CONTENT WARNING: This Hub appears to be about free downloads??

1. 70

   Christine Mirandaposted 10 years ago

   Are we allowed to have a link in a hub that links to an affiliate account other than the ones through Hubpages?
   
   The hub I am writing about free software that will be a great benefit to many other Hubbers, especially ESL Hubbers. The Hub has sufficient content and is not overly promotional. It has one sentence at the end that states what the premium version offers & if you want to learn more go to [link to affiliate].
   
   I have searched and reread the TOS but can't find a definitive answer. 
   
   I hub hop a lot and see other hubs that are overly promotional, the user name is the business they are promoting and they have several links to their business.
   
   Since hubs are not monitored prior to publishing I want to make sure it is OK and not just do it because I have seen others do it (right or wrong).
   
   Thanks for any feedback.
   
   Christine

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      Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I did a Malware hub and had links to a free malware tool and AVG antivirus... It got flagged as well.  These were the tools I used to stop attacks on my systems and I offered them the CNET link for download, not even an affiliate.  Thinking back, I do believe that I contacted HubPages Team Support via email and they unflagged the hub and allowed it go have the two links.  team@hubpages.com

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   2. 71

      galleryofgraceposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Links to ones own business or affiliate links  are not allowed. It is self promotion.  It should be flagged..

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      1. 90

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Not so.   Self-promotion is permitted on HubPages.  OVER-promotion is not.
         
         Over-promotion is defined as having more than two links to the same website in any single Hub.  So you could have a link to your business website in every single one of your Hubs, and it would not be against the rules (provided the website was relevant to the topic of the Hub).   
         
         Affiliate links to "reputable" affiliate networks are also permitted.   Again, the rule is no more than two links to the same affiliate network in a single Hub.
         
         HubPages will not say which ones are "reputable", but I have links from Linkshare, ShareASale and Affiliate Future which have never been flagged.  Clickbank is definitely not considered reputable.
         
         One thing to note is that links which lead to a landing page or squeeze page are not allowed.  That often applies to free downloads.

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         1. 70

            Christine Mirandaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you so much Marisa. That is what I thought but after getting the generic warning I started to doubt if it was true. I will go ahead and publish.
            
            Regards,
            Christine

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               Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               The big problem is that HubPages doesn't say what they regard as "reputable".   I know they frown on Clickbank, and anything that's promoting SEO (like the Keyword Academy), but Hubbers have been caught out linking to sites you would expect to be totally OK.

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               1. 70

                  Christine Mirandaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I submitted for publication but they denied.
                  
                  Which is a bummer because it is a step by step guide that would help other hubbers a lot but oh well. I haven't decided if I will edit and resubmit yet.

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                  1. 90

                     Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     There's no point attempting a republish if it's been denied on the grounds of a prohibited link.  You'll need to email them first, and ask them to reconsider the link.
                     
                     If it's really helpful, you could publish it without the live link - but then you'd earn nothing from it, of course.  Alternatively, if you have a blog where it would be appropriate, you could write a post about the same topic and include a link to that post in your Hub.

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         2. 89

            mistyhorizon2003posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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2. 87

   NateB11posted 10 years ago

   Really seems like a good idea and sounds like the Hub truly would be helpful. I'm relatively new, so I would rely more on others with more knowledge and experience than I, but it seems to me that one link to another site would be okay; the only warning I've seen was when there are more than two links to one site. I think you are allowed to do some promotion for other sites, just not too much. Again, you probably want to rely on some other feedback on this thread, but those are my thoughts on the subject.

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