HubLove Contest

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   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   Please remove the HubLove contest advertisement that is currently sitting in pride of place on the top right hand corner of all my hubs - At least from my impressions.
   
   As you are no doubt aware, I defend hubpages, promote you aggressively, and think it's a great site. But I get nothing from this and am not able to enter the contest..
   
   Unless I get a referral fee for anyone that clicks on this ad and signs up, I don't want them there. I don't see why this should cost me money.
   
   Thanks.

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   1. 60

      Jason Menayanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      First, if you are the one referring in traffic directly using your referral tracker, that will carry through and be tracked to you. If the referrer was a search engine, then there is no referral bonus. You don't "own" the search engine visits directed to your Hubs; the reason search engines send you so many visits has everything to do with the fact that you're not the only person publishing here.
      
      Second, the contest promo will be there for one month. It is, in part, a gesture of gratitude for Mashable's sponsorship of the contest. It also helps give the contest the biggest boost possible, by getting a small fraction of entrances into the site to join HubPages and participate in the contest by creating Hubs.
      
      Third, the contest is one of many things we do to keep links coming into the site, which benefits everyone who has published on the site. It helps to have a longer-term view (beyond the 30 days of the contest) to understand its benefit to everyone who publishes on HubPages, irrespective of their participation in the HubLove contest.

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      1. 59

         Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         I'm sorry Jason - perhaps I wasn't clear?
         
         I wasn't looking for you to tell me why you put it there.
         
         I was asking for you to remove it.
         
         I am well aware that I do not "own" 60% of the search engine visits and do not get referral fees if someone joins up through those visits or heads off to hubpages other pages and then signs up there (or clicks on an ad). I understand that the only referral fees I get are if they come in on one of my trackers.
         
         And the reason search engines send me so many visits does not have "everything" to do with the fact that I'm not the only person publishing here - it has everything to do with how well written, tagged and promoted my hubs are - But if you want to tell me that makes no difference, I am all ears.
         
         You keep telling me that traffic that comes to my hubs through hubpages has no direct value as an income generator and I agree with you.
         
         I have to say that hubpages exhorting people to enter the contest when they are unable to enter or win is getting on my nerves.  I think this is ill thought out and will benefit hubpages more than it does me or the other hubbers.
         
         I am also with relache - what's the point of having non-US residents compete, give away the answers and then the first US-based hubber to see the answer  get the point?
         
         If you had made the competition fun rather than sponsoring Mashable and involving money, I would have been all over it - but this way, I am just not happy.
         
         If you have $5,000 to give away, you and Mashable must feel you will make more than that out of it ? But it's fair to say that that represents about 2 years income from hubpages for me.
         
         And I don't appreciate being given a lecture. I understand the reasons why you put it there. - If you can't remove it or would like to ask me to drop this and leave it there, please say so, don't lecture me as though I was a child.

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         1. 60

            Jason Menayanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry if my quoting your post made it seem I was personally responding only to you and not all the matters addressed in this thread. It was for everyone in the thread.
            
            But, since you're not one for explanation:
            
            
            
            No.

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   Lissieposted 16 years ago

   I'll second that one Mark! If HP know we lilve overseas they should be able to remove the ad

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3. 84

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   I don't understand...why does it cost us money? ZS

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4. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   I generate +/- 40,000 visits a month - 80% of them from search engines and most of them new - If someone clicks on this ad, which is very prominent - what do I get out of it? - nothing - and they won't be clicking on a google ad, so it costs me money.
   
   60% of the impressions are mine. I haven't been asked if it's OK to advertise something that I get nothing from.

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5. 84

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   I got it Thanks ZS

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6. 65

   C.M. Vanderlindenposted 16 years ago

   I have a really crappy memory, so I could be wrong here---but didn't that spot just originally contain our hubauthor photo/stats box anyway? It looks like all they did was move that box down to make room for the HubLove ad, so we're not really losing money on it being there.
   
   In general, it just seems like one of the trade-offs we make for posting our work here rather than a personal site or blog. On the upside, we get a lot more traffic than we would otherwise. On the downside, design decisions are not ours to make.

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7. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   No. 60% of the page impressions are mine. Can I put an ad for my site in the hubpage impressions?  No.
   
   That space is my space - not hubpages space to use. And - I promote myself here - My photo - my details - my name - why should that get bumped down in favor of something that is of no benefit to me ?

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8. 0

   helenathegreatposted 16 years ago

   I think that we should get referral credit if someone clicks on those ads and then signs up for the contest.  That seems like the fairest way to do it, if they want to keep the banner up.

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      Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I agree - I am happy with that too.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   I think the ad for the contest is taking the place of the "sign up here" post-it.

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      C.M. Vanderlindenposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      That's what it was---you're right! (Told you  I have a crappy memory )
      
      We didn't make  any money off of that, did we?

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10. 59

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Yes it is - but this is much more prominent - and offers them the chance to win $5,000

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    jaymzposted 16 years ago

    I agree that it takes the space of the sign up banner. I didn't think you got credit for sign ups that come from search engines. If that's true, it shouldn't affect your earnings because it wouldn't have an effect on your referrals, and since it was a sign-up link there wasn't a google ad there for people to click, which again shouldn't affect your earnings.
    
    I just don't like the look of it, personally. I doesn't blend well.
    
    I like getting referrals for sign-ups from the banner.

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    1. 59

       Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       You didn't get any referrals from the sign up banner and it didn't say. "enter to win  $5,000" either.

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    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    That's a good question.  I must say, I assumed that if someone clicked on the post-it in one of my Hubs, I would get the referral because it was my Hub - but that's a big assumption.

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13. 84

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    Thanks for clearing that up, Mark.  I suspect I'm not the only one who made the wrong assumption.  In that case yes, it does seem a bit rough!

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    Stacie Naczelnikposted 16 years ago

    Personally, I have no problem with it being there.  And, that's not simply because I am eligible to "win" the contest.

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       stephhicks68posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I completely agree.  I doubt very much if I'll win, simply because of my time constraints and the huge number of very talented hubbers here. But I think the contest will benefit us all.  There will only be one winner in how many?  Plus, the ad is one of a number on each Hub, even if it is prominent.  I believe that many who see it will not necessarily sign up, particularly given the restrictions and contest rules.  So, they should still click on other ads, if they were apt to anyway.

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15. 59

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Thank you.

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