Have You Recommended HubPages in the Survey?

1. 90

   Sue Adamsposted 2 years ago

   I clicked on number 1, which means I would not recommend joining HubPages today to anyone. Why? 5 reasons:
   
   1. When I joined HP 11 years ago, I signed up for a 60% share of the revenue. Today, management refuses to tell us what our share is.
   2. Passive income? My **s! I still engage with HP daily, update my few remaining articles regularly, and very occasionally write new ones.
   3. My once three-digit monthly income from HP has dwindled to less than $15 per month.
   4. Modern slavery. The worst thing is this: I feel like a slave owned by a corporation that will soon sell out (again) to the next, even bigger fish and reap the profits made off my hardworking brain.
   
   So why don't I close y account? Good question. Maybe I gave the survey 1 point because HP is still a good place to vent and share knowledge about language and online writing.

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2. 89

   theraggededgeposted 2 years ago

   Haven't had a survey offered lately, but in all honesty, I probably couldn't. Usually I give a wholehearted 10, but not at the moment with issues like non-transparency of earnings share, poor layout, low standards on Discover, too many ads, and no comment notifications.

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3. 92

   Justine Guiaoposted 2 years ago

   I am just starting to write here at hubpages and most of the things I am reading lately on the forums are quite sad.

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4. 93

   EricDockettposted 2 years ago

   I don't think I have ever responded to one of those. If I did, it was long ago.
   
   Maybe I take the question too literally. Recommending HP isn't like recommending a restaurant. It takes a lot of hard work to do well here, and I'm not sure I know anyone willing to put in the effort. Nor do I want to contribute to the influx of casual writers who put up three articles, realize it is harder than they thought, and then abandon their accounts.
   
   Sadly, it feels more and more like those casual writers are the ones HP is trying to attract. They complain less and are easier to profit from.

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5. 90

   Sue Adamsposted 2 years ago

   
   
   Exactly.

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   1. 99

      DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      That makes sense. If they attract 1000 writers that only write 3 articles, a few of them will have some traffic but probably not enough to have to pay them. Any earnings from their work stays with TAG.
      If they have 3 writers that write 1000 articles they will have to pay those people every month. About 15% of TAGs earnings has to be dumped back to the authors.
      Those three writers are going to notice percentage changes and a drop in traffic. Those 1000? Probably not.

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6. 73

   Miebakagh57posted 2 years ago

   Like Eric, I believe I took the survey some 6 years ago. And, like Sue, 10 is the grading I input.                                     If I've take the survey again, I would hubpages pay me some buck.

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7. 98

   Shesabutterflyposted 2 years ago

   I believe the last survey I did was in the beginning of the year. I did not recommend, for the reasons already mentioned.
   
   I will say I do not think I am doing nearly as bad as I have seen across the forums, but I suspect I never had the kind of views or made anywhere near you or most of the other main forum contributors, so I didn't have as much to lose to begin with.
   
   With the lack of communication, transparency, and leadership this is not a place I could ever recommend in its current state. I would never work for a brick and mortar company that does not tell me what I can expect in all aspects, the same should go for online. I only keep my articles here because they still earn, but I do not create any new content. The sites need a major design overhaul, and management needs to bring clear and concise answers to the questions that should not even need to be asked, for me to even feel like writing new content here would be worth it.

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8. 97

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   My feedback scores have got lower in recent times. My main areas of concern are:
   
   1. Drops in traffic and earnings.
   2. Poor communication and rapport between HP and writers.
   3. The vision thing. What's the future of the site? What are we now and where are we going?
   
   All these problems have the potential to be fixed. But the longer they've gone on, the more concerned I've become.

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9. 90

   Sue Adamsposted 2 years ago

   It looks like upper management's vision is to extort as much slave labor from the writers as possible before selling/merging the company again so they can enjoy spending the profits drinking tequila on a yacht in the Bahamas for the rest of their lives .

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   1. 97

      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I see no signs that the site is particularly profitable or lucrative. On the contrary, I believe that it only keeps going through the injection of external investment.

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      1. 90

         Sue Adamsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         As the Chairman & CEO of theMaven, now Arena, the total compensation of Mr Levinsohn is $1,190,204. There are no executives at theMaven getting paid more.
         Source: https://wallmine.com/otc/mven/officer/2 … -levinsohn
         
         
         source: https://www.idolnetworth.com/ross-levin … rth-278359

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10. 93

    Kenna McHughposted 2 years ago

    I took the survey. I hope the listen!

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11. 93

    melbelposted 12 months ago

    I thought we were still getting 60%.
    
    This makes me want to take down all my hubs.

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    1. 98

       Shesabutterflyposted 12 months agoin reply to this

       The ToS no longer specifies what the exact earning calculations are. They are vague and could change at any time. There was some discussion a year ago between writers that it was less than 60%, but I do not know whether that was proven or not. I honestly do not know how to calculate it, but my impressions have been better and more on par with views compared to when that discussion first started.
       
       From the ToS: "Earnings Program Components: Ad Program
       As part of your participation in the Earnings Program, you may request to join the Ad Program, in which TAG makes available advertisements and/or other revenue earning options for possible placement on your Author Content The formulas used to determine participants’ earnings may not be the same across all Earnings Accounts that participate in the Ad Program. Valid earnings from activity with the Ad Program related to your Earnings Account will be tracked and your share portion of such net earnings will be included in the Earned Balance."
       
       "Earnings and your share of net earnings will be based on a formula selected by TAG, in its sole discretion, which formula TAG 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 TAG) 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 TAG in its sole discretion."
       
       https://thearenagroup.net/author-submis … -addendum/

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       1. 87

          tsmogposted 12 months agoin reply to this

          I am curious what, "The formulas used to determine participants’ earnings may not be the same across all Earnings Accounts that participate in the Ad Program." Does that mean one person may earn at a different rate than another? Or, am I bewildered?

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          1. 89

             theraggededgeposted 12 months agoin reply to this

             It's always like that because we have individual rates of CPM. So an article on investing may earn more than one on sewing even though they have the same views/impressions.
             
             What is uncomfortable is the lack of transparency. We always knew the split was 60/40, but HP refuses to confirm that now.

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             1. 87

                tsmogposted 12 months agoin reply to this

                Aaahhh!! I see . . . I didn't consider CPM! Makes sense. Thanks!
                
                Yeah, I agree transparency is needed on the split. The topic has been ongoing for quite some time now.

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12. 89

    Jodahposted 12 months ago

    I haven't received a survey in at least a year. I have always given it a 10 in recommendation. I couldn't do that now. I just published my first article here in a month, just to keep a presence here in the hope of future improvements.

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13. 97

    PaulGoodman67posted 12 months ago

    Old thread brought back to life by a spammer. I've reported them.

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14. 96

    eugbugposted 12 months ago

    Impressions were approximately 60% of page views when I graphed my stats in Excel for over 10 years. Maybe that's just a coincidence.

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15. 73

    Miebakagh57posted 12 months ago

    If I'm ask to make a hubpages survey at the moment, I wouldn't.                                          Of what use is the survey and recommendation?                         Honestly, I've written just 2 articles this 2023. I've edited nearly half of my more than 70 hubs. Let me add just one cultural story before the year runs out.

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