NING | GLAM SOCIAL?

1. 80

   Bendo13posted 12 years ago

   HubPages is a Ning site?  Look at the bottom right in the footer...
   
   It looks like someone deleted some of the code that hid the fact that this has been a Ning site all along.
   
   I thought HubPages was its own platform, built from the bottom up by its creators, not running someone else's cookie-cutter code.
   
   Interesting revelation.
   
   I can't imagine that Google dislikes all Ning sites, so this information may not mean anything.

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2. 70

   Steve Westposted 12 years ago

   What does that mean in a nut-shell?

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Just that they are running this site through the platform that Ning set up, which allows you to create your own social networks.  Kind of like running your blog through WordPress... You don't have to build a site from scratch, but you use the same basic structure and coding that everyone else does through WordPress.  You can customize a lot to make your site look different, but the skeleton is the same.

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         Steve Westposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Got it. I was just on the Ning website. Thank you Bendo13 that is interesting.

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         agvulpesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Very weird indeed.  Hubpages does not 'feel' like a Ning site and the image is showing up as a Hubpage image?

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3. 70

   Steve Westposted 12 years ago

   Maybe they sold-out to Ning?

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4. 65

   prettydarkhorseposted 12 years ago

   I saw this forum post by jacharless. http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/105390 No response to the forum yet.

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't see that post, but search "edit or remove "Ning / Glam social" that is in your footer" in Google and you'll see that it's included in the footer of all Ning sites, and they show you how to hide that it's a Ning site.
      
      So, I doubt that they're running through Ning/Glam Social just for advertising... I think Ning is the skeleton that the meat of HubPages clings to.

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         Steve Westposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         So Bendo, let me ask you. HubPages could be run out of a garage by someone/anyone?

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            Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            It could be, sure... but I'm pretty sure that HubPages has an official office where the main employees meet.  But you could definitely run a site like this without a formal office.

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   prettydarkhorseposted 12 years ago

   It is like combining Ning's technology and Glams advertising prowess here in HP. Social aggregation for social sharing perhaps.

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Not much has changed in terms of looks for HubPages other than a fancy looking forum and stuff, for a while.  So, I think they've been running on Ning's platform for a while... maybe ever since the new profiles and new hub layouts, maybe since the beginning.
      
      Glam Social bought Ning back in September of last year and I'm pretty sure the advertising on here, including HP Ads, was already in place before then.

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         prettydarkhorseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Foodie.com - a social food network is using Ning, that is why maybe there are layout changes everywhere here at HP, i.e,  in recipe hubs (HP have been focusing on recipe hubs for awhile) etc. I read somewhere that this is successful combining Glam Social with Ning within a site - layout and social sharing plus interaction among hubbers - to maximize profit.
         
         HP must be writing a blog to explain this. :-)

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   2. 71

      jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That is my guess. Aggregate or Acquisition. If the former, new Ads are expected and social parameters for inbound traffic. Recipes, Family, Fashion are the focal verticals for Glam. Adding HP Topical responsive UGC puts glam over the top. If the numbers are correct HP is parallel to Ning's UV per month. In fact rank wise, HP & Ning are one point difference. That says something about HP, as a stand alone UGC site in comparison to hundreds of micro social networks on Ning.  An acquisition puts Glam @ 100M UV per month which is about 1/5th Facebook's monthly volume. Ads served would exceed 1B per month. It is a smart move on both sides -either way.
      
      Disclaimer: this is just hypothetical, of course.

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         prettydarkhorseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         this is a valid hypothesis Sir Geeky James! :-)

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            jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Lol.
            You are so right, I am such a geek.
            But a really good looking geek.
            
            James

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6. 86

   rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

   If you read the updated About Us page in light of being a Ning site, it sounds like this has been a recent change.  I notice a lot of emphasis on social integration, which could be an excellent way to bring in more visitors.  From the link on the other thread about this, it says, 
   
   And for the largest customers, Ning is also announcing a new paid product called Ning VIP, which is supposed to provide more scalability, customization, and support...
   
   Top organizers, marketers, influencers, and activists use Ning to create a social destination where content intersects with conversations to inspire action  http://www.crunchbase.com/company/ning

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7. 71

   jacharlessposted 12 years ago

   btw, HP is NOT on the Ning platform, nor server. They have their own servers in Emeryville.

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't say they were running through their servers, I said it is quite possible that they used Ning to create this social network for writers.  Why do I say that?  Because if you search the wonderful land of Google, people who have Ning sites go through the effort of telling other Ning "creators" how to remove the same exact NING | GLAM SOCIAL image from the footer. 
      
      I don't know if this has always been a Ning site, or if it just recently happened, but I don't think they'd pop that in their footer, in the same place it is on other Ning sites, just for fun.

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      1. 71

         jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         HP has never been a Ning site. HP started with a $2M round of private venture capital from Winbald and was one of the original test models for Google AdSense. Prior to, HP had been working on a Learning Solution for Adverts called Yield Build, which is the core technology behind HP to date -and where the Hub Ad program comes in. The Tech world believed/s HP will/would become the leader in digital publishing and ultimately become a publicly traded company, else acquired by one of the content giants, of which Goo has no affiliation. The folks behind HP were the starters behind a successful music mogul site, acquired by Microsoft. In fact, most of the original team was from that company.
         
         Now, if HP has merged with Glam, who acquired Ning some time ago, to further Ad measures site wide, then the image would appear, as a gratis or possibly a requirement for serving premium ads. Ning social taxonomy would be included in that integration because that is one of the reasons Glam Media bought Ning. Blended with the Yield Build solution,  premium, targeted ads from Glam would have a much higher valuation, and could act as an alternative to disqualified AdSense Hubbers and or increased valuation for Hub Ads.
         
         The layout changes have been ongoing for some time, as HP is going more minimalistic, as well as compliance with Goo Page Layout, rich Snippet, Page Map parameters for clearer indexing.
         
         Tech-wise, HP is doing a bang-up job of juggling multiple relationships, site measures, user//hubber tools, interaction and the ever changing goal posts of search engines --followed by public recognition, revenue potential and still able to flex itself as a fun atmosphere for writers & readers of all degrees.
         
         James.

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         1. 80

            Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I know their history (MongoMusic, Yield Build), but they are music search/advertisers first... not social networking site creators.  This site is really a social network for writers, but we have the ability to earn money through our writing.  We have profiles, forums, our own articles (informational blogs), and the community is what keeps a lot of people here.  There's nothing wrong with a company, whose focus isn't on creating a social network, having someone who specializes in social networks build the skeleton of the site for them.  Which may or may not be the case here, and it may have been like that from the beginning or it might be a new thing.
            
            But if you look at the recent history of this site, it is not the leader in digital publishing; we were knocked off that throne in February of last year, and never bounced back.  I know they're trying to fix the site, but I highly doubt premium ads will fix anything, since traffic is the real issue. 
            
            You could be right, but when was the last time an advertiser made it a requirement for you to put their name in the footer, on every page, of your site, just so you can use their ads?  That's site-wide branding and for what... use of their ad network?  That's rediculous.  HubPages built their own name and they're going to have their name in smaller text in their OWN footer, than the Ning | Glam Social image, so that they can get better ads?
            
            No, branding like that happens whenever you use the framework constructed by someone else... they set up the whole site, so they get their logo on every page.  Just like how, unless you edit it, most WordPress themes mention WordPress, because you're using their structure.
            
            How many sites do you see with "Ads by Google" in the footer of every single page of their site, just because they get special ads from them?  You don't, and the only mention of who the ads are from is right beside the ad itself.
            
            I don't know what's up, but you don't either, and maybe we'll see an announcement soon.  Maybe it was just a coding mistake and the image will disappear soon.  Maybe you're right, maybe I am, maybe we're both wrong or maybe it's Maybelline.

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8. 83

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Obviously all this techie information is way over my head, but let's not forget HP has its longest site outage just a month ago, on September 28th when the site went down for several hours.
   
   Could this have been the date servers were changed, if indeed they were?
   
   Then again, why is it only now we are seeing the Ning | Glam Social image appear?
   
   Curiouser and curiouser.

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   1. 79

      Lwelchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe they were bought out.

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      Lwelchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe they were bought out

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9. 58

   Dale Hydeposted 12 years ago

   It is amazing how many posts HP staff simply does not respond to.  It is like they simply don't care about the backbone of the site, the authors.

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      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I sometimes think that they like to sit back, relax and just watch what we say and see if WE can figure things out, come up with solutions and so on.  It's like unpaid research when we all get together and brainstorm for hours, talking to each other, and they just wait for the right time to respond, if ever.
      
      Well I mean, that would be the smart thing to do if you really wanted a site that was FOR THE USERS, but you should pop in every once and a while.  That way you could give everyone what they really wanted.

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think we can complain because they have made it clear which forums are monitored by staff and which are not.  This is posted in a forum which is not monitored by staff, so why would we expect them to see it?

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         Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ah, I was unaware that they didn't keep tabs on their entire site.

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            Anti-Valentineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Send them an email if you haven't all ready. You'll get a response then.

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         Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Common sense and the responsiblity by the owners of the site to be sure that nothing illegal has been posted in any thread deems that HP staff reviews all posts.  That is common practice in all forums, including my own forums as well as my own sites. 
         
         As for the few forums that HP staff claims to monitor, I have seen some of these go upwards of a week or more without any staff input.

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         psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         All forums should be moderated.  If they are not, that at least explains the high level of rampant trolling.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            As far as I can see, these days the staff don't actively monitor the forum - they rely on Hubbers to report trolls and spam.
            
            Otherwise, why would it be necessary to create special threads which are specifically marked as "staff monitored"?

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10. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 12 years ago

    Given the title of this thread, I would be astounded if at least one of the staff hadn't read it.

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11. 56

    Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

    Oh, should I report this forum? just so we can get some input?

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    1. 58

       Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Lol, what a concept.

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12. 70

    brakel2posted 12 years ago

    Do you think Ning Glam works on our ads and layout? I read that the VIP treatment is a certain payment per month.

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    1. 71

       jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       VIP was//is for Ning networks, as far as I know.
       
       But, my guess appears correct. HP has, in fact, integrated Glam Advert measures into the system. Hence the gratuitous logo on-site. Might be just a live case study for the moment, which explains the silence from staffers. I would really, really like this to be advantageous for non-AdSense Hubbers.
       
       James.

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