Craft Gossip

1. 97

   sallybeaposted 5 years ago

   Is anyone else seeing a lot of traffic from craftgossipdotcom.  I found one of my tutorials on their front page.  Granted they do have a link to my work but they are not crediting me for the work on their front page.    What are your feelings about other people setting up similar pages and using your work for free?  What would your reaction be?  Do I look at this positively or negatively?

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      Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      This is great! They are sharing your work, and leading people to your Hubs. They are promoting you. When I notice something like this happens to my Hubs - just summary with link to my Hub - I am estastic.

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      1. 97

         sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I would be a lot more ecstatic if my name was clearly attributed.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Might be a good idea for you to contact them and tell them how you feel about this.  They shouldn't be making it look like they produced the work...it's almost a copyright type of thing I would think.  They may be linking to your work but they're making money off of including it in their magazine or site without your permission.

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      1. 97

         sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I have left a comment on one of my articles.  There did not seem to be any other way of contacting them.  I agree with you, they should have asked permission first and credited me.

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   3. 93

      Natalie Frankposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      It seems like the site is for curated articles and whoever posts the article goes on as the author.  However, it also appears that the practice is to immediately say who the pattern, design or tutorial was actually created by.  I saw one of your tutorials in an article where the first sentence which also shows in the summary on the page says something like "Sally Gulbrandsen on Hubpages has a great tutorial for . . ." and another starts with "This work is copyright Sally Gulbrandsen."  Those were the only two articles I saw that had your tutorials when I searched under your name.

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      1. 97

         sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, they have changed the coin purse one to reflect that copyright is Sally Gulbrandsen.  I wrote to them.  There are 3 tutorials if you search, coin purses, hanging basket and a bird pod.

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2. 96

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 5 years ago

   I don't have any traffic from there but I also don't have any crafty articles. I checked out the website. I think it looks nicely organized but my issue is, first, they need to be crediting you. I see in some other posts that they're crediting the source. I also see that readers have to follow a link to the original content to get the tutorial, so that's actually really good - it drives traffic to you, so I see that as a good thing.
   
   I didn't see your specific content though so I have a hard time saying whether it was fair. I do hope they're not posting your whole tutorial.

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   1. 97

      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Kierstin they have posted the summary with a photo and a link to the tutorial but the person they are crediting on the front page is not me.  I have found 3 there so far.  I have posted a comment telling them that they need to credit me for the work.  I will have to see what happens.  I do agree that the site looks very good but they are earning money from Amazon and links to the pages.  It seems unethical to me that someone would do that without asking first.  I think anyone writing craft hubs should check for theirs.

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      1. 56

         Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         The person credited on the front page is the editor who wrote the brief summary/found your Hub.

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         1. 97

            sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            How do you know, in every article, they have used of mine, there is a different person credited at the top?

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            1. 56

               Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I looked at the site.

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               1. 97

                  sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  The editor can't be three different people.  Each of my articles has a different name credited at the top.

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                  1. 56

                     Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     They have more than one editor...

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               2. 97

                  sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Turns out that I owe you an apology, it seems that CraftGossip relies on its bunch of dedicated editors to bring you the latest in craft gossip. Each sub-blog has its own editor so that you know that you are getting the best information possible. This page tells you a little about each editor so that you can know the faces behind the gossip!  I still would prefer my name at the top instead of theirs.

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3. 91

   Rochelle Frankposted 5 years ago

   I agree that the links are a good thing for you, but they really should have asked your permission anyway, as well as mentioning your name.

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   1. 97

      DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Rochelle, I do not think you need to ask for permission to post a link. If you will look on the numerous links here on HP, you will notice that they link to an article and do not mention the person who wrote that article.

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4. 91

   Millionaire Tipsposted 5 years ago

   Often, when I get a link on Facebook (usually to a craft tutorial), it takes me a site like this that gives a brief mention of the tutorial and a link to it. If I share it, I like to share the original source instead of going through this one in between. It does seem unethical to me since they are earning revenue (presumably) and using your copyright picture without your permission, but others have said, this person also took the time to create the page and also make it available so it could be shared. (They probably shared it themselves, but the names are different, so can't be sure). Either way they are advertising the original tutorial. I don't know what the answer to this is.

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   1. 97

      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I checked to see who owned the site on WHOIS and it does seem to me that they are employing editors for each section of the site, in fact, they are advertising for staff.    I could only find the editors by typing in editors under search.  It seems very difficult to contact anyone on the site direct.  It looks like the site has been set up to earn money from linking to other sites like this one.

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5. 91

   Rochelle Frankposted 5 years ago

   You are right, Dr Mark, there is no requirement  to ask permission, but since these particular articles were so prominently featured, it would be nice.
   Actually, I did notice that some of the "felting category" posts did mention the artist, but as you say, it is not required. I guess the link is the important thing.

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6. 91

   LongTimeMotherposted 5 years ago

   You said you’re getting ‘lots of traffic’ from them. So how is that a bad thing? If they stop posting links to your articles that’s a lot of potential readers who won’t have a clue your articles exist.
   
   You seem concerned about the kudos because your name isn’t on their page. But your name is on your actual article and that’s where they’re coming.
   
   So if it was me, I’d be writing a thank you note to each and every one of their editors who provide you with such valuable promotion. Seems to me you’d benefit from as many links as they choose to add ... as long as there’s reason for people to click for your full instructions.

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   1. 97

      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I asked what others reaction might be and guess I now have the answer.  It seems I have to live with the fact that even though I am the brand and have spent thousands of hours of my time and money to create these tutorials I now have to let others profit from my work even when one publisher was willing to pay hundreds of pounds just for one.

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7. 93

   Susana Sposted 5 years ago

   I'd also be sending a thank you.
   
   Getting natural links and traffic from a site in your niche is what every online creator wants. People pay good money for such things and you're getting it for free.
   
   You really should be thrilled.

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   1. 97

      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      As are they earning money from it for doing nothing but posting links.  Seems like a very easy way to earn a living.  We could all set up a site and make money from everyone here on HubPages.  I wonder why someone here has not done it.

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      1. 93

         Susana Sposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Yes it's quite an easy way to earn a living if you're good at creating websites and getting traffic. These kinds of sites don't usually rank that well but this one has clearly got an interested audience...probably through social media.
         
         The most salient point is that they are sending you targeted, interested traffic and by doing so you're earning more than you would have done without that link on their site. You may also pick up some followers of your work as an indirect benefit.
         
         The second point, is that the links they're giving you will help your content rank higher in the search results and therefore, also help to increase your traffic and income further.
         
         This is how the web works.
         
         Really what's not to like?

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         RJ Schwartzposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         It’s called the Drudge Report - a mega link page

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8. 97

   sallybeaposted 5 years ago

   Guess I should just put up and shut up then:)

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   1. 91

      LongTimeMotherposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Sally, you write that as though you feel like some kind of ‘victim’ and have to ‘suffer’ it. When in actual fact if more sites did the same thing with your articles, you’d double your total views very quickly.
      
      I notice you started a thread with excitement celebrating half a million views. Congratulations. But one of my accounts (not this one) has over 5 million views. It doesn’t take long to watch half a million click over.
      
      So if your total views and potential earnings are exciting concepts, again I suggest you should be grateful for the ‘help’. Susana is absolutely correct in what she says.

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      1. 97

         sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I accept both yours and Susanna's advice knowing that my experience in this department is very limited.  I certainly don't feel like a victim.  I am just surprised to find that others are prepared to feed off the work of others in order to earn a living.  Thank you.

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         1. 97

            DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

            You could say the same thing about anyone that writes a book review, an review of a new CD, etc. Those people are just feeding off of the works of others in order to earn a living, right?

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            1. 97

               sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Right, even the editors here are helping them:)  They don't have to edit a thing, all that is done before they link to a page.   I think there used to be an expression which went something like this, dog eats dog.

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9. 91

   paperfacetsposted 5 years ago

   About ten years ago attribution was a given. A politeness on the Internet. Now info is flying everywhere at faster speeds. That site is for sharing like pinterest. A big scrapbook. Since ads are pasted all over the page at craftgossip, sure they earn money. We are also on the Internet and views are your earnings. We have to get past the notion of ownership when we enter the whelm of the 2018 world wide web.
   It is an organic backlink like the ones we liked in 2007. Not what we are used to, though.

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   1. 97

      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Really, I must go back and take another look.  I got the impression that they have hired editors for each section of the site and that they are also looking for new 'editors'.  Being a little cynical I can't help thinking how lucky they are to be able to add links from the niche sites which have already been edited by the staff here.  If I were able to post like I do on Pinterest I could do remarkably well there I think.

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10. 91

    paperfacetsposted 5 years ago

    I just visited craftgossip. What a confusing website!

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    1. 97

       sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       I think it is just a website with backlinks to material already out there but I could be proved wrong.

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11. 91

    paperfacetsposted 5 years ago

    To me it is pinterest with editors only, not the public. They post the pictures, add a link, just like a pinterest post, and people look.  Looks different, same scrapbook concept. Things are missing that you have at Pinterest, but they reap earnings with the ads on the side, top etc. Misson accomplished.

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12. 94

    Shesabutterflyposted 5 years ago

    Craftgossip dot com was acquired by Maven.
    
    Craftgossip was also a site that stole many HP articles in the past. Now they have restructured their site to a simple paragraph with a link to the site rather than have the article word for word.
    
    Some links are attributed to the true authors while others are not. Some craft gossip "authors" claim the work contained within the links/pictures and some don't. It is hit or miss and I have found no way of knowing how many articles are truly on the site. I've found over 20 HP/niche sites articles (you can find a majority of them by searching for Hubpages or specific names of the niche site). That doesn't always work though as some have used click here and "here" could contain any number of websites. I did not find any of your work on there when I was looking through the site (over a week ago), but I'm not surprised. Their site is basically a place where they share any and all craft type articles they can find. They went from stealing articles word for word, to basically being able to legally steal work. You may not need permission to use links, but that doesn't mean they can claim the work as their own. I'd send e-mails (I'll try to find the one I used to contact them a year ago) and tell them they need to credit you. There should be no issues in giving you credit as some of their editors have credited other authors by name. They can legally use the links, but they cannot legally use your copyright pictures without giving you credit, and they also cannot claim the work within the link.
    
    I hate that my work is linked to on craftgossip, as the site is poorly created and they are not a site I ever want my work associated with (mainly because they stole my work and I sent them an e-mail and they removed it, only to put it back later in link form). When I last checked a week or so ago I had no new traffic from them. Although now that they have been acquired by Maven I'm assuming that could change.

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    1. 97

       sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       That is interesting!   I originally checked out who owned the domain and it was someone called Vikram Goyal!  Do you mind sharing a link to where you found this info?  Why would you not be interested in sharing the info if the site is indeed owned by the same people as HubPages?
       I just noticed that they now have two more of my hubs and I am credited for my work but the blurb is written in poorly constructed English language with a 'to' when they really mean 2.

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          Solarasposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Ugh! This diminishes my respect for Maven.

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       2. 94

          Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          I didn't say it was owned by HP. I don't know who owns craft gossip, but Maven gives credit to someone. I'll post the link for the information I found on the Maven site. It's quite interesting. It's almost like Maven doesn't realize what craft gossip really is. I suspect they do and simply don't care. Honestly, after looking through the Maven site I'm not surprised they acquired craft gossip. They both run their site in the same way. Little original content and a bunch of "articles" that are links to other people's work/websites. Yes, Maven has authors that write their own content, but a majority of Maven's subdomains that I've looked at so far are a few paragraphs with links going to other sites.
          
          This is the information from Maven https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/home … SEPs27shog
          
          You can use the search on craft gossip to find hp and other niche site content, but as far as I know HP does not own craft gossip. When I mentioned HP I meant that some authors from craft gossip where crediting HP authors and some were not. My article on craft gossip for example is not credited with my name and the small paragraph provided by the craft gossip author is taken from content within my article. There is a blurb and then a source: with my url following the "source" even though the blurb is not directly word for word from my article.
          
          I found a bunch of articles by an HP author and some of her articles are credited and some are not. One of her articles is passed off as the craft gossip authors "project" and she doesn't even give credit to the HP author's original photos. It really just depends on which craft gossip author produced the link. I've even seen the same craft gossip author provide credit and then a few articles later not give credit to the original author of the provided link.

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          1. 97

             sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

             You said Craftgossip dot com was acquired by Maven, that usually means bought or taken over by them.  You put it in a nutshell when you said that one of the articles is passed off as the gossips authors 'project' that is exactly what has happened to me.  Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

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             1. 94

                Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                Yes it was acquired by Maven. It is suppose to be on Maven sometime in early 2018.
                
                I misunderstood what you meant when you said "Do you mind sharing a link to where you found this info?  Why would you not be interested in sharing the info if the site is indeed owned by the same people as HubPages?" I took that to mean HP owners, I wasn't thinking Maven. I was thinking before they were acquired, since they technically are not on the Maven network yet. Sorry, that was my fault.
                
                I think when your link is being passed off as the author's 'project' you can file copyright. I was doing some research when I first found out craft gossip was acquired by Maven and some sources say that authors cannot claim to own the work within the links that are not theirs or it's a copyright violation. Obviously anyone can use links, but how they are using the links is important.
                
                I usually don't care when others link or share my work, but it's how it is done on this site that really rubs me the wrong way. It doesn't help that this site started out stealing articles and then switched to this format.

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                1. 97

                   sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                   I feel exactly as you do but the revelation about Maven and Craft Gossip comes as a real surprise.  Some people felt that I should be thanking  Craft Gossip for sending traffic my way but like you I don't like my images or my links being passed off as if the 'Gossip Editor' owns the rights to them.  I think an explanation from Maven or HubPages should be forthcoming.

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                      Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                      I was surprised by the amount of people saying that as well . I completely agree with you. I know I feel differently because I have bad history with Craft Gossip, but the way their site is now does not really make me feel any better about them.
                      
                      I would definitely try to contact Craft Gossip before they offically become a part of Maven, especially on the articles where they pass off the link as their own. I'd love to hear from HP or Maven, but I doubt they will have any insights. I've noticed some of Maven's network sites are very similar to HP's niche sites. I'm not surprised at all that they acquired Craft Gossip, although this is the first site I've seen that contains links to HP/niche site articles. That raised red flags to me, but I definitely was not surprised they were acquired by Maven. The site actually fits in with a lot of the other sites that Maven has acquired already or is suppose to acquire in the near future.

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    2. 94

       jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       OMGoodness! This does not sound good.

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13. 90

    Lew Marcrumposted 5 years ago

    I've had a similar problem with stolen photographs.  I take a lot of photos of Central American culture, including the local food.  I've found my photos on restaurant menus locally, as well as in an Easter article in La Prensa showing traditional food for that holiday.  No accreditation, no link, no nothing.  Just their recipe and my photos.  I suppose if imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then so may be theft.

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    1. 97

       sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       In your case, I think I would have sent the locals a bill.  What a cheek.

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14. 56

    Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years ago

    Here's a thought: What if Maven acquired Craft Gossip because it's doing what Hubpages is not? For example, Craft Gossip has about 400,000 followers on Facebook, while Hubpages' comparable site, FeltMagnet, only has a little over 17,000. Craft Gossip is sharing content (as well as other items) on Facebook, while FeltMagnet is sharing videos from other Facebook pages. Perhaps the two will be merged at some point...

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    1. 97

       sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       I posted this link a few days ago https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/home … SEPs27shog which seems to make it clear that Maven has acquired Craft Gossip.   I would hope now that I would be credited for my writing rather than the Editor.

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          Samantha Sinclairposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Yes... I clearly said that. And, the editor was only credited for the summary she wrote to promote your content.

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             sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

             Sorry I still don't see why I would get credit for two other articles posted on the site but not that one.

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       Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       I hope that never happens. Have you looked through Craft Gossip? The quality of the content is all over the place. Most of the editors simply share content, there is very little original work. Felt Magnet is all original work, the two sites are not even comparable in my opinion. The only thing they share is the subject all the content is about.
       
       The reason they likely have more followers is because all that site does is share content, a lot of content that is not theirs to boot. Yes they give credit in most cases, but like Sallybea has said several times they don't always give credit.
       
       If a site is going to share a bunch of content all the editors should have the decency to at least give credit to all the people who worked hard to create that content. Without those people they don't have content to share and would not have much of a site.

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          sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks, much appreciated.

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          Susana Sposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          The credit is the link.
          
          Think of it in a similar light to sharing articles on your Facebook or Twitter feed. You credit the author by sharing their work. There's no need to explicitly state "this content I'm sharing was written by this person".
          
          You might write something interesting about the article alongside the link but that's about it.

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             Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

             The link does not provide proper credit if the craft gossip editors are claiming ownership of the 'projects' which is what is happening in some cases.
             
             When I link on Facebook it goes directly to the person's website. I don't add text or claim to own the content provided within the link. I also do not use Facebook solely to share other people's content which is basically what this site does.
             
             Craft gossip has flat out stole articles from HP in the past, now it has restructured and simply uses links and photos. They still need to source the photos and not claim the content. Claiming the content/'project' within a link as one's own work is no better than posting the whole article word for word.

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                sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                I don't think this is something HubPages editors would do so the fact that Maven is now associated with this site makes me feel very disappointed.

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                   Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                   I completely agree. HP has been very strict with the kind of links we can use and I would not expect the kind of content on craft gossip to be allowed on HP. I wonder how much HP staff knows about the coming soon and existing Maven channels. I'm assuming they would have looked at existing channels (quality of content) before accepting any kind of deal.
                   
                   I was very skeptical of Maven from the beginning and this new find not only makes me disappointed, but very nervous for what is to come. I hope we (HP) can indeed stay an independent entity.

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