Maven bought HubPages, the Good News?

Jump to Last Post 1-8 of 8 discussions (29 posts)
  1. MomsTreasureChest profile image85
    MomsTreasureChestposted 6 years ago

    Maven bought HubPages,  the Good News?

    Bueller? Bueller?

    Can you see the good in it for you the Hubber?
     
    Article about the good things for the Owners of HubPages: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/06/hubpage … years.html

    Hubpages article on the good things for all:
    https://blog.hubpages.com/2018/01/05/hu … aut-maven/

    The Maven article on the good things for all:
    https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/pres … 6E0c6WYDMQ

    TheMaven website: https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/mave … WbQIMj8igw


    Do you see the good for you with this buyout and your future as a writer for Maven/HubPages?    What good things do you see ahead?

    1. ryanpugs profile image61
      ryanpugsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Well you can pretty much now own shares in Hubpages.

      Perhaps they should offer 'equity' as a payment method.

    2. Doreen Mallett profile image70
      Doreen Mallettposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I really don't know. I am new to Hubpages. I think my first article was posted in November 2017. I really have been wondering why the platform sees so lack-luster and so I had been looking for alternatives. I don't know what difference this takeover makes. I'll just wait and see.

    3. Doreen Mallett profile image70
      Doreen Mallettposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      As I said before, I am new to HubPages. I have written 8 articles, all have been published, 3 or 4 have been 'promoted' to one network or another but none has generated earnings. Either I am not doing something that I am not aware of, or the platform is not vigorous. Let's see how the takeover performs.

      1. theraggededge profile image97
        theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        It looks as though you are writing in highly competitive niches, therefore your articles are fighting against the tide somewhat. Eight articles aren't enough to generate much income, if any. How's your traffic?

    4. Doreen Mallett profile image70
      Doreen Mallettposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I have visited the Maven website and I am impressed with their presentation. My questions to HubPages :
      What do writers need to do to get their articles on the Maven platform? Is it automatic with the takeover?
      What do the existing HubPages writers need to do to become members of the Maven writers network? Do we have to create membership accounts or will our Hub ones simply transfer?

  2. DrMark1961 profile image95
    DrMark1961posted 6 years ago

    1. Hubpages did not close down and delete all of your articles without notice
    2. Hubpages did not sell to Wikipedia or Wikihow
    3. Hubpages did not come along and tell you that there is now a 99/1% split, with writers getting the 1%

  3. lobobrandon profile image89
    lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

    1. The team can focus on improving the site and not have to work alone on trying to acquire new ad partners.
    2. Higher income possibilities which is a good thing for all parties involved.
    3. I see a benefit in the sense that I see no drawbacks here. I would say the absence of a negative is a positive (since we know this is not a neutral situation).

  4. daica85 profile image41
    daica85posted 6 years ago

    I think there're some changes after the deal, but in general the writers will have more benefits in this.

  5. MomsTreasureChest profile image85
    MomsTreasureChestposted 6 years ago

    Thank you all for the positive thoughts and views!  I was getting weighed down with the negative aspects in the official threads. I'll just take it one day at a time and look the bright sides you've all mentioned. One thing I hope doesn't change is having the forum, it's a great resource and way to connect.  Happy hubbing!

    1. Sherry Hewins profile image92
      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I think speculation has run amok on some of these threads. All we can really do is hope for the best. The change has inspired me to make new copies of all of my hubs, just in case. It's something I needed to do anyway, so that's a good thing.

  6. profile image0
    Jean Harrisposted 6 years ago

    The immediate result is that your hubs are exposed to a wider range of networked sites, which is a good thing. They are sorting out the rest as I type this and I'd take it on good authority that the last thing they want to do is stick it to those providing their content.

    In general, unless the technical details of a merger are flubbed, events like this are positive for the contributers. ie: the hubbers in this case.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image85
      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      "Unless the technical details of a merger are flubbed" - this is the bit that is causing anxiety. 

      As a manager who worked in many, many companies during my career, I don't think I ever saw a merger that wasn't "flubbed" in some way.  For some, it was only a minor issue, for others it was enough to destroy both companies.

      Sometimes the "flub" hurt customers, and sometimes it hurt management, but in every case, the people who felt most pain were the employees and contractors.  Companies will go to great lengths to protect their shareholders and maintain a public face to their customers - and of course, it's human nature for managers to protect themselves - so it was always the little guy that bore the brunt.

      We're fortunate in that we ARE contractors, not employees, and there aren't many writers here who rely on HubPages as a significant income source, so it won't be a tragedy if things are "flubbed".  But it would be a pity.

      1. EricDockett profile image97
        EricDockettposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        It would certainly be a tragedy for those writers who do rely on HP as an income source though.

        And for all those people who moved their sites to maven.

        Makes me wonder if Paul has any way to regain control of the company if things go south. Or if he'd even want to.

        I'd hope the other site owners considered this kind of contingency planning before signing up.

        1. Marisa Wright profile image85
          Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          I was watching a video this morning. It was an interview with Paul and James Heckman (from Maven) talking about the merger.   Curiously, I thought it was on a new thread on the forums but I can't find it now.   

          James Heckman gave some insight into why people (he kept calling them "journalists")  had transferred their websites to Maven subfolders.   He said (and I paraphrase) that a few years ago, you could just start a Wordpress site and write good stuff, and people would read it - but now you have to know how to monetize and do SEO and promote and have a video channel and a social network etc etc, and it's all too hard. So the argument is, the attraction of the Maven for "journalists"is that they can let Maven look after all the difficult stuff for them.  Frankly, I felt he was exaggerating the difficulty, but obviously people are buying it - look at the number of websites they're planning to transfer in!  Like you, I wonder if they've considered an exit strategy.

          He also kept talking about how adding HubPages had added millions of new readers to the Maven network, which was great news for investors, and would attract advertisers so the Maven network could get better rates.    It seemed a strange argument to me, because of course he hasn't really added millions of readers to the Maven network - there's no reason to suppose that HubPages readers will spill over to the Maven network, especially if each of the niche sites is retaining its own URL.  So I'm not sure it will benefit any of the Maven channels in terms of traffic, though they may do better on advertising rates.

          Anyway, he kept harping on about this, to the point where I felt that was the ONLY reason he'd bought HubPages - so his stats would look better on paper.

          1. wilderness profile image94
            wildernessposted 6 years agoin reply to this
            1. Marisa Wright profile image85
              Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

              That link didn't quite work for me but it enabled me to find the video:
              https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/pres … IpMr9LhmWg

          2. lobobrandon profile image89
            lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            It does bring millions of readers to the Maven network because as I've explained earlier and as Christy pointed out, for all technical reasons the niche sites act as maven channels. This statement does not imply that readers will move on to the Maven network.

            1. Marisa Wright profile image85
              Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

              Strictly speaking, you're right.   As you say, it brings the niche sites into the network and the traffic with them.  However, I think he IS saying that the whole network will benefit from traffic.  I don't think the other Maven channels will benefit from it.

              1. lobobrandon profile image89
                lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                I would say he is right in saying the whole network will benefit from it. Because now he can tell potential advertisers that they have a viewer base of millions. So even the small channels on Maven will benefit from higher CPM's.

                1. Marisa Wright profile image85
                  Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  ...but how long will that last, if the advertisers on the smaller channels find they don't get the returns because the traffic isn't there?

                  1. lobobrandon profile image89
                    lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                    What do you mean? The traffic is there, right?

                    He is not telling advertisers that they have millions without showing their ads to millions. The same ads will be shown on the HP network and the Maven channels. So, advertisers will be getting what they paid for. Yes, most of the clicks are from the HP network, but it's public knowledge that the two have merged and advertisers will know this when they get in.

              2. makingamark profile image71
                makingamarkposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                The bit I really didn't get is why James Heckman was saying that bringing all the HubPages/Niche sites on board meant that they got all these extra readers and all these extra advertisers who would now be interested

                So why weren't the advertisers interested when they all those sites were on the existing HubPages/Niche channels?  How does moving to a new platform suddenly make all those sites look like the best thing ever?

                That's like saying Paul didn't know how to sell advertising space....

                I don't get it.

                1. Marisa Wright profile image85
                  Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  I think James Heckman was just saying that combined, the two companies have a bigger audience to offer advertisers so they would have a better bargaining position.

                  I'm not sure that HubPages would represent 90% of the new site.  If you look at the number of new channels coming on board the main Maven site, they should bring some new readers too.

                2. lobobrandon profile image89
                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Those guys at Maven have better tech for ad campaigns. It doesn't necessarily mean Paul didn't know how to sell. It could also be the reason. You can't expect one person to be a know it all and be good at it.

                  You're probably considering ads as adsense ads or affiliate ads where you don't do much other than place code. There's a lot more to it than that. You need a good system to deliver these ads. Maven has that (from what HP has been saying). Outreach and getting new advertisers is easier if you have readers (HP bring this to the table) + have an amazing system to make sure it's easy for the advertisers to manage their ads and at the same time ensure that they pay only for actual viewers and not bots (this is what Maven brings to the table).

          3. Urbane Chaos profile image90
            Urbane Chaosposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I noticed that as well.  Paul seemed to focus more on the writers where James was more about the investment and what benefit it will have to his company.

  7. Bradley Robbins profile image63
    Bradley Robbinsposted 6 years ago

    Looks like a lot of good news to me. Increased exposure, access to more "verticals," etc. Though I'm really a bit concerned with the Maven subfolders, as that style of content design has gotten slapped down hard by Google in the past. Medium seems to be doing OK with it for now, but just OK, and their unique URLs tend to do as well as if not better than Medium.com for keeping the big G happy.

  8. nomadspirit profile image93
    nomadspiritposted 6 years ago

    As it has been presented, the acquisition doe shave some positives. As acquisitions and mergers are fluid, it may turn out that the reality is different from the information released thus far. Anyway, as of right now I can think of four positives:

    1. Increased views for our hubs

    2. Higher CPM resulting from the stronger position of Maven and Hubpages combined

    3. More visibility and opportunities (for those invited to form their own channels, if so inclined)

    4. Long term stability for the writing platform (not a certainty but Paul Edmondson has suggested the merger was an attempt at staying afloat amidst Google's erratic policy changes)

    1. makingamark profile image71
      makingamarkposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Can you explain where the increased views for the hubs are coming from given that HubPages etc are going to represent something like 90-95% of the new site?

      (Somebody tell me I've got it wrong if you can reference correct percentages)

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)