Low Quality Hubs

1. 93

   Rochelle Frankposted 3 years ago

   Why are so many hubs being posted that are low quality?
   
   I have flagged about 10 or more today which are either copied, overly promotional, in another language, or have other obvious  problems that are against TOS.
   
   Doesn't the staff have a person who can devote some time to removing these before we even see them?
   
   I realize there a lot of people who are struggling to make a few dollars.
   I appreciate their efforts and am glad to encourage some who who are trying but  still need a little help.
   
   There should be some sort of automatic response to those posts which are OBVIOUSLY very short, very ungrammatical, or even copied.

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   1. 93

      ChitrangadaSharanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Glad that you pointed this out.
      I have noticed many poor quality hubs being posted, with grammatical errors, overly promotional, too short, and in many ways not according to the Hubpages standard rules. Surprisingly, they even pass the QAP and moved over to Discover.
      Attention from the Hubpages is required regarding this issue.
      Thank you.

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      1. 97

         Sustainable Sueposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Clearly it's the ads that attract them. I've done some copywriting in the past and that's what the ads imply to me. In addition to the occasional purchaser, ads attract a whole different kind of writer—the kind you're describing here.

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   2. 94

      Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      An Indian YouTuber that has a 3+ million subscriber list posted about how to make money on HubPages recently. Since then there has been an influx of people. It may be a coincidence but I doubt that it is. Seems like he is just regurgitating other get-rich-quick schemes from other channels at a glance.

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      1. 97

         CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I wonder whether that video promoted "a day in my life" articles.

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      2. 99

         dougwest1posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Paddygsound: How could anyone assume Hubpages is a "get-rich-quick scheme?" I guess we shouldn't believe everything on Youtube!

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         1. 94

            Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            As best as I could discern, he was saying that you basically sign up and use some free-to-access articles and post them up as your own. PLR I think was the acronym for them. So at a glance it would seem to the average joe that it was a quick win. Of course scheme over the fact that content needs to be unique and not duplicated, and the QA process etc. etc.

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         2. 93

            LongTimeMotherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Does the landing page still show profiles of writers making regular decent-sized payouts? If so, that might explain it.

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            1. 97

               Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I think they disappeared with the introduction of the Discover site and the new layout. I don't think you can see anything on this HP site except your newsfeed after you login in/sign up.

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   3. 93

      Sherry Hposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It appears someone with >3 M subscribers posted this video for Indian audience on YT... https://youtu.be/ rpZ4hZRu0ro
      I'm appalled to see the caption! Wondering what tips he's shared in the video which by the way has received 110K views within 4 days.

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      1. 97

         CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I took a look. What a load of misinformation. Explains why we are getting so many nonsensical diary posts too.

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         1. 87

            theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I've reported it to YouTube. I suggest we all do it.

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            1. 93

               Sherry Hposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               +1
               Done

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            2. 94

               Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               As have I.

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      2. 97

         CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Hey, hey, the video is removed!

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         1. 88

            Jodahposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I can still see it

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            1. 97

               CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, now I see it. Time to report again.

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      3. 81

         Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I've watched other videos in Hindi. They say how you can make money in Hubpages. Collect any article in Hindi, Bengoli or other languages  Then translate it into English and paste it on hubpages! So they are  promoting their videos by telling the viewers  that hubpages is a money minting machine. Oh!

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   4. 96

      letstalkabouteducposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It seems unfair and unkind that HP offers false hope that this is a money-making venture for these folks. Also, it makes the forum a place that more serious writers, with good advice to share, simply avoid. I check in on the forum to learn, but it's mostly a wasteland.

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      1. 81

         Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Sorry to differ here with you. I have read your bio. I can understand being a preschool teacher how sensible one must be. I am from far away land. Yet I am learning from you. For me your words are never a waste land for me.
         
         Thank you.

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   5. 92

      Thelma Albertsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I have noticed that, too and I am wondering what is happening to Hubpages.

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2. 88

   Jodahposted 3 years ago

   Yes, Rochelle. I have noticed the same surge of new posts recently, many very short and displaying very poor English. It seems people are joining here in the hope of making quick money from their writing, but they will be sadly disappointed. I agree that new posts should be monitored and if they are obviously inferior should be stopped before they appear in our feeds.

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3. 93

   Rochelle Frankposted 3 years ago

   It is NOT good for HubPages to have new people who might want to join in. If  reasonably good writers  see the poor quality of work that is displayed, they will not want to join in.
   
   Again, I appreciate those who are really trying but some are just flinging undercooked spaghetti at the wall.  (And if you don't understand that, you probably should not be trying to write for HubPages.)
   )

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4. 93

   Rochelle Frankposted 3 years ago

   Yeah, many of make typos in comments and forums.  I'm not talking about perfection.

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5. 96

   Eric Cauncaposted 3 years ago

   It is not yet finished. We will see more "I'd like to feedback" these coming days.

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6. 73

   manatita44posted 3 years ago

   You're right, Rochelle.
   
   There are so many more Hubs now! I've had to unfollow Religion and Philosophy because of this. Some stray far from the theme ... others say they are content writers but the spelling and grammar is so bad!
   
   There are those who need some advice and I try to help, but others that just shouldn't be there. Some do ask me about making money true, but perhaps for others it's a therapeutic way of staying alive. Quien Sabes? (Who knows?) Thank you for pointing this out.

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7. 96

   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   We've been here before. The best suggestion is to filter prospective writers with an English language proficiency test in order to unlock access to the platform. But HP doesn't seem to want to do this.

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   1. 99

      Madeleine Claysposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      You are absolutely right, Rupert. Your suggestion has been offered on the forums before. I honestly have no idea why HP does not follow this suggestion. From a business standpoint, it is the logical thing to do.

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   2. 92

      ziyenaposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Here!  Here!  Hubpages Staff are you listening? 
      Or, is this too much to hope for?

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8. 99

   EricDockettposted 3 years ago

   I agree that having some set of standards for new writers is a good idea, but that is the role the QAP process is supposed to play. Low-quality Hubs should never make it through QAP. If they are, that is a problem HP needs to address.
   
   Is this a result of the new arrangement with non-monetized content living on HP? I was about to say low-quality content can't hurt HP because it will never see the light of day, but if all you have to do is mash your palm on the keyboard and hit publish to make the HP site, that very well may hurt the whole operation in the long term. Hope that's not what is happening.

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   1. 99

      Madeleine Claysposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. The QAP functions as an English proficiency test in and of itself. As you say, the problem is that so many low quality hubs are making it through the QAP process.

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9. 67

   abwilliamsposted 3 years ago

   LOL Doug, you beat me to the punch.

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10. 81

    Brenda Arledgeposted 3 years ago

    I've seen quite a few & I am receiving emails asking for my help

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    1. 87

       theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       I've had a couple too - wanting me to teach English. It's a crazy, desperate situation. They've been told that there is a pot of gold here by some unscrupulous operator.

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       1. 94

          Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, the person that posted the video would be making a decent amount of coin from is subscribers, even 100k views on this one video would be paying well, then there are the many other videos that he has done on other ways to make money online.

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          1. 97

             CYong74posted 3 years agoin reply to this

             He would be making $$, prolly more than many of us. (Grr!) But one consolation probably is that it wouldn't be as high as we think. Indian CPM on YouTube is usually quite low.

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    2. 81

       Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Help is already there. One should how to grab it. Perhaps the way I take help from the article that read may not good for them.
       
       I read the article, then I write down the new words and phrases in my paper note book. I do this everytime and I have a separate note book for vocabs. (Paper).
       
       Then I make sentences from each words.  In fact, I have used some of them in my articles.
       
       I know my journey is not short cut. I have to keep on doing this for infinity.

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11. 97

    Sustainable Sueposted 3 years ago

    Speaking of the pot of gold, are we still getting income from the amount of readership an article gets or is it only for ads now?

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12. 99

    Eurofileposted 3 years ago

    I have had to take some time away from HubPages recently. I wondered what had happened when I switched my notifications back on. I can tell from the poorly written titles of some articles that they are not going to be up to standard. I am hoping that the message will soon get across that this is not a get rich quick site and these articles will decrease in number.

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13. 91

    Kenna McHughposted 3 years ago

    I am sure they don't end up on Discover or above. Do they still influence the overall quality, impressions, CPM? Perhaps that is why Maven lowered HubPages.com without revenue — less work for staff and more angst for us.

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    1. 97

       Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       The subpar articles they are talking about can be found on Discover and the niche sites. It doesn't take much to pass QAP, although I am a bit surprised and concerned to see some of this new "content" on the niches.

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14. 76

    rembrandzposted 3 years ago

    That's so sad. I was thinking of starting back in hubpages with some new series of articles but thanks to your report, I need more motivation. Thanks Rochelle . I will now on, watch if there is any improvement where quality of some of these articles improve. Some years ago a friend had difficulty being approved here so despite his strong writing and content-skills when his article did not make it through I assumed perhaps hubpages' selection process was very stringent that means quality must be real good. I am shocked to see these way below--the-standard articles. I hope hubpages take some action so that hubpages can be referred to as a portal with absolutely quality-writers.

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15. 96

    Eric Cauncaposted 3 years ago

    +1

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16. 85

    FatFreddysCatposted 3 years ago

    I'm not sure if this "sanjiv kumar" is the a**hole YouTuber you all are talking about (the YouTube link a few posts back doesn't work for me), but it seems likely. His video about HubPages was posted five days ago, which is just about the same time that the current wave of Indian gibberish started flooding the site.
    
    
    
       
    
    Eff this guy. Everybody report this putz's channel for spreading false info.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyLplL … qdv8MSmDJw
    
    I did. Felt good!

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    1. 87

       theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Yep. I did.

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       1. 88

          Jodahposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          I reported it too

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    2. 94

       Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       That is him. He has definitely sold them all a line of horse you-know-what as you have said

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       1. 85

          FatFreddysCatposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          I see you left a comment on his video about HubPages, paddygsound. You were a lot more polite than I would have been
          
          I was tempted to leave a comment that said "This guy is full of sh*t," but decided not to since my real name is on my YouTube account. Haha

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          1. 94

             Paddygsoundposted 3 years agoin reply to this

             My hope is that at least a couple of people will see the comment and decide not to proceed.

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    3. 97

       Sustainable Sueposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       I'm leaving comments and replies and am being very direct. They need to know HP is not a get-rich-quick site. Thanks for the link.

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       1. 81

          Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          I will leave a comment in Hindi language on the youtube who is saying that hubpages is a money minting machine.

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    4. 81

       samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       I reported the video too. Ugh!
       
       I'll ask Matt about the influx in low-quality content.

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       1. 97

          Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          It is not just staying on this site. I've seen these "articles" moved to Letterpile and other niche sites as well. I know Letterpile is where poetry goes to die, but I have work there unrelated to poetry that does well, or at least it did.
          
          Here is a great example. https://letterpile.com/poetry/The-Noble-Emotion

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          1. 81

             samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

             I asked LetterPile's editor about this and they said it does not meet our "harmful" definition. It was missing line breaks, so they fixed that.

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                Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                I do not know what "harmful" definition means. I would not say it was only missing line breaks, but good to know what kind of quality is now being accepted.

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                1. 81

                   samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   This has always been the case on LetterPile. Our harmful definition changes depending on the site—basically what is and isn't allowed or what will affect our site's ranking.

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                   1. 97

                      Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                      I know what the editorial policy is for Letterpile. Creative work is still suppose to have proper grammar. The lines of poetry should still make sense and the poem should be a complete thought.
                      
                      Do we no longer need photos and bios? Last time I tried to submit an article I still needed to include those items to have it on a niche site. Although I will admit the last time I wrote anything was over two years ago so things may have well changed.

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                      1. 81

                         samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                         You don't need to add photos to get on a Network Site. In fact, we prefer that authors refrain from adding stock images just for the sake of it. We encourage authors to add author bios, yes. But I don't see that implemented across every site. Depends on which site/editor.

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                            Jodahposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                            Well, that is nice to know. I had no idea those policies had changed either, or differed from one niche site to another.

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                            1. 81

                               samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                               Policies have NOT changed (at least for a few years)! But they do differ—LetterPile is an special case. We can't hinder creativity by favoring perfect grammar. Though there are limits.

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                                  Jodahposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                  Thanks Samantha

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                               2. 97

                                  Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                  They absolutely have changed if bios are no longer a requirement. I have been fighting with staff including Robin before she left about editors creating bios for me in order to move them to niche sites. Letterpile being one of them. That was in mid 2019 (not that long ago).

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                                  1. 81

                                     samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                     They are required. Especially when going on more mainstream Network Sites. We still create bios for those who don't have them, but in this case of creative writing and an author that has no main HubPages bio, it's kind of difficult to make something up. Also, for newbies, it makes sense for them not to know the rule. But for those like you who have been here a long time, it's expected.
                                     
                                     Otherwise, I guess sometimes articles slip through without them. It happens.

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                                     1. 97

                                        Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                        The easy fix for that is for editors to contact the author and explain they need a bio to move to the niche sites. However, for some reason your staff refuses to do that.
                                        
                                        I understand it's not a "more main stream niche" and probably is more trouble than it's worth, but that is no excuse to not hold new members to the same standards/requirements. There is a reason this site does not do well, and it is not completely related to the topics not being frequently searched for.

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       2. 81

          Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          I have watched some videos Hindi languages.  I have reported one video.
          
          Thank yoh.

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17. 78

    bhattucposted 3 years ago

    Many newcomers are joining and their articles are not as per the expectation of HP platform and they are not featured also. They remain like that.

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18. 94

    Paddygsoundposted 3 years ago

    Wish I was a moderator so I could drop the ban hammer on them.
    Look at all the time being wasted by us all to try and divert them.

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19. 96

    Eric Cauncaposted 3 years ago

    There are a lot of videos about Hubpages on Youtube from India but I think Sanjiv Kumar is the source of those gibberish works on the forum. He has discussed  "My Daily Life...." in his video. He also says that plagiarism is allowed at Hubpages.
    
    

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20. 81

    Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years ago

    I've not watched such videos.  But I admit that I am also not so good in grammar and I misfire spellings.
    
    I'm aware of my mistakes.  At times, I feel that wrting is like playing violon.  If you don't play  it every day, the quality of the sound falls down so is the writing. This is my opinoin, perhaps I maybe wrong. Thank you

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21. 88

    Jodahposted 3 years ago

    Gyanendra, at least you are aware and strive to do better. None of us is perfect so we do need to keep practising.

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22. 81

    Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years ago

    Jodah, I believe in what you said here.  I also believe all the participants here. We all have to work together to weed off the garbages.  Thank you.

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    1. 96

       Eric Cauncaposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       I am also not good at English but at least we are better than them.

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23. 93

    LongTimeMotherposted 3 years ago

    HP, you seriously have to stop encouraging every writer you reject to ask us for help and feedback.  Writers with small, fixable problems okay, but not the ones that are obviously beyond help.
    
    Can’t you just create a standard ‘thanks but no thanks’ letter and send it to them?

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24. 93

    LongTimeMotherposted 3 years ago

    The landing page for anyone who is not signed in still shows earnings figures for some writers (haven’t been updated in a long time though.)
    
    Here’s a thought about identifying who is posting the videos on YouTube. I wonder if they’ve put a link there somewhere, including an HP code for them to make money from new members. That should help HP identify them. (Or maybe they’re just making money from YouTube visits, but might be worth looking.)

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25. 92

    ziyenaposted 3 years ago

    Is there a way to filter out Hubpages artices in the feed? 
    it would be nice to narrow down to just Discover or both Niche & Discover articles.  I hate to miss out on those great ones

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    1. 97

       Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Not that I'm aware of, but you can use the feed settings to get some pretty specific categories that I do not think are available for HP articles which should bring up more Discover/niche site articles.
       
       If you search for Discover or a category found on the niches (for example Dogs) some of the subcategories related to dogs on pethelpful/discover come up. That should help weed out some of the HP articles (on pets & animals) from those that would be on Discover and the niche sites. In some instances you have to be more specific. For example when searching dogs nothing about adoption comes up, but if you search for adoption both animal and human adoption subcategories come up.
       
       It is not the best solution and might be time consuming if you want a wide range of content, but it might be worth it to unfollow the specific categories and try and follow more specific subcategories.

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       1. 92

          ziyenaposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          Subcategories may be the way to go for now.  Thanks Shesa

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    2. 93

       Rochelle Frankposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, if you go to your atricle list ( upper left corner with three lines, and click on "Articles") you will see  the filter list. A drop down menu will allow you to select your niche sites, discover and HubPages.

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26. 81

    emgeposted 3 years ago

    I am in agreement with you because I find even every second person is writing a poem and most of them are pretty substandard.

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