I feel kinda silly asking this because I can't find any mention of this anywhere in the forums...
If I want to put a link to something in my hub, as a reference for example, do I need to get permission from the particular site or page before I do?
I completely new to writing internet-style. My journalism courses in college did not exactly cover this type of thing, since it didn't exist back then...
I can't think there is a copyright issue since I'm not claiming ownership of it...
Am I stressing about it for nothing?
Welcome, wyanjen, and listen to Nelle. You can summarize and link your heart away -- just don't copy any of their content and people will luv you forever!
I wouldn't mind a bit if somebody linked to my hub, and I would not hesitate to link to a hubber's page if it helped make a point or explain something I'm writing.
How about, for example, if I wanted to link to a story on CNN.com? Do I just grab the link and put it in the hub?
Yes. The only rules on outgoing links here on HP are no more than 2 links to the same domain in the same hub. So you can link to a story on CNN about dogs and you can link to a story on CNN in the same hub about cats, but don't try a third link in the same hub to CNN on a story about elephants!
It's not necessary to ask the permisison of a site in order to link to them.
That's not quite right.
you can have a maximum of 2 "self serving" links - ie links to sites in which you have some interest.
You can have more than 2 links to what is considered an "authority site", such CNN, if it in relevant to the content of your hub.
So hyou could link to CNN stories about elephants, weasels, raccoons, and Tasmanian devils.
(Well, that's how I understand the rules anyway )
cheers, Eric G.
Hmmm...not that I ever would have crossed this line anyway, but I didn't know that. I sas always just told about the 2 link rule.
Thanks for the new info!
For the majority of the time you can link to a page, and it's not a problem.
Occasionally people get anal about it. It's rarer nowadays. But once upon a time I do remember seeing mentions of it in copyright disclaimers or About Us pages, sites wanting a link to the homepage, rather than the actual page.
Here's a mention of deep linking at Wikipedia.
hmm ticketmaster vs. microsoft ..well that was silly, glad it was resolved.
As the wiki said, its just an address the site owner can make no claims of ownership.. link away
As the wiki said, its just an address the site owner can make no claims of ownership.. link away
Phew. That is just a hard concept to get my mind around...
Then again I still write in pencil on a legal pad.
Yellow.
well hubs automated filters cant tell whether they are self serving links.
I ran into problems in an article about firefox plugins once i linked to the firefox add ons page more than 3 times, i was able to circumvent this by going right to the source pages, just took a little more research
I would consider firefox.com / mozilla.com an authority site..maybe the filter didnt
Is there a list of sites hub pages allows as "authorities"?
Or is it like hub scores, where we have to make our best guesses as to the exact rules?
For instance, to explain the process for getting a drivers license in a certain state, three or more links to a state's dmv site would likely be needed, just to link to all the necessary forms and regulations. Would that be allowed or penalized?
Greetings & Salutations: I understood the two link "out" rule to be just as it is stated. I don't remember reading any "exception to the rule" about authority sites, but I could be wrong. The same thing is true of linking to other hubs. Using the "link to this page" button located at the bottom of each hub will take you to the correct url address to use. The details you get specify how you can only receive your "referral commissions" by using the linking "url trackers", but it says nothing about asking permission to link to a hub.
While the REFERRING HUB gets the advantage of providing related information, and (if they're smart) commissions from any revenue that result from the referral, the REFERRED HUB gets the benefit of additional traffic (in a perfect world, that's how it's supposed to go:)
I've read this topic through a few times now. I'm getting more comfy with it... Thanks to all of you who have helped me out!
by Deborah Neyens 11 years ago
In reviewing my traffic sources recently, I noticed that I was getting traffic from a site called traffup.com, which I had never heard of before. I went to the site and signed up for it to see what it was all about, and found that someone had posted a link there to one of my hubs. I thought...
by Shadesbreath 15 years ago
I'm working on a hub that accesses certain government websites and other organizations. Each has a home page, and then branching pages with more specific information (Duh, I know, bear with me)...So, say I list the home page as a link. But then, on a subordinate page there are several...
by jodijoyous 10 years ago
I had six hubs showing broken links yesterday. I corrected all of them, but two are still showing the broken link icon. And, the edit date hasn't updated. Anyone else seeing this?
by Dorsi Diaz 12 years ago
I just updated my HubPages profile a couple days ago and in my profile linked to some of my favorite hub topics that I wrote about. Is this bad to do this since on the profile page we have those same hubs randomly come up below? I just don't want overkill but like the thought that I've got my...
by Manthram 12 years ago
Back-links are the main aspect of off-page SEO. There are several ways to get back-links. Social media, like posting your hubs to Facebook and Twitter, forum posting, and blog commenting are the most common. Just stay away from paid back-links, Google is cracking down on that finally. Then there is...
by Jean Bakula 8 years ago
I know everyone is sick of this topic. But aren't we allowed ONE outbound link on a hub? I write about astrology, but put one link to a planetary table so the reader can go to that table and see what astrology sign THEIR planet is in.I do this with the Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury. It was...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
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 DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This 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 Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This 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 Libraries | Javascript 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 Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This 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 YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This 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 Login | You 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) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We 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 Pixels | We 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 Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore 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 Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |