in the 90's EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I AM FRUSTRATED AND FEELING PICKED ON!

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6. 56

   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   I can only suggest, take a deep breath, tackle a few Hubs today, resubmit. Wait to see if they get republished then move onto another batch maybe there's a 'major' common denominator that's affecting your site?

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7. 0

   summerberrieposted 12 years ago

   I will still take out all the repetitive words. Google does not like key word stuffing and this will eventually catch up to you. It may have worked in the past but it seems like Google has changed its ground rules. I noticed you use the first person pronoun I a lot. This diminishes your authority and it reads like an opinion piece. I would reserve the I to a short personal paragraph about a song you wrote using techniques for finding a topic for a rap song.  The rest of the article I would speak in third person. Also try keeping the title shorter and to the point: How to find a topic for a rap songs. or The best way to find a rap song topic.
   
   I hope you get it worked out -

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's true, although the trouble is that there aren't many other ways to say "rap"!
      
      
      
      This theory was bandied around a while ago.  I don't agree with it - there's no evidence Google dislikes "I".  I think the theory came about because "purely personal" posts are now so unsuccessful - but that's not because of the use of "I", it's because they're rarely about subjects people are looking for.

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      1. 0

         summerberrieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         However, in this particular hubs case it seems to "interfere with the readability". At least to me. It is only a suggestion. I think a good one worth giving a try for this particular hub. I do find this hub hard to read with all the excessive I's.
         
         My reference to Google was for keyword stuffing.
         
         The reference to first person pronoun was purely personal. I really don't know how google "feels" about this. But I do have the opinion in this hub it is cumbersome.
         
         I did notice he/she could use the word lyrics, music, song  in some of the places instead of rap
         
         With the information Wrylit high ligted, your suggestions on breaking down paragraphs and placing the quiz capsule to the left and Dame Scribe's suggestion to check for Suspicious links in Webmaster tools and my suggestions, I really think this can be a great hub with just a little bit of "tweaking"
         
         I'm sure others may even have some better suggestions than mine.....

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   2. 59

      Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks summerberie.  The title was changed to "how to pick a subject to rap about" and that was part of one of the few corrections that was made.  Every request so far has been corrected and resubmitted and now the warning say that the hub links to a prohibited site. All internal and external links were removed and now i'm unable to resubmit it at all.  I would drop the whole issue if it were not for the fact that all of my hubs are subject to the same process whether there are issues or not.  If I add a picture to a hub it will instantly be unpublished and that causes a 404 error as if nothing exists at that url until the moderators chose to republish it.  Wouldnt that hurt the ranking even worse than keywords if a google bot tried to index the page and it was not there?

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      1. 0

         summerberrieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I hope you get this worked out - I really enjoyed your hub.

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8. 56

   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   It could be somewhere you posted a link and that particular site was slammed by 'G' I'd suggest checking for any 'suspicious' sites through google webmaster tools which may help since they will 'flag' also. Just a thought.

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   1. 59

      Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is my worst online experience in 3 years.  I constantly hop hubs that are of far less quality than my "substandard" hubs yet they are displayed prominently.

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   2. 95

      Bedbugabscondposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What do you do if you do find a suspicious site?

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      1. 77

         psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         What hubpages calls a suspicious site can be very arbitrary.  i just run a re-check and if the link is still flagged I remove it.

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9. 56

   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   Yeah, I hear you on that one. HP also has new staff and updates to their 'standards' which get upheld to point of ridiculous. No offence, HP. I liked when Maddie was the mod

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10. 59

    Benz Bposted 12 years ago

    What really hurts is that I put 3 years into building up my hubpages presence.  I've published 100+ hubs and have generated 200k+ views which means i'm doing something right.  If you could see my online presence it would show that I spend 1/3 of my day on this site alone tweaking, publishing, and studying how to increase my earnings.  Now in one day 3 years of work is being destroyed.

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    1. 0

       summerberrieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       This has happened to a lot of "good" hubbers. Sorry. When I first joined people were being moderated left and right- some even banned because they could not "fix" their hubs in time. One poor lady was so upset fellow hubbers had her email links to her hubs and began "editing" them for her. I think even with the help she was overwhelmed and gave up....
       
       Don't give up, though.  Three years of hubbing is a long time and looking through your hubs it does seem like you have a niche people like.

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    2. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Check to see if the Hub has been marked "irrevocable".   The email states that if you submit it multiple times but still can't pass the standard, it will be barred from publication completely (i.e. irrevocable).  That's why it's vital to scrutinise your Hub and try to identify every possible problem before you resubmit (and read the Learning Center Hubs so you fully understand what you're looking for). 
       
       Have you tried emailing team @ HubPages to ask for more information?  Sometimes you'll get a stock answer, but if you explain that you've tried resubmitting unsuccessfully and that you've asked for help on the forums and other experienced Hubbers can't see what's wrong, they may be more likely to look into it for you, because it shows you're making an effort.

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11. 59

    Benz Bposted 12 years ago

    Yes I have emailed them several times and one last time about an hour ago.  I have completed every request and now it is saying cannot be published because of a link to a to a prohibited site i.e. clickbank and I do not use clickbank.  The hub does not say irrevocable, however it will not allow me to resubmit.  They have removed the ability for me to save unpublished or submit for review.  It has  becoming clear to me that I am no longer wanted as a member of the community and for that reason I have decided that if the issue is not cleared up tomorrow I will remove myself from the community.  The situation feels like one where your employer won't fire you but they take away all of your hours and gives them to someone else and all you can do is quit and find other employment.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.  Good night!

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12. 77

    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    If you are linking to a 'bad' site, edit the hub, go to the right column and click on the question mark symbol.  This will tell you what the bad link is.

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    1. 59

       Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I have done just that and the site that it said is unacceptable has been removed more than 24 hours ago.  The staff is somehow failing to take the time to look at the hub in its totality to see the links are no longer there.  I believe they are using a program to automatically check the hub.  Something that they have done has caused an technical glitch that will not allow this hub and another I removed the link off of from being able to be resubmitted for publication.  There are no longer any links that link outside of hubpages, and i am now unable to submit the hub for republishing.

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13. 77

    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    The flag stays until the check is run again.  Did you click the link at the bottom to re-run the check?

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    1. 59

       Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Not sure exactly which link you are talking about.

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       1. 77

          psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Go to your account, at the bottom of the list of hubs is a link to check for violations.  this reruns the automated check and will clear flags that are resolved.

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14. 59

    Dr-SameraSulemanposted 12 years ago

    I'm new on here, I haven't posted anything, so I can't contribute a solution I'm afraid.  Hope it gets sorted.  However, after reading the answers, I'm a little confused.  What do people mean about repeated a word 37 times, I'm not sure what kind of things I need to keep an eye out for when I'm writing a hub, which I writing at the moment.

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    1. 56

       Dame Scribeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Welcome to HubPages Repeated words in a Hub refers to keyword stuffing which is frowned upon by the big 'G'. HubPages must conform to their TOS and reflect it in their own site as they have a partnership with 'G' (adsense ads). There's a cached link to a Hub which had the word highlighted that # of times but otherwise nothing else was bad about the Hub. Tips, advice, good length, good command of  language. Not sure what the problem is but we are trying to help.

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       1. 59

          Dr-SameraSulemanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you for replying. Ok, so if I'm not being stupid it means when you randomly put words into a post or keywords to improve or increase its 'visibility'.  Or it's searchability, rather.  To be honest I have never understood what tag words or keywords means.  I know it sounds really stupid.  I always assume that when you write a post, you put keywords in that people can use to search.  So say I wanted to read about cats and worms, I would type cats and worms, and if those words were used as a tag or keyword, then that post will come up.  Sorry if I'm sounding utterly ridiculous!!!!

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          1. 56

             Dame Scribeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             You have the right understanding and no, you don't sound ridiculous. We all started in the same place too, so don't be too hard on yourself. Even if we are our own worst critics keywords will refer to the 'topic' of the subject whereas the tags, 'G' doesn't use but helps HP match ads to your Hub. Least, this is my understanding, which could be wrong. Don't be shy to use the Search bar at the top if you have questions. There's a lot of forums and Hubs with answers.

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       2. 95

          Bedbugabscondposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          The word Rap had a 5.54% density on the cashed page. Does anyone know what percent Hubpages likes, cause that doesnt seem that high to me.

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          1. 85

             Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             I don't think HubPages would moderate for over-use of a word unless the rest of the Hub was badly written.  They don't run keyword density checks, as far as I know. 
             
             However, it's generally believed that Google will penalize anything over about  4% these days.   Some people used to aim for 5% to 7% and they're the ones who got Panda'd big time!

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             1. 59

                Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                None of the warnings had to do with keywords.

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15. 59

    Dr-SameraSulemanposted 12 years ago

    Everybody seems so clued up about everything....I really don't know anything other than writing about what I know and then posting it. 

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16. 84

    IzzyMposted 12 years ago

    Benz B, I have read your unpublished hub in the cache, and can see nothing wrong with it.
    It's not my field of interest, but to those whose it is, this looks and reads like a great resource for them.
    
    The only thing I noticed that might be an issue, is that you have two in-text links back to the same hub, which seems a bit pointless.
    
    There was nothing wrong with your original title, and IMO it is not keyword stuffed, as there is no other word for 'rap', that I know of.
    
    It looks to me as if your whole account has been put on moderation, but for what reason I have no idea.
    
    This means that anytime you make changes to a hub, you run the risk of unpublication.
    
    I strongly suggest that you wait for further information from HP staff as to exactly what is wrong in their eyes.
    
    Until you know, you can't fix it, and we can't help either.

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    1. 59

       Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       That is the 64k question, "why is my entire account under moderation." I have made numerous edits and revisions testing out different titles and adding and deleting text.  These are things that hubpages suggests.  Over 3 years and never has this happened but now it is.  They have yet to respond to my 5 or so emails as to why this is.  I would fine with them requesting that 1 or 2 hubs go through moderation after things have been revised, but even my hubs that have no warning or issue have to go through 24-48 moderation if I even add a single word.  This creates a hug lag in my viewer and my earnings for the day or two it takes them to moderate.  I have hubs that for many hours are sitting in limbo right now  that I updated that have yet to be looked at. I wrote a new hub on 8/6 and it was put under moderation?  It had nothing related  with any of my other hubs and I didn't even put a link in the whole hub.  That hub sat in moderation for over 12 hours and it was a hub created around a question that was asked on hubpages.

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17. 59

    Benz Bposted 12 years ago

    i just noticed that there was a link in the photo that I didn't realize was even there.  I removed all of the information under the photo capsule and after saving it I was then able to submit it for review.  Now I will wait for a decision.  I thank everyone in the forum who have been extremely kind and helpful.  You guys alone are the only reason that I have not given up.

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    1. 95

       Bedbugabscondposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Ohh, that could be it. I know photos are not supposed to be watermarked, perhaps links are not allowed either.

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       1. 59

          Benz Bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Let's hope so.  I need to have this behind me.  If a human looked at the hub per the warning, then why would the human not say where the link is?  I have several emails from the hubpages team and not one mention of where they were saying it was.

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