AGAIN with the false "Malicious links" warning!

1. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   This hub:
   
   http://dzymslizzy.hubpages.com/hub/The- … land-Curse
   
   Has, for the second time, garnered the "malicious links" warning.  I have checked.  THERE ARE NO MALICIOUS LINKS IN THAT HUB!!  They are all perfectly legitimate links to the original reference sites I used.
   
   WHY does this keep happening?   It is annoying in the extreme!
   
   Worse, there is NO 'ignore' button, and it won't even let me click 'done editing!!!'  I am stuck on the page! 
   When I click on the blue link reading "malicious links" in the warning explanation box, that just takes me back to the list of my hubs...but it does not clear the problem!
   That hub is still stuck in open edit mode!  NOT a good thing, for might anyone who comes across the hub, be able to mess with it in my absence??
   
   Please fix, ASAP!!  (i.e., NOW!)

   replyreport
   1. 87

      moonlakeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      On my way to bed I just stopped by hubpages and saw your message. Your malicious link is the Mayflowerhistory. I hope this helps you.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, moonlake for your time.  But, when I was in there, it did not even show WHAT/WHERE the link was...it was not specified.
         Furthermore,the problem was, that I am extremely careful, and I do use reputable sources..there are no malicious links!  I don't get it!
         I tried the link, and did see the Google blockade warning..but I still don't get it.  It was a perfectly fine link--I deleted it, but, the skull did not go off my  account page listing of hubs!

         replyreport
         1. 87

            moonlakeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I'm sorry I didn't mean to accuse  you of anything I was just trying to help you find your problem.

            replyreport
            1. 86

               DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks moonlake,
                 I'm sorry if my tone sounded as if I was being accused.  That's not what I meant to convey.  I'm just so doggoned frustrated with these kinds of things that keep happening.
                 Perhaps the solution is to eliminate ALL outbound links! 

               replyreport
         2. 85

            Jamie Brockposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I have had this happen a few times as well DzyMsLizzy.. I just take the links off. I hate to do it because I know they were good at one time but something apparently happened.

            replyreport
   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It is possible for a perfectly legitimate site to get infected with malware.   If that happens, it becomes a dangerous site to visit until the problem is cleared up by the site's owners.  That's obviously what happened in this instance, and therefore the HubPages filter was absolutely correct. 
      
      The word "malicious" in computer jargon doesn't mean you linked to something with malicious intent - it means you linked to something which can do harm.
      
      By the way, I'm wondering why you have a link on "pink paint" and "stairs?   They both link to Hubs which are completely irrelevant to the topic of your Hub, and therefore put your Hub at risk of being unpublished for unrelated links.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Ok, Marisa, I get it.. the sites got infected...
         
         As for the links, they are not actually unrelated, if you read through to the end of the hub, and the reason for the "curse," and the other hubs are stories blamed upon said "curse."    OK...I just checked, and the links are now pointing to some other place that I did not assign!!  No wonder it looks unrelated!!!  I put those links to a couple of my OWN hubs with related stories...and how in blazes did they get moved to somewhere else without my doing or permission?????

         replyreport
      2. 85

         Jamie Brockposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Marisa, thank you for explaining.. I was wondering why this had happened. I have had it happen a few times myself. I did assume that at some point something happened to the sites and the links were no longer safe.

         replyreport
2. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   OK--Here's ANOTHER hub with a bogus warning..and this time it really IS bogus!
   
   "Warning:  This hub uses all capital letters"
   
   It does NOT!!  Not even close!  Not even an excess of capital letters!!!  WTH??!!
   
   http://dzymslizzy.hubpages.com/hub/Nonsense-Trio

   replyreport
   1. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Just for the heck of it, uncapitalize "About" in the title.

      replyreport
      1. 59

         paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         If that doesn't work, the Roman Numerals have got to go.
         
         And if that doesn't work... I had the same issue with a math article I wrote. I told HP about it, eventually they updated their algo and the warning went away. They also told me at the time that a human would have looked at my hub before they would have outright unpublished it. As was in my case, one look at your hub and they would know that it was fine. And then I imagine that the algo would again eventually be updated and the warning will go away.

         replyreport
         1. 86

            DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Paradigm...there are just so many frustrating new things going on here....
            I'm about to throw in the towel, because I don't have time to devote to all these "corrections and updates" to de-idle hubs.. etc... given than I'm going to have to do a LOT more cooking from scratch for hubby's new salt-free diet.  He's been told his heart can no longer be repaired, and he needs to go on the transplant list...so I just am not going to have time for anymore BS from HP.
            I can still write, but I won't be able to deal with anything further for some time...

            replyreport
            1. 86

               Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I'm so sorry to hear that.     Just to let you know, the 'trick" of de-idling Hubs by changing one or two sentences does NOT work, so don't bother.    It works for a few weeks, and then it goes back into idle.
               
               So if your Hubs go into idle, you have two choices:  either do a major overhaul, or delete them.  Since it's often very hard to know what needs overhauling, there's not a lot of point in trying that, IMO.  So that leaves deleting them, giving them time to clear the cache, then finding another home for them.  I  know that's not good news but knowing the facts will save you time, which sounds like it will be important to you from now on.

               replyreport
               1. 86

                  DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks, Marisa...
                    Hope to stay around for a while, but it's day-by-day now...

                  replyreport
3. 0

   Marye Audetposted 11 years ago

   Me too. I just deleted all of the links on a hub because it was reported as having malicious links... and I couldn't find them so I deleted all links. Then I went to the next hub that had a warning and the only link on the entire think was to a .gov health department website. Now, I will be the first to say that I think the government is malicious but this is ridiculous.
   
   I have seriously tried to be upbeat, encouraging, patient.... I have tried to overlook mistakes and problems - anyone can make them. BUT with traffic locked at a steady 1300 a day (from 10,000 plus) and income over 70% reduced AND the CPM dropping steadily, further reducing my meager income... AND then topping it off with fake warnings, sleeping hubs every time I look... Frustration does not begin to describe what I am feeling. If there still are people making real money on Hubpages (Over say, 900.00 a month with less than 600 hubs) I want to know who they are and I want to see their hubs. As the former posterchild I want to know what I have done to all so far out of grace.    Maybe now is a good time to update the success stories. I certainly don't belong there anymore.

   replyreport
   1. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      .
      .
      I'd like to hear from anyone just making at least $200/month...
      .
      .

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Marye Audetposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I am making between 250 -  350 each month but it's less each month.

         replyreport
         1. 76

            Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            That's around five times more than me for the lower amount! That is how bad it has got for me! I too get malicious links warnings every now and again as well as all the idle hubs but at least HP always tell me what the links are I have to remove though often they are to what appear to be perfectly good sites. I just delete them anyway! .

            replyreport
      2. 90

         wordscribe43posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I still do, paradigm.

         replyreport
      3. 89

         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I make over $200 a month, but this has dropped sharply in the last 6 months, and my traffic is still falling. Right now instead if the old 10400+ views a day I was getting until early this year, I am now back to the 2400 views or so a day I was getting anyway around the time Panda first struck. It really isn't worth publishing here any more.

         replyreport
         1. 82

            jimmythejockposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            my stats dropped big time with panda and my earnings dropped with it, in the past few weeks I am noticing a slow increase of both I waited out the storm and it seems to be paying off now. I would urge everyone to reconsider if they are thinking of going elsewhere there is light at the end of the tunnel.....jimmy

            replyreport
            1. 51

               janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               especially now you appear to bypass pending.
               Cheers, Best wishes

               replyreport
               1. 44

                  Zoelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  janderson99... interesting observation!

                  replyreport
            2. 89

               mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Well even in the last week or so my traffic has dropped from between 2500-3000+ daily to an average of about 2450. This infers to me that the traffic is still falling and definitely not rising in my case. I appear to have had the complete opposite experience to yours as my traffic after Panda began to steadily rise up until the point it was at around the 10400 views per day mark. Since about March this year it began to steadily decline, right up to and including this week. Not sure I want to write for a site where I see nothing but my views dropping more and more each week.

               replyreport
         2. 60

            Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            $200 for a full time job? Hurry, sign me up!

            replyreport
            1. 89

               mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Well I would never have described what I was doing as 'Full Time', and at one point I was on over $700 per month for what was still part time work here (a few times I even hit $800). Most of my earnings were coming from hubs I had written a couple of years or more previously. Now I can just about scrape $300, although this month I think even that will be a struggle as views and daily earnings are down.

               replyreport
               1. 76

                  Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Cindy, what you were getting is way above anything I have ever earned here so that is brilliant! It's a real shame you have been on the way down with earnings! I am at my lowest of lows and didn't make enough for a payout last month!

                  replyreport
                  1. 89

                     mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks Steve, it was good while it lasted, but now I can only see a downward slide. To be honest I am now going to focus on other areas as you know. Clearly it is unlikely HP is going to 'rise from the ashes' any time soon, if ever! I hope things pick up for you soon as I know you need to save to get you and Tiggy back to Britain.

                     replyreport
                     1. 76

                        Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        Right now it doesn't look like I am going anywhere. This Friday I am about to start having teeth out and there are 10 to be extracted.  My friend who was hoping to come over in December now cannot because her health is too bad so I cannot go to the UK then.

                        replyreport
                        1. 89

                           mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           Oh Golly, that sounds nasty (and expensive). I have just emailed you by the way, not sure if it will interest you, but it might help you in the short term and bring in a couple of hundred dollars a month if you are desperate.

                           replyreport
                           1. 76

                              Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              Thanks, Cindy! Yes, it is horrible and I have 3 paid jobs coming up (one each week) in which I am doing guided walks for 50-60€ so have to work around them with appointments and recovery days. The only good news is my father will help me out by paying for this. He had had all his teeth out by the age of 60 so amazingly thinks I have done very well to have got this far and having kept most of mine..

                              replyreport
                              1. 60

                                 Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                 Floss every day.

                                 replyreport
                                 1. 76

                                    Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                    That does not help broken teeth, badly decayed ones or crowns that broke off.

                                    replyreport
                                    1. 60

                                       Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                       Tell me about it. I have no insurance and the county will only pull teeth, not save them.
                                       
                                       I apologize for not reading the whole thread before blowing off my mouth.

                                       report
                                       1. 76

                                          Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                          No worries - a lot of us have this sort of problem now!

                                          report
                                          1. 60

                                             Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                             Keep smiling, just make sure to keep your lips closed!

                                             report
                                             1. 76

                                                Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                I have grown my moustache long to hide my upper teeth or lack of them!

                                                report
                                                1. 60

                                                   Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                   My nephew was assaulted by some thugs. He got all of his front teeth knocked out. He got implants and looks as good as new. I am hoping to save up. At least I have a few left up front.
                                                   
                                                   I used to have money and insurance. I got caught over-investing during the housing boom in Florida. I feel like Samuel Clemens when the silver mines went bust and all he had left was a trunk full of mine stocks. I have learned something that our leaders would do well to learn. Sooner or later, you have to quit taking stuff to the pawn shop.
                                                   
                                                   It is a war on the poor out here.

                                                   report
                                                   1. 76

                                                      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                      I have no insurance and it's all I can do to pay my rent each month so implants are way out of my price range. It is a sad sign of the times that good teeth are often a luxury that only those with the money can afford!

                                                      report
                                                      1. 60

                                                         Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                         I know. I have tried to do trade-offs to save a tooth, but found no takers. I swear, there has to be a way to help each other out. I wish that the very wealthy would "pow wow" with us poor folks. I don't want anything for free, and can still work as hard as most younger men. I don't understand why Doctors and Dentists are so elevated in our society. How much does anyone really need?

                                                         report
                                                         1. 76

                                                            Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                            Not forgetting the high cost of animal healthcare too. Vets charge a lot just like doctors and dentists.

                                                            report
                                                            1. 60

                                                               Getridameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                                               If worse come to worse, you can always shoot your mule and put her out of her misery, though.

                                                               report
      4. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I dropped below $200 a month a couple of months ago.  As I've now had to delete a third of my portfolio to get rid of idled Hubs, I can't see me getting back up there. 
         
         No more $500 payouts for me - it's hard to believe they ever existed!

         replyreport
4. 75

   frogdroppingposted 11 years ago

   Since Google waded in I have seen my HP income reduce to a 10th of what it was. Oddly enough, despite no tangible (recent) loss of traffic, it's going down again now - this for the HP ad program. Looks to be around 35% less.
   
   I give up.
   
   Marye I share your disappointment.

   replyreport
5. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded to my $200 question.
   
   I did the math (rough estimating of course).
   
   On an average per hub basis, all of you are still above what I have previously calculated as the norm (based on previous posts I've seen, and again rough estimating).
   
   I also used this and other information to calculate how many more hubs I would have to write to achieve a $200/month income. Of course there are more variables here than you can shake a stick at, but still...
   
   I was not amused at the final calculation. I don't have that many brilliant hub ideas in me.
   
   We do indeed live in interesting times...

   replyreport
   1. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've never been close to a $200 payout.  In fact, if it were not for the HP ad program, I would probably not live long enough to earn a payout from the Google Ad Sense program alone.
      The fact that I'm getting a small payout about every other month is far ahead of where I was with Google alone.
      That said, my earnings have dropped a little...I'm behind about a day according to where I'd gotten before.  I was at a buck and change a day, so if it was the 3rd of the month, I'd be at, say (for example), $3.46.  Now, it's the 5th of the month, and I'm only at $4.05.
      So, at no time have I yet been able to count this as even "supplemental income," let alone making a living...it's just a bit of extra pocket change.

      replyreport
6. 51

   janderson99posted 11 years ago

   The new contest thingo looks like a tooth!

   replyreport
   1. 76

      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it does!

      replyreport
7. 0

   Giselle Maineposted 11 years ago

   MsLizzy, Marisa and anyone else who is interested - the topic veered toward idle hubs and I would like to add that another option for your idle hubs is to do nothing, at least for now.  Mine have yet to be de-indexed by search engines, so I can still find them on Google (often on the first page of search results, which I find kinda surprising for something which is considered by Hubpages to be 'idle' - it certainly can't be 'low quality' content). If it's not a popular topic then of course I won't get much traffic searching for it, explaining the low traffic... but what I'm saying is to be proud of what you have written and don't fall prey to scrambling to 'keep up' with all this idle hub stuff.
   
   Do a google search for your content - it may well be very findable!  Another thing you can do (if it's relevant content-wise) is to put a link to your idle hub in one of your more popular hubs. 
   
   I personally won't scramble to edit my idle hubs though - I don't have any problems with the way they are written, and I don't expect all my hubs to get tons of traffic.  If HP isn't happy with my idle hubs, tough - they're there! (I might consider moving them to another site but I'm not going to waste my time editing them considering I can still find them on the first page of search engine results!)

   replyreport
   1. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Good points,  Giselle.  I've only re-edited one hub.  Most of my idled ones are poems, anyway, which typically don't get a lot of traffic, but they were my earliest efforts here, and I did not realize that at the time.  Live and learn.
      
      I did find, that (apparently) if you put your author profile link into the Google Authorship program linky-thingee  (lol),  it seems to show up all of your hubs, and save you having to insert them one at a time, which at 200+ hubs would be excruciatingly time-consuming. 
      
      Hopefully, that will help.

      replyreport
   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      But for how long?   They will be de-indexed the next time Google's robots visit, so they'll be gone within a few weeks.   Completely. It won't help to put links anywhere, because even if Google's robots follow those links, they will see the "no index" tag and ignore the Hub.
      
      Once your idled Hubs have been de-indexed, they will be invisible to everyone.  They won't appear on Google anywhere, and they won't come up in searches on HubPages or appear in any listing.  What's the point of leaving it lying where no one can see it?

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Marisa, very good point and I wasn't meaning to leave them AFTER they are unfindable - I just meant that people can wait for quite awhile if they wish to, until the Google robots re-crawl their hub - they don't necessarily have to do scramble to do something the minute their hub goes idle because there is a lag between first gaining idle status and becoming unfindable. 
         
         Thanks for explaining the link issue Marisa - for some reason I thought that linking would work but I stand corrected and see your reasoning quite clearly.
         
         At the point when my idle hub is unfindable, I personally will probably move the hub to another site than editing it (in terms of not wasting too much time on hubs that may never get lots of traffic). That's just me though. 
         
         Thanks also to Ms. Lizzy - using Google Authorship is a great idea for hubbers, I will have to look into it.

         replyreport
      2. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         So, in essence, HP is "punishing" us for having hubs that don't bring enough traffic, and sticking on a tag that insures they will be invisible forever??!!  That seems a bit harsh.  In that case, why shouldn't we just un-publish all of the 'idled' hubs ourselves?
         (I saw advice against doing that on one of these forum posts somewhere ...)
         I've worked hard to climb to over 200, and if I either leave the idle hubs sit put, and get no traffic, it does me (and HP!!) no good; likewise if I unpublish them all...... then I likewise get no traffic to them, and neither does HP.
         It seems to me a bit like the 'cutting off one's nose to spite the face,' kind of scenario on HP's part.  If they just left them lie, they would get at least some traffic...which could lead to further browsing of the rest of the site...and do both HP and its authors some good. Instead, they've chosen to go for a severe penalty.  **Shaking my head.**
         I did follow advice of another hubber in a forum post, or perhaps on a hub..to set up a FaceBook page to promote your HP account.  I've done that...and I put both hubs of my own, and link to others' interesting hubs as well.  Hopefully, that will get some of the under-performing hubs seen and read...as I do put some of those on the FB page....
         
         (I have just looked, and over half of my hubs have been idled!  Many of those are poems, which is where I began, so I'm not overly concerned with those--however, also idled are a good many of my educational/informational pieces that people need to see  about how big corporations and public utilities use unethical practices...)

         replyreport
         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Essentially yes - if a Hub is idled, it's invisible.  So you may as well unpublish it, unless you want to try revising it. 
            
            However, if you check the HubPages blog, you'll find it's all changed and there's no such thing as "idled" any more.  Now it's "Featured" and not featured.  I think that basically, it's still the same though - if your Hub isn't "Featured", then it's the equivalent of Idle.  I'm hoping to get some clarification soon.

            replyreport
         2. 0

            Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Marisa, thanks for the clarification - I went to my account and indeed all those symbols had changed but the basic idea seems to be the same after reading the HP blog post you mentioned.  I've worked out that about 20% of my hubs are "Not featured" or "Idle". 
            
            Ms Lizzy - in terms of invisibility, the Not featured / Idle hubs would be invisible to the SEARCH ENGINES (which yes, pretty much makes them almost completely invisible to everyone - but not quite).  You could still link to them within other hubs or on your profile page (correct me if I'm wrong here Marisa) and your readers can view these hubs that way.  However, as I understand from Marisa's earlier response to me, even if you get lots of new traffic that way, it STILL won't take you out of Not Featured/Idle status because the search engines are still being told to disregard that hub.  So you can get viewers to 'see' the hub via links but that won't help one bit in terms of search engine visibility.  Ms. Lizzy yes it sounds like writers are being penalized, but I think what HP is trying to do is to say to us, hey, you've got a hub that isn't getting much traffic so we're not going to bother letting the search engines find it until you edit it to improve it.  So you do have the opportunities to get out of Idle status but only by editing that hub.
            
            Personally, my argument against that attitude by HP is that I don't 'expect' all of my hubs to get tons of traffic and I'd happily settle for a little bit of occasional traffic, rather than put in a ton of work to revamp and SEO-ize a topic that may never get lots of people googling it.  Of course if I had a hub of sub-standard quality then I would want to edit it, but if the only issue is its traffic level then I would rather move it to another writing site - this is something I've been looking into seriously now.  Again this is just me - other hubbers may feel differently.

            replyreport
            1. 86

               Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               You are right - however by default, only Featured Hubs show on your Profile.  You need to edit your profile and change that setting if you want your non-featured Hubs to show up.  However those Hubs still won't show up if someone does a Search on HubPages, or if they're browsing categories.
               
               
               
               If you've read the new thread on quality, you'll see that the Idle penalty has nothing to do with lack of traffic.  The decision is made by a paid rating panel, who judge the Hub using something similar to the new Hub Hopper.

               replyreport
               1. 76

                  Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  This is really annoying because it basically means that some very badly paid idiot who is rushing through their work anyway has the power to penalize us if they don't like what they read and see!

                  replyreport
                  1. 86

                     DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     @ Bard of Ely,
                       I agree...it is entirely too subjective, by an outside panel of underpaid people rushing to get as many nickel and dime payouts as possible to try and reach the unreachable dream of making a killing by 'working' online.  It stands to reason that, as outsiders, they would downgrade their rating for no better reason than simply being uninterested in the topic, regardless of how many other people might find it fascinating.
                       It is a similar situation with the old-style hub-hopper.  If I came across a topic dealing, say, with soap operas, which I personally can't stand, I simply skip to the next hub, but I'm not going to flag it, or vote it down, because I know many, many people would be very interested.
                       However, with an external panel, I don't believe that would happen...I think they would give the article a poor rating.  (Maybe 'skipping over' without giving a rating is not an option for them .....  we don't know that it is or is not.)

                     replyreport
                     1. 76

                        Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        I think you are right! Hopping needs time spent on reading all through the hub  and considering each point you are judging it on. I did some the other day and it takes times and requires thought. This won't be happening if done by people rushing to get as many 5 cents as possible! The whole idea is ludicrous in my opinion!

                        replyreport
               2. 0

                  Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Marisa, thanks again, you are so helpful in interpreting all this for us! However it sounds from the blog that only an edit by the author will trigger a Quality Assessment process.  While that's not a problem for newly published hubs (which automatically go to QA), what about old hubs which went idle back when 'Idle' was first introduced? Does this mean that they are "not featured" by default, until an edit process triggers a fresh Quality Assessment? Or did all hubs (idle and non-idle) get re-evaluated in a Quality Assessment even if they were not subsequently edited by the author? It's not at all clear on the relevant blog post.  Or do you mean that back when 'idle' status first was invented, that this had to do with quality assessment and not traffic? - because HP made it sound like idle was due to traffic issues not quality. So have they switched from traffic issues to quality issues or did I misunderstand? I'm a bit perplexed and I'm really appreciating you clarifying things for those such as myself who are seeking to understand what is going on.
                  
                  And I completely understand that not all writing sites will 'like' the same article (in fact I came to HP from another writing site when they made it clear they weren't interested in one of my articles - which has gone on to do very well at HP!).  By the same token, if HP isn't satisfied with some of my articles which I believe still are fine as is, I won't hesitate to move it to another site rather than spend time messing around and editing it.

                  replyreport
                  1. 86

                     Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     No, all Hubs will be put through the Quality Assessment Process.   Every time you edit a Hub, it will be put through the QAP again.

                     replyreport
                     1. 0

                        Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        Sorry if I seem to be slow on the uptake... but I'm talking about already-existing hubs that were NEVER edited after publication, but that went into Idle status back when Idle status was invented.  Are you saying that these never went into QA because I never edited them?

                        replyreport
                        1. 86

                           Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           The Idle process was just the beginning of the Featured Hubs process.   All that has happened is they've decided the "Idled" name was causing too much flack, so they've turned it on its head and chosen to highlight Hubs that are Featured instead of Hubs that are Idled. 
                           
                           Non-Featured Hubs are Idled Hubs.  Nothing has really changed, except that we now know how Idled Hubs were decided - and it wasn't low traffic as we all thought.

                           replyreport
               3. 51

                  janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Just to clarify why Featured hubs may revert to 'normal' (=Idle)  - extract from the official tome:
                  "Hubs which may be initially Featured, may return to a normal state if lower( sic - I think this should be higher) quality ratings come in or if the Hub experiences low levels of reader engagement over time." Got it!

                  replyreport
                  1. 86

                     Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     I don't know why they use the word "normal".  It implies that there's nothing wrong if your Hub is non-featured, when in fact not being Featured means it's virtually invisible.

                     replyreport
                     1. 51

                        janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        "Shooting blanks"
                        'low levels of reader engagement over time'  = low traffic, I guess
                        I love the 'spin'

                        replyreport
8. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

   I have a couple of non-featured hubs, but they still come up in search engines,

   replyreport
9. 57

   Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

   Kind of makes one feel they're (writers) to blame for problems of day-to-day business of HP I too enjoyed writing about 'learning' something and then sharing it even if it's something that's not overly popular like fashion back in the day, least it would fall into whatever was 'trending' even if temporary but now, totally isolated from our audience, we are given and get nothing for not providing traffic AND now, ads will be turned OFF in idle hubs?

   replyreport
   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Not quite. Ads will be turned off on Hubs which are in "Pending" (ie. when they're first published).   Ads will still show on Hubs which become Idled, but honestly what would it matter if they didnt? You're not going to get any visitors anyway.

      replyreport
10. 57

    Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

    Alright thanks for clearing that up. Glad one of us is on the ball It is 'Movember' for men, encourage men to maintain health and that one hub was idled. It won't get seen now. So, even if I promote with a direct link to the hub, nobody can access it until past pending?

    replyreport
    1. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       People can follow an actual link if it's in a Hub, or if you send it to them.  You can also choose to display non-featured Hubs on your profile.  However there is no way you can get it to show up if someone uses "search" on HubPages, or on the topic pages, or in the search engines, if it's not Featured.

       replyreport
       1. 0

          Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I believe the blog post says that it will show up in an internal "search" on Hubpages but not on the search engines. See http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/Featured-Hubs  and look at the last section labeled "Featured Hubs" - within that, it talks about the non-featured hubs and where they can and cannot be found.

          replyreport
          1. 86

             Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Good, I'm relieved to see they've made that concession.  Previously, Idled Hubs did not show up in the search as far as I'm aware.

             replyreport
11. 57

    Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

    Ok thank you ladies. As for the malicious link thingy. I have found some sites that have pop up/over under, that ask for emails, usually trip that filter even if it seems a legit site

    replyreport
12. 61

    LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

    I have a nonfeatured hub and can use the link to get it up from search engine.

    replyreport
    1. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Ah, but has it been crawled since its status changed?  You'll be able to find it for several days if not weeks, until Google crawls it again.

       replyreport
13. 60

    Peanutritiousposted 11 years ago

    Dizzy, I empathise with your frustration. I had a hub's ad's disabled as the content was deemed too sensitive. The article was about male suicide. It's an important topic but obviously not as important as recipes for cake or other more gentle subject matters.
    I also had a hub unpublished for not having relevant ad's from eBay and amazon. The article was about women looking more like blow up dolls and wearing coplus amounts of make up and false eyelashes. The ad's were for (you guessed it) make up and false eyelashes but I was told they were not relevant to the text!!!
    Almost half of my oldest hubs have been idled or not featured. I like the way they are written and don't think they need changing they have just been on for a long time. My most popular hub is now not featured which is weird as it has the most comments! Now,no one can read it!
    I think I'm just going to move them on to a new site.it seems pointless putting more on as it seems sooner or later, they'll be taken off!
    I really liked Hubpages but I feel frustrated and like whatever I do I can't do right!

    replyreport
    1. 0

       Giselle Maineposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Pea - me too with the unpublication for not having relevant Amazon products!  My hub about ballet slippers got unpublished for having an ad there for a ballet-related product other than ballet slippers.  They were OK with the ballet slipper capsule, but not the other ballet-related product.  I get the rationale but I was surprised that they would choose to pick on what seemed to me a very minor and somewhat subjective issue - I honestly had not thought that there was anything wrong  with putting in the other ballet product and was surprised when I found out that HP didn't like it.
       
       Sorry to hear that your most popular hub is not featured - that is very weird (I've only had my lower-traffic ones not be featured).  The fact that you've had your most popular hub be unfeatured tells us that there is something very wrong with their Quality Assessment Process.

       replyreport
    2. 86

       DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Hi, Peanutritious...
          I know--it's ridiculous.. Why are we writers being penalized for "irrelevant ads," when it is GOOGLE who places them, and we have zero control???
       HP seems to have a love affair with Google, yet wants to slap the authors for Google's choices??? 
         I know exactly what you mean...I've written articles about corporate greed, targeting public utilities and insurance companies...the Hubs are against those industries..and yet... you guessed it... the ads that appear are for the very things against which the Hub is written!!!
       BAH!

       replyreport
       1. 89

          mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I believe that if you are flagged by HP for 'irrelevant ads' they are referring not to the Google Ads, but to the ebay and Amazon ads put on by the author.

          replyreport
          1. 86

             DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Oh, I see, Misty...
               Well, I don't put many of those.  I only have Amazon, not "FEE Bay" ads... and I limit them... In any case, I've had them on over a year of several hubs, and have yet to make any qualifying amount or a payout from them...  They are not worth my time to search for appropriate matching products, which I always do.
               It could be that the hubs getting 'slapped' for those choices, are the ones that select the  'auto-pick' instead of hand-selecting each ad yourself.

             replyreport
             1. 89

                mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                I make a few cents, maybe 20-50 per day from Ebay, and with Amazon I now hit payout about once every nine months, but on Amazon I do now select each product rather than trusting the automatic keyword search which got me in trouble once before on a hub I wrote about my cats, in which I made the mistake in the auto search of using the word 'Pussy', (you can't begin to imagine the adverts that turned up on there some six months or more later when the okay ones suddenly got replaced). That said I made about 4 sales of rather questionable products as a result before HP unpublished the hub and I realised what had happened and changed the search term lol.

                replyreport
14. 61

    LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

    It sounds like it is getting a bit ridiculous now that I read about the eyelashes and ballet slippers. You mean to tell me that the hub about ballet slippers is getting slapped if they toss in a ballet costume as one of the products. 
    
    Yet we have hubs that have poor grammar, have a few sentences and everything else is videos, or a long page without any paragraphing which stay published and often get higher scores than a decently writtien hub.
    
    I also don't like the other hubs at the bottom, especially if we have other hubs that are relevant to the content of the hub someone is reading.
    
    HP is constantly sneaking in changes without even letting writers know what they are doing. 
    Well, the upside is that we can delete, and unpublish our hubs and take em elsewhere!!!!!

    replyreport
15. 61

    LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

    What I find to be hilarious is that I wrote hub about a specific injury and how it affected someone. Yet, the more hubs that HP adds to the bottom of the page lists hubs that are about hospital supplies,  hospital costs
    Another thing that cracks me up is this same hub has ads for shoes and that is something we all see, ads that are not placed by us, out of our control, are plastered on our hubs and have zero relevence to the content.

    replyreport