What's Going on with HubPages?

1. 71

   Springboardposted 3 weeks ago

   It's not that anyone wants to start panicking and thinking, "Hey, this little ride might be ending soon." At the same time, when you have no communication from HubPages about the status updates being stuck, it makes you wonder exactly that.
   
   "Is this ride about to end?"
   
   Because they always got the stuck status fixed relatively soon. But we're about to be three weeks without any status update, and a new article I recently published, which should have already transferred to Discover has not.
   
   The earnings are fine. They have not changed. And those seem to be updating and finalizing. But if they aren't working on fixing the status, does that mean they are considering pulling the plug?
   
   I don't make a great living from HubPages. Does anyone, really? But I enjoy having a platform to share my wares with the world, and over the years HubPages has done well for me. I like the format, I like the reach, I like the attention to quality, I even like that they shut down comments on articles, making the experience here as a writer feel more genuine.
   
   When comments were on, no one really read your articles to enjoy them, if they read them at all. The comments they left were intended to have you give them a reciprocal view. I write to write and be read. Not to have my back scratched or scratch someone else's just because.
   
   In any event, I am curious what anyone else's thoughts are on the status being stuck and if anyone else is concerned we may be treading troubled waters here.

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      bravewarriorposted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

      Yes, we're concerned. The writing appears to be on the wall: TAG doesn't care and is about to dump HP overboard to sink into the cyber abyss.

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         Springboardposted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

         You may be right. But it makes me wonder, because I have heard similar statements made, what indications has TAG made verbally or otherwise to suggest this is true?
         
         I know they made some changes to the sister site publications. But have they said something? Suggested something? Or is it just panic led by a lack of information to go on?
         
         I have to admit, the situation is very suspect.

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            Kenna McHughposted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

            There is no panic. It's evident if you read the forums and experience the lack of communication from TAG/HP. No worries, if you haven't taken the time to peruse the forums or check your article views/CPMs/revenues, you'll read about it soon in the media.

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         2. 84

            bravewarriorposted 3 weeks agoin reply to this

            They've said nothing and Matt no longer chimes in on these forums to assure us that HP isn't going anywhere. It's been a couple of months since he made a statement to us. Total lack of communication speaks volumes to the effect that we have been forsaken.

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               Springboardposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

               This is the problem, though, right? If HP doesn't tell members what's going on and what is being done about it, we will fill in the blanks on our own. And of course, we're going to think the worst or even potentially stop writing or leave.
               
               That paints HP into a corner IF the end result is that the site is not shutting down and the frozen stats are a legitimate problem they are actually actively working on fixing.

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                  PaulGoodman67posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

                  TAG announced that they no longer believe in the HP model and are moving on to other things.
                  
                  That's what's going on. It isn't a secret.
                  
                  Some hubbers don't want to hear that so pretend it hasn't happened.
                  
                  It's feigning not hearing someone in the hope that they'll say something different.
                  
                  I've zero faith it will work in this case.

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                  1. 84

                     theraggededgeposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

                     I'm quite amazed that people believe that this is just a glitch or that the site is simply in a temporary lull.
                     
                     It's the end, folks. Save your work.
                     
                     Consider removing your articles, especially if your earnings are non-existent. Leaving them means that they may get hijacked by the platform. It's happened to other hubbers and is covered by the Terms of Use. Discover is literally a pool of material that is feeding TAG's greed.

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                        My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

                        I'm new to this forum. What is TAG?

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                        1. 84

                           GA Andersonposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

                           TAG refers to the entity that bought HP: 'The Arena Group'
                           
                           GA

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                              My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

                              I am trying to build an automatic downloader for all my articles - correction, ChatGPT is with me helping, lol.

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2. 84

   theraggededgeposted 3 weeks ago

   https://hubpages.com/forum/hubpages

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      Springboardposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the link. It sunk me down a rabbit hole. lol

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3. 92

   Venkatachari Mposted 3 weeks ago

   I doubt whether Matt is still there on the HP Board.

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4. 82

   Sal Santiagoposted 2 weeks ago

   It's weird, some aspects of the site still seem to be working. For example, I still get an email most days notifying me of new pieces published.
   
   They had something unique here but have been dismantling it piece by piece. If I had to take a guess, TAG is focused on other things and HP seems to be an afterthought. Their business model/decision seems based on not valuing the creativity here, and simply no longer wanting to share the revenue they were paying out to hubbers. It is not being run by artists/writers, and these things usually always boil down to the money.
   
   I'll continue publishing here but I'm not sure for how long. I like the platform and the community. But I've started migrating stuff over to Substack.

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5. 92

   Venkatachari Mposted 2 weeks ago

   The emails and notifications work automatically. So, we keep getting them by default.
   
   But this factor does not work with the statistics. In the Artificial Intelligence Era, it is challenging to distinguish between human and bot-generated page views.

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6. 82

   Sal Santiagoposted 2 weeks ago

   They seem to be focused on and investing in AI, and "providing value for shareholders" or something. Since they don't seem to be interested in HP, maybe they will decide to sell it off at some point. Another group that sees value in the previous model that HP had, might revive it. Probably just wishful thinking on my part. It's either that or it disappears into cyberspace, as someone commented.

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7. 85

   Sharlee01posted 2 weeks ago

   Wow, I had no idea HP might be getting ready to turn off the lights. Hopefully this is just "fake news" LOL. I wasn’t aware things had gotten this rough. I did see that TAG’s stock had tanked, though it looked like it was starting to recover from that $0.80 dip. Who knows, maybe someone with a real flair for running a site like this will scoop up HP and breathe new life into it.
   
   That said, the Political Forum has just about fizzled out. So I figured I’d take this chance to send a little shout-out to everyone. I've really enjoyed chatting here. Sure, we were a small group, but we kept the place lively. I’ll miss the exuberance, the passion, and even the calmness that many brought to the table. It’s been genuinely interesting.
   
   This message might be totally unnecessary,  just a “What If” kind of moment,  but I wanted to leave it anyway. After all, they could pull the plug without warning. And I’m not about to miss the chance to say goodbye, and to let you all know that I valued your thoughts, even when I didn’t agree with them.
   
   I appreciated the food for thought, the wordsmiths, and yes, even those bold, provocative one-liners. So... who do you think will be the one to turn out the lights? I have a guess, and I’d probably even put money on it.

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      theraggededgeposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      It's not fake. Just read all the threads: https://hubpages.com/forum/hubpages
      
      I have deleted over 200 articles.

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      DrMark1961posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      YTD stock returns are almost 400%, and one of the reasons that it has gone up so much is that they are no longer investing in paying Hubpages. There was a good chat online between Paul and the main investor at TAG, and in that he made a little dig at Paul about how the company was set up to make money, unlike the SF startups that lose every year.
      So from that the writing is on the wall. I have no idea if the forums are going to continue but putting writings on HP and expecting an income is no longer happening.
      Anyway, I no longer write here but do appreciate hearing from Bev, Rupert, and Paul on this side and you, Ken, and a few others on the dark side. I would say it is okay to keep political articles here since no one is going to copy them and put them up elsewhere.

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         Kenna McHughposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         Good insight, Dr.Mark. I am curious to see the online chat between Paul and the main investor at TAG. Can you leave a link?

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            DrMark1961posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

            Sorry I had it but deleted it. Maybe ask Barbara (Solaras)? You could probably find it in TAG history through Google but I think someone shared it with me.

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      2. 85

         Sharlee01posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         It seems that TAG is now optimizing for maximum ad revenue per visit, without sharing that revenue with writers, essentially turning our work into a traffic farm while stripping away our earnings. My articles are absolutely smothered in ads. I'm still getting traffic, which makes the situation feel all the more unfair.
         
         HubPages hosts a massive archive of content, and it's likely TAG is making substantial money off of it. I recall their stock once hit around $16, then dropped to $0.80, before bouncing back to nearly $7. It's also worth noting that, in the past, HubPages rejected AI-generated content, but under TAG’s direction, they now openly encourage it.
         
         What’s clear is that TAG is shaking things up. I highly doubt they’ll shut HubPages down or sell it off, the content is too valuable. More likely, they’ll continue plastering it with ads and quietly collect the revenue while offering little to nothing in return for the creators who built the platform.
         
         The problem is most likely due to Google. A CPM-based payment is a way of earning ad revenue where you're paid based on how many times an ad is seen (impressions), not clicked.

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         1. 84

            theraggededgeposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

            TAG is also using HubPages as a pool of material. They are taking articles, having AI rework them and then republishing them under different names. That's why some of us are removing our work.

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            1. 85

               Sharlee01posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

               It just doesn't feel right to have someone’s work replaced or altered by AI. It comes across as dishonest, especially since AI can be programmed to detect and use attention-grabbing keywords that boost traffic. Meanwhile, real, thoughtfully written articles are being pushed aside. I noticed some time ago that my earnings dropped significantly, even though my article views remained steady.

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            DrMark1961posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

            I am not sure that TAG is making much off of the old articles. With AI providing answers to all questions now a lot of searchers do not even bother to open up articles any more. Instead of evergreen, the focus seems to be on initial page views.

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            1. 85

               Sharlee01posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

               I must agree. It really does seem like the days of evergreen content bringing in steady traffic are fading fast. With AI now giving direct, instant answers, fewer people are clicking through to full articles, even ones that used to perform well over time. The focus has definitely shifted to grabbing quick attention with initial page views, and once that moment passes, the article is buried. It’s frustrating for writers who put in the time to create lasting, informative content, only to have it sidelined by algorithms and AI snippets that bypass it entirely

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8. 84

   My Esotericposted 2 weeks ago

   I was finally able to create a python script to go through my hubpages and download to Word, and it finally worked - after about 8 hours of back and forth with ChatGPT and a little help from my IT guy.
   
   115 files downloaded although that is not all of them.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      Scott, that is a time saver!

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      theraggededgeposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      I already have all my original text articles. However, I used Obsidian to save the whole article, including edits, images, questions and comments, publication date, etc. I also backed them up in TheBrain.
      
      
      

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         My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         I'll look those up, thanks.

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