Google Algorythm update Fred downs traffic for spammy websites

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   Nell Roseposted 8 years ago

   Mine were not to bad over the weekend but have dropped again now.

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   Bedbugabscondposted 8 years ago

   I did a little investigating of my own. I tracked what many Google employees were saying on their social media accounts. They give us clues on what is happening. After comparing that various websites accounts of Fred, the social media of Google employees, and rereading the google quality rater guidelines I am starting to see a pattern.
   
   First, replace the word spammy with the word low quality. Just because something gets dinged as low quality does not equate to being spammy. Although all spammy websites are going to be marked as low quality. Or at least they would in a perfect world.
   
   Sometimes web pages are marked as low quality over something that can be changed or fixed. Both the responsibility of the website owner AND the person who wrote the content, are considered during quality rating.
   
   There is a reason Hubpages reminds us to create bios and to use professional looking names.
   There is a reason the staff keeps talking about editing stuff and reminding us to do the same.
   
   Go straight to the source. Get a copy of the quality rating guidelines. Read very carefully, and look up the terms you don't understand. Use critical thinking to apply the guidelines to your content, your bio, your profile, and anything else you have control over.
   
   Trust that the Hubpages staff takes responsibility for their end. Focus on what is under your control on your end.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         Bedbugabscondposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I am just saying that everyone needs to go back and reread the guidelines post Fred. You might be surprised what you find. We all need to encourage each other to do do the same.  No matter how high quality we believe our articles to be, none of us is perfect.
         
         The only way to prove that Hubpages is a reputable place for amateur writers is to create a reputable atmosphere. Like I said, trust that Hubpage employees are doing their jobs to the best of their ability.  And really, how can rereading them hurt you?
         
         YMYL pages are scored more critically than other types of pages. The guidelines helps us understand what changes can be made to improve those types of articles.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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               Bedbugabscondposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I use the words amateur writers because that is how hubpages represents itself. Not as an insult to you. You do not have to defend yourself to me. This is not a personal insult to you or your credentials. I simply made a suggestion and I apologize if I put you on the defensive.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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                     Bedbugabscondposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     You know what. The place on the website where I saw that now uses different language. Maybe they don't advertise themselves like that now.

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     When I first joined HubPages, there were plenty of professional writers and professional bloggers here, because the earnings potential was as good as any other option.  Nowadays, I doubt there are many professional writers actively writing on HubPages, although many still have a portfolio of Hubs which they use for passive income.  For most professional writers, the hourly rate on HP is simply too low - they can make more money doing almost anything else.
                     
                     There are a few active Hubbers here who make a living from their writing, but most of them run a blog or blogs and do freelance writing, and those activities provide the bulk of their income.  There is also a small number of Hubbers who make a high monthly payout, but IMO that's due to their ability to write on a particular subject, not just their ability to write, and one wonders how much they'd be earning if they'd put those articles on a dedicated blog instead.
                     
                     Tess, I know your particular circumstances mean that Hubbing suits you, but in my experience, it's unusual for a writer with your background to be relying on sites like HP to earn income.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 8 years ago

   
   
   I never trusted that damn Fred.

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   lobobrandonposted 8 years ago

   As I and others have pointed out quite a few times, HP should experiment by stopping interlinking among the niche sites.
   
   Right at the beginning when people were saying Fred was an Ad update I said that the link profile on HealDove was fishy when compared to Caloriebee for example. I still stick to this.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Not at all. One of my articles that consistently gets 400 a day has dropped to 350 and one day 250 too, but it's beginning to improve again. Even though it's pretty consistent at 400 there were times where there were a few days where it dropped.
         
         What I mean by consistent is that the traffic is not dependent on weekends, season, etc.
         
         This is my article on caloriebee, that is why when I compared the two sites I used caloriebee as a base since I knew caloriebee does not have an all around drop.
         
         P.S: Writing from my phone, there may be some grammatical and spelling issues.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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               lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               A gardening hub of mine gets constant traffic from pinterest. Never added them myself, but some lovely people on the web have added mine and yours too hehe.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         It has always worried me that the niche sites interlink with Hubs on HubPages.
         
         After all, the niche sites were created to get out from under Google's perception that the main site was low quality.  Which I thought was a great idea.  So then what do they do?   Put masses of links on the niche sites, linking back to Hubs on HubPages!

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I'm talking about links FROM the niche sites back TO HubPages.
               
               Each old Hub that's transferred does have a 301 redirect TO the niche site, because if it didn't, we'd lose all the age and backlinks they gained.  I'm not too worried about that because I don't think Fred is looking at inbound links.   
               
               However, the links from the niche sites back to HubPages are outbound links and that is a problem.

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                  lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  From what I am seeing it's inbound links, Marisa. Maybe outbound are also targetted, but inbound is the problem. If it were outbound don't you think all niche sites would be affected to some extent? They are not.
                  
                  And the redirects are not the problem, those are not counted as inbound links.

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      Jan Saintsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think it's also good if they can stop using related hubs from HP!

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   iAnilKumarposted 8 years ago

   This updated was first launched in January 10, 2017, and is related to pop-ups that block content, especially on mobile devices. This update seems to have been aimed at combating private blog networks (PBNs). As we can see the list of major google algorithm updates in different forums, many webmasters and SEO professionals who are using PBNs have seen their Projects have been hit by this update. (Published on business 2 community, titled "Google’s Fred Update: Algorithm Changes and Updates"
   And Search Engine Watch also have covered it as "The Private Blog Network Purge – Are You at Risk?"
   
   Please search these topics and get updated, hope this will helps you guys to overcome with the current issue.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         iAnilKumarposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         No,  sorry for any misconception, I didn't mean that I just wanted to drive the information about the update, and may be Google's this update affect some of the HP's post. Because if some HP seen drop in traffic after this update, then the possibility to get affected with this update is high.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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               Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Just a minor thing but "all sites that aren't promoting a product are putting it up for adsense or other revenue" is not entirely correct.
               
               There are many sites that exist to promote views, share hobby interests or provide information absolutely FREE of advertising or commercial gain.
               
               Arguably it could be a way of determining genuine content.
               
               Would this site, blog, article exist if there were no financial reward?
               
               Now that would be a fun test.
               
               Of course none of that is why Google is making changes.  In their case it is ALL about the money.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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                     Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     Hi Tess. 
                     
                     Yes sadly it is probably a low percent.  But I was arguably correct that it isn't ALL.
                     
                     As part of researching my own stuff I often stumble on small websites for less mainstream activities run by fans and enthusiats who may never have heard of adsense.
                     
                     They create their site as part of their club or interest - to share pics, data and the date of the next meetup.
                     
                     An old-fashioned idea no doubt!

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                        TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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                           Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                           I guess not.
                           
                           Although for them and their users they provide a simple place to go without a load of ads.
                           
                           Here is an example.  Morris Dancing.
                           
                           http://www.rattlejagmorris.org.uk/
                           
                           No ads as far as I can see.
                           
                           That is the sort of site I am referring to.  A minority interest created for their people - not for advertising.
                           
                           There are other bigger sites such as the appalling plagirist site Wikipedia.
                           
                           And the equally appalling taxpayer funded BBC UK site.
                           
                           But I was really thinking fondly of sites like the Morris Dancers who do it for love.
                           
                           The way the internet used to be. Much better in my opinion.
                           
                           Saw a great one on Axololotls the other day.  Not an adsense in sight.
                           
                           None of this is what the Google change is about.  Global non tax paying corporate monopoly with an agenda - they care nothing for the internet or its users.

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                              Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              Apart from this:
                              Rattlejag cd's are available:-
                              Rattlejag Collection  £5
                              Trentside Tapestry   £6
                              Or £10 for both Cd's
                              
                              'professionally recorded at Swanyard Recording Studio - Retford'
                              
                              I reckon an article titled "The 10 Best Ciders to Make You Think Morris Dancing is Okay' would do well on that site. With Amazon ads, of course.

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                                 Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                 Ah... well spotted Will. I just looked for Adsense and Amazon - the usual culprits.
                                 
                                 That CD might make a good Xmas present or perhaps a Secret Santa.

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                                    Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                    Seeing all these posts, I had to see what this Morris Dancing thing is all about.. ummm, no offense, but I like our native dancing costumes better than those of Nottinghamshire - also we use rattlesnake rattles for our Rattlejags. 
                                    
                                    
                                    now on line for corn dogs.
                                    
                                    

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                              Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              So, do you think Google is looking with favor upon these noncommercial websites? It seems to me they are leaning more and more to the big names and cutting out the little guys, including those who are not out to make money.

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                                 Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                 It seems Google is favoring bigger sites these days on the basis they have more resources and are more professional. Or they are pushing more resources to established publishers to keep them healthy/afloat, maybe.

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                                 Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                 There was a time when Google definitely favoured the big guys, then there was another change in algorithm which favoured the niche website, of whatever size.   I benefited hugely from that for a couple of years.  In the last year or so, I'm noticing my traffic dropping again.

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               iAnilKumarposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Yes, I agree with you and ever I also don't see any sponsored link or ads on hubpages.  Since it is a money making channel so, may be in thsi regard Google have recognize it in fred update? What do you say?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting - if it's targeting blog networks, I wonder if the profile of HubPages and its niche sites look like a "network" in the eyes of this update?

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         EricDockettposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Blog networks are set up to point back to one main domain, right? Wouldn't the niche sites all pointing back to HP kind of look that way?
         
         In any event, it appears that HP has drastically reduced the linking back to the HP domain from the niches. I'm pretty darned glad to see that, if I am reading it correctly.

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   lobobrandonposted 8 years ago

   I'm going to have to disagree with Mark on this one. It's just like saying the best homes are the ones built by people who build homes as a hobby and give them up freely for anyone to live in.
   
   You can have a much better website if you are doing it for commercial gain against when you are doing it as a hobby. The end user needs to come first in both cases.

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      Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That's cool.
      
      I made a mistake.
      
      Ventured an opinion on the internet.
      
      Waste of time.
      
      Back to doing my stuff.

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         theraggededgeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I think there's plenty of room for both. One type need not be better than the other as long as there is a gap to fill.

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         lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I didn't say what you said was wrong, I just said it's not the only way

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            Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Yep it's OK lobo.  My bad.
            
            I gave up with forums a while back and then made a mistake getting involved.
            
            Apart from being pointless they just waste time - like I am doing now.
            
            I am annoyed with myself for typing crap instead of working.
            
            Cheers.

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               lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Haha I know that feeling. Bye

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               Bedbugabscondposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I'm just glad to see that your OK Mark. I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering if you were still around!

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         So? Did I say that it's not possible. I said it's possible to have a commercial site that is equally good.

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   jansharesposted 8 years ago

   Traffic down again in the middle of the week? By 100 views. Is this Fred Phase II?

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      lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Which niche site? Not seeing weird stuff on:
      - Caloriebee
      - Dengarden

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         jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Looks like HealDove again. It's my total 1 day views. I don't have hubs on the 2 you mentioned. Wed and Thursday are high traffic days for me so it seemed strange. Back later, got a client.

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            jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            LetterPile article lost a chunk of views.

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               lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               oh

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