Why is the "Answers" area on HubPages so prominent?

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   CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years ago

   I was browsing through Owlcation yesterday and saw "Answers" was being promoted more than hubs. Previously if you clicked on "best", latest" etc,. it was all hubs. Why the change?
   
   I am a little upset that hubs are not getting enough attention in the "best", "latest" etc.  I used to have many hubs there. Sometimes I'd have 4 of the top 10 spots. Now I was lucky to see one of my hubs there.
   
   I have never bothered much with "Answers" because you don't get paid for views to the questions you submit. Or do you? 
   
   If I'm not getting paid for those views (although HP is still earning from the ads), is there another reason to write there? I have always thought I'm better off spending my time writing new hubs and editing and updating my old ones.
   
   I've noticed that my hubber score has dropped about 5 points. Is it because I'm not doing much in the "Answers" area?
   
   Thanks for your input.

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      kenneth averyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      @Catherine, great question. With your humble permission, I would love to ask you what happened to the Voting of the old Hub design? I mean by that, and I think you are touching on that too, but the hub we read would be listed across the top with an Interesting, Good, like a multiple choice and we could click on the vote.
      Why did HP do away with that?

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      1. 79

         CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         That went away a long time ago. Maybe more than a year. I guess it just wasn't serving a purpose for HP. I think maybe too many people just clicked on it to get reciprocal clicks. I'm just guessing. I liked that feature.

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      theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I've never participated in 'answers'. Don't think it has any bearing on hubberscore, which in turn has no bearing on anything

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      tamarawilhiteposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Because this type of question ranks well with conversational / voice search engine optimization, which is increasing because of people asking Siri and Alexa questions aloud.

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         CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, the information you provided explains a lot.  It is helpful to HP. But is participating in "Answers" in any way beneficial to me as a hubber?

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            Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            One benefit is your hubber score will definitely increase if you are active on Questions and Answers and at Forums. And, you are definitely worried at your hubber score also. So, better keep participating.
            I do not know regarding the earnings portion. But, I hope HP gets income and so they will be sharing it proportionately based on your participation in these activities.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Look at my score.  I very rarely ask any questions or write any answers.  Maybe once in six months!  So I don't think it is important.

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               theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I've never done a one In fact I've only accidentally found myself there once or twice.

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               Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               But, Marisa, I hope it goes well with those publishing hubs at very long intervals. That's why I am in favor of participating in Questions and Forums.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Catherine,
      
      HubPages Q&A content should not be featured anywhere on Owlcation or any of the HubPages Network Sites. Can you please provide me with a link of where you are seeing it show up on that site?

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         Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I think it is not the network site. They must be appearing at Hubpages main page and the category wise pages. And they are mostly dumped with question answers featuring on each page. I never noticed questions at network sites till now.

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         CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Maybe I saw them someplace else. Maybe I thought I was looking on Owlcation, but was actually someplace else. I'll look again.

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            Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            You might have seen on education page going through the buttons hidden at the left margin of any hub on the main HP site.

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   Jason mackenzieposted 6 years ago

   Hi, I feel forum participation plays a more significant role in determining your hub score, of course apart from your hubs. Try participating in discussions and check if it makes a difference.

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      Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I ditto it.

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   Kathleen Cochranposted 6 years ago

   They've also done away with sharing hubs among ourselves.  This was a great way for me to find new hubbers and encourage each other.  Don't know why this feature went away either.
   
   My concern with so much emphasis on answers and forums is there is a new breed of hubber who never writes hubs.  They hang out in the answers section and don't contribute to the overall purpose of the site.

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   1. 79

      CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. "Answers" used to be an insignificant part of HP. It's like some kind of chat room.  "Answers" is fine for those who like that sort of thing, I resent having the "Answers" taking attention away from hubs.

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   Robert Sacchiposted 6 years ago

   Catherine Giordano, could you have answered your own question?  If they don't pay for views to "Answers" and if more people view answers then it would seem in HubPages best interest to give them more attention.  Has anyone from HubPages given an official answer to your question?

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   1. 79

      CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      It seems on this, HP's bests interests and mine diverge.  I wish they would put Answers in a separate section. It takes up "valuable real estate" in the "best", etc. lists. I think only hubs should be featured there.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I agree, I really don't like the Answers section.  However, I don't think HubPages would give it so much prominence if they didn't feel it was helping bring traffic to the site overall.   
         
         After all, they don't earn much money from Answers either - they make money from Hubs.  So there is some logic there that we're missing.

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         1. 79

            CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            HP makes money by bringing eyeballs to advertisers. What brings the eyeballs is irrelevant. Evidently "Answers" is bringing eyeballs.
            
            Evidently people are so eager to express their opinions and so unwilling to do the hard work that a good hub requires--so Answers is successful.
            
            I don't like my hubs --each of which takes me days to write (20 hours or more)--being in that environment. I think it makes quality hubs look cheap. Keep "Answers" and hubs separate.
            
            I am not here for "Answers." I can argue with people on facebook.

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            1. 89

               Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               HubPages makes money in exactly the same way as we do - from the ads which appear on our Hubs.   There are also ads on Answers, but only one or two per page.  So  Hubs are far more profitable for them than Answers, just as they are for us.
               
               My guess is that they find Answers brings eyeballs to the site, as you say, and that impresses Google, so it's more likely our Hubs will rank higher.

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