So I have been sandboxed? Really?

1. 60

   suramyakhposted 12 years ago

   I don't get hundreds of viewers everyday, but I used to get nearly 60 each day. Then since March 7, I have been getting a maximum of 5 views (total of 6 hubs).
   
   What I have found is that my hubs have mysteriously been removed from the first page of Google. My DELL Laptop lens was number 3 on the first page, and now I can't find it anywhere. Well, not at least on the first 10 pages of Google. What's been happening?

   replyreport
   1. 86

      mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Just a couple of suggestions:
      
      1) You refer to your laptop article as 'a lens' which sounds like you use Squidoo. Is it possible you have the same article (or one extremely similar) already on Squidoo (in which case your article could be quickly unpublished or listed as 'Not Featured' by HP due to duplicate content)?
      
      2) Partly as above, but have you checked your account page to see if your hubs have been downgraded to 'Not Featured' and therefore 'no index' by HP, which would result in Google ultimately dropping them from the SERPS?

      replyreport
      1. 60

         suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Lol, I meant "hubs" and not lens. It's Squiddiction, sorry about that. Yes, I have a similar article but that's more than 90% unique IMO. The other 10% duplicate may be random laptop specs like "bla bla amount of RAM", and so on.
         
         All 6 of my articles are featured, they show the H inside a black circle. Don't know what the cause is. What's more weird is that I sold about 8 items on eBay that day from HP, for which I am (hopefully) getting $50ish something

         replyreport
2. 68

   PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

   My main account was hit on the same day.  I can't find any info on Google algo updates, panda refreshes that day - but I lost most of my traffic and it's now flatlining.  It's frustrating as the account spent 6 months recovering from the last hit, only to be sent back to square one pretty much overnight.
   
   Hoping for a quick recovery, but thinking if HP had a theme song, it would be "19th Nervous Breakdown", by The Rolling Stones! 

   replyreport
   1. 60

      suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Lol, yeah - and the album is sure to be a chart buster, right?
      
      Paul, one question - do you also have absolutely zero traffic from Google? My hubs are ranked the same in Bing (and Yahoo!) but can't find anywhere in Google. Only way to see my articles in Google is by searching:
      
      site:suramyakh.hubpages.com
      
      and it lists all my hubs - so weird! I can find your alligator/crocodile lens on Google 1st page, hopefully you have recovered I guess.

      replyreport
      1. 68

         PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I lost about 70% of traffic, pretty much overnight. 
         
         No sign of a recovery yet, but I live in hope.

         replyreport
3. 86

   GinnyLeeposted 12 years ago

   My account was hit the same day.  If it helps, the last time this happened to me, my account bounced back quickly and went to higher views than before the hit...but I sure wish it wouldn't happen like it does.  It can be nerve wracking.

   replyreport
   1. 60

      suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Lucky you, only getting traffic from Facebook and Pinterest. No Google love yet
      
      Hope the same happens here!

      replyreport
4. 60

   Randy Godwinposted 12 years ago

   Thankfully we have very caring and helpful staff who keep us updated on these frequent glitches.

   replyreport
5. 69

   LCDWriterposted 12 years ago

   I'm glad to see this.  I'm seeing a major drop as well.

   replyreport
6. 90

   aa liteposted 12 years ago

   This sort of thing's happened to me twice in the year I've been here.  The first time everything was back to normal after a week.  The second time, it took two weeks.  The second time was in December, I remember there was a thread by SimeyC, who was experiencing the same thing at the time.
   
   No idea why it happens.  It is almost like Google decides to play with hubbers, or is testing something and puts a massive penalty on a subdomain.  The only good thing about it is that it doesn't last very long, for most people.  There have been a few hubbers who appear to have been sandboxed permanently.
   
   I would not panic for a week or a two.  Hopefully your traffic will go back to normal.  If it doesn't happen, your best bet might be to start another account with a new subdomain. 
   
   You could use the time while you're waiting for the return of Google love to see whether there could be any problems, like keyword stuffing or something.  Also check to see whether your hubs have been stolen by scraping sites.  But if you are anything like me, it is nothing to do with you, or Panda, it's just Google having some fun.

   replyreport
   1. 59

      Hollie Thomasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I definitely agree that Google is testing sub-domains and other accounts. Have you noticed that just before a plunge there is usually a bit of a surge. It's as if they testing each particular domain for engagement and such, then dumps them temporarily, before (in some instances) returning traffic.
      
      Perhaps that's another factor when they're evaluating the position of each domain in the SERPS (in addition to shares, backlinks etc)

      replyreport
      1. 60

         suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         No surge that I know of. But my other account is experiencing that. What you said just freaks me out because I only have two accounts here, and hope the second does not get into the sandpit.
         
         Thanks!

         replyreport
   2. 60

      suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Aa, thanks for posting this. Fortunately, I have not relied only on HP - so it's not that big of a deal. I can be patient about this. Just feels bad to have my hard work thrown away in seconds.
      
      Thanks for the assurance.

      replyreport
7. 67

   Astra Nomikposted 12 years ago

   What happens if people rely less on search engines and more on mobile searches from inside Facebook and Twitter and other platforms or social media? What happens to our "rating", I wonder?
   
   Surely we should be making readers and users everywhere aware of our content and referring them from those social media back to our writing here. I use at least 5 social media platforms to get my "message" out there. If the signposts that lead to our online content are being take down, then put them up somewhere else...

   replyreport
   1. 60

      suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well said Astra, I couldn't agree more. +1
      
      But I have experienced something more weird - my hubs are still present on Google search result's 1st page when viewed from mobile devices... this Google thingy is weirding me out! O_O

      replyreport
8. 88

   sgbrownposted 12 years ago

   I am so confused! One of my hubs that was number one on the first page of google search, I can't even find anymore, but the link that I put on Redgage, is number 4 on page one!  Should that be telling me something?

   replyreport
9. 68

   PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

   Maybe the upcoming Panda update will solve our problems?  I certainly hope so!  http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/110422

   replyreport
   1. 60

      suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Ah, thank you for posting this.
      
      But it seems my hubs have started to re appear. (sigh)

      replyreport
      1. 68

         PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         My traffic is climbing too at the moment.  Heaven knows what will happen at the weekend?  I think we are in for some turbulence.

         replyreport
10. 0

    Beth37posted 12 years ago

    So can you use pinterest for articles or is it mainly for things like recipes? What do you all use it for?

    replyreport
    1. 60

       suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Pinterest is for everything, provided there's an interesting photo that can be used legally.
       
       Be it rocket science, pajamas, SEO, christmas or even movies. Just create a board, that's it!

       replyreport
       1. 0

          Beth37posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          so... is it ok to "pin" an article there if it's already published here? and what about what wilderness said about hubbers not being allowed to share there anymore?

          replyreport
11. 67

    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    Its a place you can collect websites by posting a picture and a link.
    
    You can do with that whatever you wish (other than spammily self-promote the holy heck out of your own websites)

    replyreport
    1. 0

       Beth37posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       so post a pic and attach the link to the hub... and then wait a while, considering, I have nothing to offer but hubs and blog post. lol... Ok... maybe I will try it with my scrabble hub. The only original pic I have is one that spelled out the word fu**ers, which I had to take a pic of, as you can imagine.
       Thank you!

       replyreport
12. 0

    Beth37posted 12 years ago

    Ok, so if I did it right, I didn't actually use one of my own pics, I just reused someone elses pic and now I am going to post my link to it? This is odd.

    replyreport
    1. 60

       suramyakhposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Sounds odd and illegal, that's why Pinterest is still debated. I would say, use at your own risk.
       
       And then many are doing the same. "Repinning" actually means, in a sense, copying their pins from their board to ours - so.... you know,,,!

       replyreport
    2. 67

       psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       If you repin you should use the original link.

       replyreport
       1. 0

          Beth37posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Grrr, I don't understand. I only followed their steps. The only option it offered was to re use a pic. I didn't want to. Ill go back and see if there's something else I can do.

          replyreport
13. 67

    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    The normal process is to use "add a pin"--put in a url, and choose one of the pictures on that url.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       Beth37posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Ok, Ive just posted my first whatever... I don't know what Ive done yet, but I think I did it right. Thanks for all your help!

       replyreport