My figures have dropped since I told Matt...

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TessSchlesingerposted 3 years ago
It might be coincidence, and it's possible everybody else's figures have also dropped by 500%. It's also possible that from being paid out every month for a good few years, I am suddenly not paid out at all.

Is this happening to everybody?

I told Matt after he banned me that I had no desire for a site that clearly supported Trump and his supporters that I wouldn't be writing for the site anymore.

Since then, my figures have gone from about 1500 views a day to now about 300 a day, and it gets worse every day.

The position of the articles on Google hasn't changed.

I googled hubpage reviews and found a review that said that once he criticized something on hp, his traffic dropped immediately.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/hubpages.html

So there are three possible reasons for this.

Either Matt has done something to ensure that I get no more traffic because I said I wasn't going to write for hp anymore but would leave my stuff here because I needed the income.

Or Google just decided that any article with my name on it would no longer receive traffic but my ranking would remain the same.

Or everybody on the site is experiencing the same drop in traffic that I am.

Which is it?
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  Glenis Rixposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I can’t imagine that Matt has engineered you drop in traffic. Mine is about half what it was a few weeks ago. No idea why. People preoccupied by the coronavirus?
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  ibad26218posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  That's alright, Everyone's traffic is down.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Says someone who joined 5 hours ago
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  My traffic has steadily been going down since quite a while before coronavirus, anyway.
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  Glenis Rixposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  https://www.datasciencecentral.com/prof … gle-search
  
  Interesting article about decline in numbers using google search. It reflects my own personal preference for search engines that protect my privacy.
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  Matt Wellsposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Your traffic and earnings have not been blocked by HubPages. Traffic fluctuates. It could be seasonality, competition with other articles, search algorithm changes, etc. I suggest concentrating on updating and writing content. If you have any other questions, please email team@hubpages.com.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  No, I'm fine. It's happening to others as well.
  
  That's what I wanted to know.
  
  I would have had a problem if it was unique to me.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Your persecution complex is delicious. I wish I could bottle it up and add it to my martinis.
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  LMAO!!!
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Well, you know - pretty much all of us are having the SAME issue.
  
  I've never emailed Matt Wells about anything - but perhaps I should. He seems like a nice guy, and sometimes I need someone to talk to
  
  ...I'd never ever once considered that somehow Matt Wells, or anyone else on staff had anything to do with my traffic decline.
  
  I mean, golly gee willikers - Hubpages makes more money when I make more money.
  
  *seeks 3rd party facepalm to properly convey the degree of needed facepalming*
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Again, I gave several options. The fact that you didn't consider many different probabilities says more about you than me.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  You personally attacked Matt Wells with an insinuated accusation that having spoke with him, you were punished.
  
  You're so wrapped up in yourself with your persecution complex you can not see how every single last user of this website is also suffering from loss of traffic.
  
  As you've stated before, you are the perfect progressive. The absolute bastion of truth and the ultimate authority of what should be allowed to be said on this planet, the 3rd rock from the sun.
  
  We peasants all await your glorious approval each and every day of our lives. We're just lucky to live on the same planet you live on, our glorious progressive queen.
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Ummm, projection?
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  The OP literally thinks people should not have the ability to say things unless the things said are approved by elites like herself.
  
  I mean, she's made forum posts about it on this website. It isn't something I made up for fun.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  How am I an elite. My income is $300 per month in total.
  
  I'm really curious.
  
  You're actually projecting.
  
  I have been accused of all sorts of things on this website - all of which is projection - including in how much glee I take on putting people down.
  
  Here's an article on Aspergers. You might like to read it.
  
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695286/
  
  Please explain to me again why I'm an elitist. What makes me elite? I can then explain to everybody I meet that I'm an elite.
  
  I did that for 25 years when people told me I was beautiful. Whenever anyone asked me to tell me about myself, I explained to them I was beautiful. I was accused of vanity and being full of myself.
  
  I was distraught. I couldn't understand it. I had never thought about myself. I didn't know what people meant when they asked me to tell me about myself. The only thing I knew was that I was beautiful (because people kept telling me that) and that I was gifted because everytime I did tests to find out what was wrong with me, I was told I was gifted.
  
  So when people asked me to tell me about myself, I told them I was gifted and beautiful.
  
  Amazing how people interpreted that.
  
  So now I'm an elitist as well. SO I will tell people I'm an elitist when they ask me about me.
  
  However, I don't think that they will believe me.
  
  Generally, I don't think people who are homeless (as I am right now), don't have much of an income (my relatives are currently helping me with a lot of things), etc. are elitst.
  
  Please do explain.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Oh yeah totally. You're gifted. Your mommy said so. So people who disagree with things you believe shouldn't be allowed to speak at all.
  
  I'm not going to pretend to like you, but if I were to write fiction, you'd make for one heck of an interesting fictional character.
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  You did make an interesting point here that has yet to be addressed:
  
  "you can not see how every single last user of this website is also suffering from loss of traffic."
  
  It seems to be commonly accepted that only Old Roses has experienced a traffic / income increase.
  
  “In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.”...“As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.”
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Despite having published things in 2019, I made zero progress in 2019 in terms of increased traffic.
  
  Of course that is in and of itself no fault of anyone. Older articles can be expected to lose some traffic, and just because I published new things - those new things can't be expected to be smash web hits simply for me having published them.
  
  ...but in the past 4-5 months my traffic crashed completely. I guess I'm at around 40% of the traffic I was at this time last year.
  
  This is entirely to do with Google. I'd have to suffer some strange sort of thing, probably blunt force trauma, to wind up thinking a particular HP staff member had something to do with it - especially as I know for sure everyone else is also experiencing roughly the same.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I read various reviews that said that, and as I used to be both a programmer and a webdesigner, I'm well aware of what can be done.
  
  Has nothing to do with a blunt blow on the head.
  
  Sorry you're so perfect. It helps to have an understanding of human nature and possibilities as well.
  
  Precisely because I am objective, I looked at all possibilities.
  
  I also acknowledged, after I knew that the traffic of others had fallen, that I was in error.
  
  The funny thing is that despite people acknowledging that there was been a massive drop in traffic, I actually searched for that on the forums before I said anything.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Yes Yes Tess. We all know you're a super genius, and the evidence of you being a super genius is that you've said so
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  EricDockettposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  If I understand correctly, Old Roses has been (wisely) systematically updating her articles and submitting them to the niche sites. As we all know, there is a big difference between traffic on HP and traffic on a niche site, so of course her overall traffic will be rising over time. It may even rise fast enough to make up for any overall traffic she has lost. Hard to say.
  
  If I am misunderstanding her situation she can clarify, and I certainly don't begrudge her any success she is experiencing, but I think perspective is important when considering traffic loss/gains.
  
  For example, a Hubber who gets 500 views per day may lose 10% of their traffic and hardly notice. That's much different that someone who gets 15,000 views per day losing 10%. That is very noticeable and makes a big difference in lost income.
  
  My traffic is still decent and my articles still rank, but at the same time I have lost a lot. I have 400+ articles. If I lost 5 views per article per day that's over 2,000 views per day gone, over 60,000 lost every month. So, it is possible to rank well and lose a ton of traffic at the same time.
  
  Anyway, this thread seems to have devolved into a big fight so, I'll step out and let you all get back to it.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  My apologies. A handful of people on this site delight in insulting me. I'm supposed to just let them bully and abuse me while saying nothing.
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  OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I have been staying away forum threads on traffic loss since I seem to be the only one whose traffic is rising but since my name has come up, this is what I am doing:
  
  1. I write in the gardening niche and the gardening season is getting under way in the Northern Hemisphere. My traffic always rises now.
  2. I have been steadily updating old hubs and submitting them to the niche sites (mainly Dengarden) every two weeks for a couple of years. That includes the time I spent on #3.
  3. I update ALL of my hubs that are on the niche sites EVERY YEAR. Google gives better ranking to articles that have been published or edited during the current year. This year it took me 6 weeks to edit all my hubs and all of the articles on my personal website. Traffic is rising on both so it was worth the nightmare.
  4. I have been writing new hubs regularly year-round, including the time I spent on #3.
  
  I have been keeping records of my traffic for a couple of years now and can definitely affirm that my traffic improves each year. Even during the winter, when my traffic dwindles, it does not dwindle as much each year. My earnings are also rising, but CPMs have been dropping so I am not earning as much as I would expect considering the amount of traffic on my hubs.
  
  I have been sharing this information on the forums in hopes of helping my fellow hubbers, not to make myself look better. Achieving success here on HubPages is not easy. I work incredibly hard year round.
  
  I want all of us to be successful. I think sharing how we do it with each other will help all of us.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I take my hat off to you.
  
  You are obviously interested in gardening.
  
  I wish there was something I was that interested in that I didn't get bored if I focused on it all the time.
  
  Well done.
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  OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you Tess. I actually teach gardening which is why my articles are all "How to . . . ".
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  EricDockettposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I think it is great that you articles are doing well. Your hard work is obviously paying off. I only responded here to caution that other hubbers do not use your example as evidence that there hasn't been traffic problems with the niche sites. Because you are regularly moving hubs to the niche site you are going see an increase. Those of us who already have all of our articles on niche sites can't get that kind of steady bump. Many people who work just as hard as you have seen a huge traffic loss.
  
  I don't mean to downplay your accomplishments. I can understand why you are very proud and you should be. I just think it's important to keep things in perspective when talking about traffic.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  If it was a persecution complex, I wouldn't have presented all the alternatives. That is called objectivity.
  
  Your education is lacking.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  LOL! I'm not the kind of person who'd love to censor speech out of insecurity, but I know someone who would.
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  NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  lol
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Sorry you have experienced such a huge traffic loss. I have had a 40% decline since last August. Earnings are off 60%. Hoping someone will step in and explain what is going on and how to address it. Traffic fluctuates is well known, but steady downward trends are of concern.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  This isn't a traffic fluctuation. This is a very serious downtrend.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Oh wow, you think? Hey, even people who never messaged Matt Wells have the same issue. Is it possible messaging Matt Wells has nothing to do with it?
  
  I don't slander people on Hubpages staff for one simple reason - I don't have a persecution complex. You do though.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  No I don't.
  
  I presented a variety of options.
  
  Go to school and learn what a persecution complex is. And I was quite happy to admit that it wasn't the issue after other people said their traffic was down.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Look, I'm for open borders for South Africa and Israel. I want you to enjoy the wondrous benefits of diversity.
  
  Let the Chinese land a few thousand in your area right away to prove you're not a racist.
  
  Are you a progressive, or not? Open the borders for everyone. Today.
  
  Go to school? I learned in school how free speech is for the people, and the only persons against free speech were evil tyrants - persons cowering in fear of what truth their ears fear.
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  melbelposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  What were you banned from and banned for?
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  She was banned from the forums for a while, and the one banned doesn't always get an explanation as to what for. I'm the voice of experience on forum bans....
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I have absolutely no idea. And I didn't notice I was banned because I didn't comment for a few days. I was told by some people on hp that I was banned. I then emailed Matt and he told me I was banned along with some others.
  
  I think a lot of things would be much easier and a lot more people would comment on hp if we were allowed a block button, but for reasons beyond me, hp will not provide a block button so that we can chose not to have certain people on our radar in the forums.
  
  I actually found it bizarre that I should be banned. I am insulted, accused of things I am not guilty of, etc. but the accusers get away with it.
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  vishnum969posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Same is with me dear. I have also experienced the same kind of drastic traffic drop over a period of time. Time and again i have also improved my hubs but in vain. Don't know how to multiply my traffic sources.. God help now in this Corona Virus threat
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I was initially confused as to why my traffic was dropping despite my hubs retaining their position on Google.
  
  As it turns out, it's happening to many of us, and our incomes are far below what they used to be.
  
  I'm sad about that.
  
  Paul Edmonton would have been here to give us the details, and I respected that. He isn't anymore.
  
  Anyway, I wish you the best.
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Kierstin Gunsbergposted 3 years ago
Tess, I think most of us are dealing with significant traffic dips because of Coronavirus. Most of my articles are dropping with the exception of my articles related to grocery delivery. If you don't have any articles that would appeal to troubleshooting the global pandemic then that would be the answer to your traffic drop dilemma.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Okay, thanks. My imagination. But this hasn't been a few weeks. It has been nearly three months. Still, coronavirus was in that framework.
  
  Coincidence then. Thank you for clarifying.
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  My drop in views coincided with the new rule changes. Having been a private Google Adsense and Amazon affiliate before the change, getting accustomed to late reporting on the in-house programs are very frustrating.
  
  Items I normally sell this time of year seem to be missing from my sales. I don't like getting paid by impressions either. We have no way to see if the items ordered from us are actually being credited to us, or the impressions as well.
  
  Hopefully after the virus is over things will get back to normal. Can't say that about Matt's recent activity though.
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  JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I would have thought that given self isolation all over the place that traffic would have risen with corona, not dropped.
  On one article of mine that used to have 300 daily views consistently for perhaps a couple of years, traffic suddenly began to drop about twelve months ago. This coincided with a drop from the top three to second page on Google.
  
  I'm wondering if the takeover by Maven had anything to do with it. Maybe Maven gets penalised by Google's algorithm for poor content overall? After all there's a lot of rubbish on this site that still gets posted, likely affecting everyone.
  
  As a test though, this one article, I really went to work on it with fresh and in my view quality content. I watched the rankings daily and absolutely no change from mid second page in the last three months. I find this really odd. Google used to reward fresh content. And in the last week my daily views have tanked by 50%.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Okay. Thank you. I have always thought that Maven was a very bad idea. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if Maven was being penalized by Google.
  
  However, according to Alexa, the traffic has gone up, not down.
  
  https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/hubpages.com
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  JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  If I’m reading that right 36% of the traffic was from the US and a staggering 35% from India.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, that is correct. Hubpages has always had two major streams of traffic - one from the US and one from India. For as long as I have checked Alexa, that has always been so.
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  JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  In the early days of affiliate marketing as you might remember Google was still learning and pretty naive. So the net was stuffed with all sorts of dodgy affiliate links. Google’s been aware of that for years now. I wonder if that’s still going on from a foreign country and dragging our content down with it. Bizarrely as you point out though the ranking has gone up.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  What has struck me is that while hubpages are very, very tight with affiliate links, the sites from the old days that made a lot of money through affiliate marketing were left as they were - probably because they generated a lot of money through affiliate marketing.
  
  It's only the newer articles and the articles that never really made anything through affiliate marketing that were and are penalized.
  
  So you may have a point.
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Dean Traylorposted 3 years ago
For me and a lot people, viewings have been significantly down for the last three months. There were few signs that things were getting back to normal, especially, at the beginning of the year. However, it's slipped again and has been hovering between 250 and 300 views per day. Coronavirus may well be a factor. Simply put, many of us may not have the topics that readers are looking for at this moment.
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FatFreddysCatposted 3 years ago
Forgive my ignorance but "Matt" who?
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Matt Wells, the head moderator. I don't believe he has anything to do with our views or earnings......just our heads.
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  NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  lol Not gonna lie, I was thinking the same thing.
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  Sue Adamsposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Click on his name, he is staff.
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  NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I'm familiar with Matt but something about the original post, I wasn't sure. But I also take FFC's comment to be tongue in cheek, I thought I'd add to the joke. I also thought there was more than one Matt.
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  FatFreddysCatposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  No tongue, no cheek. I honestly didn't know. The only staffer's name I was familiar with in the forums is Samantha.
  
  (Sorry, Matt.)
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Solarasposted 3 years ago
Something I noticed in the new TOS is that we get our cut of the earnings AFTER they pay all of their expenses. I don't know if that was the way it was before the change or not. I had assumed they used their 40% to pay for their own expenses. I use my 60% to pay for my expenses in creating the content.

Did anyone download the TOS from 2-3 years ago? I would be curious if someone had a copy and could check that for me.
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Good question! I have no clue as to how things work now compared to then. And probably never will....
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Wow. Nope that was definitely not the way it used to be. We used to get a straight 60% if people clicked on the ads. Then HP would pay for its expenses out of the 40%.
  
  That must have been a recent change but it would certainly explain why my earnings have dropped so radically.
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  melbelposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  If that's the case, then f************ck that.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  +++
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4. STAFF
  Matt Wellsposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Hi everyone,
  
  There is a new Forum post covering the COVID-19 situation & HubPages authors.
  
  Regarding the specific Terms Of Use questions on this forum, there were a few items raised regarding the HubPages-before vs Maven-after Terms Of Use and earnings.
  
  Big picture, the authoring and earnings program that has long operated on HubPages sites is now coming into operation as part of the broader Maven platform. This means that non-HubPages use cases may be using the same platform and programs. Not every use case will earn the same, which is why it is written how it is now.
  
  There is updated language between Terms Of Use documents, but not really a major difference at the top level on the topics you raised about expenses, etc. Some quick searching can help you find third-party archives of pages if doing a more precise comparison of a specific clause is of interest to you.
  
  All Hubbers can see traffic and earnings reports from immediately before versus after the Terms Of Use change in late January. There are always a variety of factors simultaneously impacting traffic and earnings, but (BYO program impact aside) a major change stemming from the Terms Of Use update was not of them.
  
  [Note - For those of you in the Amazon Program, we would encourage you to regularly look at the detailed Amazon report as well. As it is a good view into these types of matters as they apply to that program.]
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  melbelposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  How much do we earn? What is the breakup in earnings for HubPages?
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you for responding. Can you specify which expenses are charged to the HP authors gross earnings to create the net earnings? For Example
  
  Paypal Fees
  Editors salaries
  Hosting fees
  etc...
  
  Thank you
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I'm not sure I understood what you are saying.
  
  Are you saying we must read the terms of use and not pay attention to them because they apply to the rest of Maven but not to us?
  
  If that is so, how are we paid?
  
  What is the proportion, and how is that proportion reached. Also, is this before or after Hubpage expenses.
  
  Thanks.
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paradigmsearchposted 3 years ago
My traffic and earnings are so bad, that I am considering shutting down the ads; it certainly won't cost me anything. My motive is one of curiosity as to how Google reacts.
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  paradigmsearchposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Update. If I do try the experiment, it would only run until the end of the month.
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Life and Luxuryposted 3 years ago
I think this is more of a site that allows for the opinions of Trump supporters as well as his opponents. And that is good with me. I've seen some of my favorite media personalities get completely erased by larger sites. Shutting down speech only makes speech become more extreme the next time.

With that said, I hope the OP's account gets its traffic back.
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bhattucposted 3 years ago
The dip in the traffic is there and if there is a major dip in the traffic for hubpages on a whole then individual articles would also be affected proportionally. Is that the case? I wonder.
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PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago
Well, it makes a change for someone to accuse the site of being pro-Trump! More usually over the years, I think I've seen the site being accused of being part of some Californian Liberal Techno Elite! Haha!

Tess, your conspiracy theory, with you at the center, either shows extremely petty behavior by the staff, or a paranoid streak in yourself. I personally suspect the latter.

Matt's comment in the thread seemed measured and reasonable. Accusations of bullying and abuse are serious, but they appear unsubstantiated and your attitude towards other hubbers seems to undermine your case that you are behaving reasonably and HubPages is not.

There is a deadly virus sweeping around the world. Entire cities, states, countries are closing down. Everybody's traffic is generally substantially down.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Am I missing something here, or do the lot of you have selecting sight.
  
  I said
  
  "Either Matt has done something to ensure that I get no more traffic because I said I wasn't going to write for hp anymore but would leave my stuff here because I needed the income.
  
  Or Google just decided that any article with my name on it would no longer receive traffic but my ranking would remain the same.
  
  Or everybody on the site is experiencing the same drop in traffic that I am"
  
  Those are three options.
  
  Why are some of you picking out one?
  
  I'm truly curious? Do the others not carry any weight with you, and does the fact that I accepted it was google and not Matt at all not carry any weight with you?
  
  What's your problem?
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Tess, it was the fact that you even thought that Matt could be the cause of the issue.
  
  You could have ascertained that it was the third reason very quickly before making what amounted to an accusation.
  
  Just think before you press Submit. Try to work out how your words will be read and understood.
  
  To the others that are jumping on Tess - she does have Aspergers and takes things literally.
  
  Just all take a step back.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you.
  
  Yes, it did occur to me. Tiiming.
  
  I also knew that there were other probabilities. I searched on the forums to see if traffic was falling that badly for everybody else, and I couldn't find anything, so I assumed (wrongly, now, it seems), that nobody else's traffic had dropped as much as mine had.
  
  thank you for understanding that my brain weighs data in a different way to other people's. It sometimes takes me weeks to work out what is apparent to others when it comes to human beings. But I am much improved from what I was 10 years ago.
  
  Both my daughter and my sister say so.
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  Wesman Todd Shawposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I've literally had the "California liberal elite" thought before. And because I don't have much impulse control when it comes to speaking - I may have been dumb enough to say something like that at one point or another.
  
  For whatever it is worth, you always strike me as a wise and nice person. Wiser and nicer than me.
  
  I'm going to go ahead an unfollow this one, and I'm also going to try to not bother Ms. Schlesinger any further.
  
  Free speech is something I'm extremely worried about. I think it is already being limited WAY too much, especially online. So it's definitely one of my sore spots.
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Solarasposted 3 years ago
I am glad everyone has made up. Now, back to what I am interested in. This is from the Maven Terms of Use. Am I misconstruing the definition of earning here as being after all expenses are paid?

For your convenience, I have copied the definition of earnings and earned balance below. I am curious about the definition of "percentage of net revenues after deductions have been taken from gross revenues attributable to your Author Content"

(c) Earnings

(i) Earnings and your share of net earnings will be based on a formula selected by Maven, in its sole discretion, which formula Maven may change at any time for your Earnings Account. The formula used may include but is not limited to: (a) sharing with you a specific percentage of net revenues after deductions have been taken from gross revenues attributable to your Author Content, (b) rotating dedicated IDs (i.e. one for you and one for Maven) at a specific rotation percentage for each ID across articles (and its subcomponent pages) showing your Author Content and/or your profile page where your net earnings come solely from the activity attributable to the ID assigned to you, or (c) an alternate mechanism determined by Maven in its sole discretion.

(iii) The “Earned Balance” is your share of those valid, earned, and collected (by Maven) net revenues - where such net revenue amounts are determined only after deductions are taken off-the-top and subtracted from the gross earnings. These deductions include any and all commissions, fees, bad debts, third-party deductions or fees, payment processing costs, charge-backs, partner share of earnings, amounts deemed fraudulent by either Maven or a third-party provider to the Earnings Program, and any other deductions that Maven deems necessary with respect to the provision of the Earnings Program (such deductions to be determined in Maven’s sole discretion). Your share is the amount of net revenues attributable to: (1) Earnings Page Views on your Author Content; (2) revenue generated through your Earnings Page Views from any Author Referral that has been approved by Maven; and (3) your portion of any net amounts earned by you (if any) in relation to (A) upfront amounts related to your publishing specific pieces of Author Content (as specifically agreed to by you and Maven), and (B) any other program, service or opportunity (such as Maven contests) not covered in this Addendum where Maven offers Authors (and/or other Users as applicable) the ability to earn money.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Wow.
  
  You're absolutely right.
  
  And not a single member of hubpages staff thought of telling us this.
  
  That would explain a lot of things.
  
  Thanks for being awake!
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  This puts a new light on things! Especially the lack of candor from staff.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  The staff did inform of us changes to the HP/Maven Terms of Use. They posted it here as a 'sticky'. They emailed us and they referred to it in the newsletter.
  
  It's not their fault if we couldn't be bothered to read it.
  
  https://hubpages.com/community/forum/34 … rms-of-use
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  It's not our fault they were afraid to explain the changes either. Especially as they are different from the past changes in revenue.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  We're writers. We read and research. We should not require spoon-feeding. It's up to the individual to know who's paying them and how.
  
  It's all there. No point complaining that you didn't know.
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Spoon feeding isn't required, but explanations of different changes to the TOS should be. I assume you believe it's too much to ask of staff?
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  +++
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  So this is a change from how our earnings were calculated before? I was not sure. I read the old TOU years ago, but never downloaded them. It is interesting that is was designed to coincide with an overall change in monetization.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I'm sorry, but when was that?
  
  It's a shortcoming of all business that when they don't want people to respond badly, they put it in the small print.
  
  A more ethical way of doing things is simply to put it right up front in very big letters and make sure everybody gets it.
  
  That's my opinion, anyway.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Read the link, Tess.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Sorry. Not focusing. South Africa just went into complete enforced military lockdown.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  We've just gone into lockdown here too. Not so severe as SA though. Restrictions on who goes out and where. My 81 yr old mother is 15 miles away
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Does that mean you can drive to see her? My 91 year old mother is here with me, so we can fight whenever we want to.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  
  Well, I will, but we're not supposed to. I usually see her three times a week, but will reduce it to once every 10 days... or see how it goes. Things are changing so fast.
  
  My daughter is also waiting for surgery, so I have to be really careful with her too.
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Best wishes for everyone, my thoughts are with you guys.
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Me too, everyone on HP has my best wishes!
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  What kind of surgery?
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  She has to have the right side of her thyroid removed. And she's a singer, so there's a risk her voice will be affected. She's only 18.
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  Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Oh no! Best for her surgery and recovery. You will have many positive thoughts from us and the HP lurkers lol
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, that is terrible. I'm so sorry. Is there any chance she can sing afterwards? It might be a different tone, but if she has that talent, the talent doesn't really disappear.
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  theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  We're hoping so. I have no idea now when, or even if, it will happen. She has a large swelling on the right side of her neck. Still singing though.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Well that very much sounds as if she will still retain her voice. If she can do it despite the swelling, then she will probably be able to condinue.
  
  I hope so for both of you.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  My sister is coming to fetch me tomorrow. We will be traveling all day, and the car will be packed. I will need to buy stuff for the duration. I have no idea where to start.
  
  Keep safe.
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paradigmsearchposted 3 years ago
Randy, Adsense tapped me on the shoulder today (in the good way). I'm hoping you finally got to the finish line, or do you have to wait another month?
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  Randy Godwinposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Last time I checked it was still at 95+ dollars, Para.
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  paradigmsearchposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Randy, tryed to anser; hat to stop re vision.
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theraggededgeposted 3 years ago
What's a 'use case'? Never heard that term before.
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Solarasposted 3 years ago
I tried using the Wayback Machine to find the original TOS. I could not find it. Maybe someone else here knows of another "Third Party Site" as Matt suggested.
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  Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  I do not know of any third party sites, but I saved an old TOS. Not sure if this link will work, but I can post the whole thing if needed. This is from Feb 5th 2017.
  
  file:///home/chronos/u-4dba684019879afffb4cbe9d2ed3630d7b4951e3/MyFiles/Downloads/HP%20User%20Agreement.mhtml
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  JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Maybe this is a question for an entirely new discussion but I'll ask away anyway.
  When I got notification that Hubpages were transferring all links to Amazon to their own site, I was sure that they said, that we will still be receiving 100% commission as we would have from Amazon as we did in the past.
  
  Just checking on my stats and see that that's not correct at all. Maven/Hubpages are taking 40% of whatever my commission is on a product from Amazon.
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  DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this
  No, they did not say that.
  You used to get 100% of the commissions, 60% of the time. Now you get 60% of the commissions, 100% of the time. If someone made a large Amazon purchase, and it was during HP´s time, you did not get a commission.
  If someone makes a large purchase now you get 60% of that sale. It may or may not be better for you.
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  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Definitely better for me.
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  JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks for the clarification
  reply report

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