Using videos to generate traffic by "stealing" ?

1. 61

   Lynda Garyposted 15 years ago

   Okay ... I hate to promote traffic to a hub that may not be, uh, ethical ... but I need opinions.
   
   Check out: http://hubpages.com/hop/#/Secret-Target … -Generater
   
   Then let me know what you think of this guy's methods.

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   1. 0

      Pani Midnyte Odinposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      That just seems like laziness to me.

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   2. 0

      JeanMeriamposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Tough call. It seems that is what a lot of people do with forum comments on many blogs. It's not surprising it would start happening on youtube as well. I'm not really sure it would be called stealing.
      I have seen this done quite a bit actually and I often watch the reply videos without even thinking they are trying to get traffic to themselves.
      
      I would think the comments (video) would have to be relevant and add something though. Not just "Nice video. Look at my link"
      
      It looks like youtube will be a lot more cluttered.

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2. 79

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   Its not "this guys" method its a very old method that you have seen in action hundreds of times.
   
   Its not lazy, its just parasitic, and its pretty much the norm in online marketing to find a source that has authority and/or traffic and attempt to divert traffic or gain authority from an association

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   1. 71

      livewithrichardposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Josh nailed it, its not his method and we all do it in internet marketing when we place our anchor text on an authoritative site.  Why this method has benefits is because the big "G" loves video. If you do a search for a popular niche you will almost always find video results on the first page of Google.
      
      You're not stealing other people's videos your responding to the video similar to commenting on a blog with an anchor link pointing back to your own promotion.  Parasitic is a good way to phrase it or symbiotic may work too.

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3. 0

   lynnechandlerposted 15 years ago

   If it bothers you and you think it might be an ethics issue that would maybe go against TOS then report it. It's your call and HP can sort it out if they want that on the site or not.

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4. 91

   rebekahELLEposted 15 years ago

   I've seen those reply videos, and never watched one. I'm not interested in the reply, only the one I search to watch.
   
   it happens all over the internet, but I don't really see it as stealing.

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5. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   I really think when you have an issue like this with a hubber that you should take it up privately with the HP team.

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   1. 0

      lynnechandlerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed!

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   2. 61

      Lynda Garyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Just to clarify:  I, personally, do not have an issue with "this" hubber.  There is not, in my opinion, anything to report.  My OP states clearly that his method (correction; the method he USES) "may not be" ethical.  It doesn't say that it IS unethical or a violation of anything. 
      
      I solicited opinions, in fact, as a means to expand my knowledge and perspective on this.  I've found a lot of good SEO-type info here at HP, and this method was one that I wasn't able to categorize as legitimate or not based on reading the hub.
      
      Actually, I think the method being promoted COULD be used in a way that is 1) unquestionably ethical, and 2) beneficial, from an SEO perspective.

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6. 79

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   i interpreted the question as "what do you think of this method"
   , I didnt catch any suggestion that the hub itself needed a hubadmin review.
   
   "unethical" and TOS are rarely synonymous online

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   1. 61

      Lynda Garyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Sun,
      My "clarification" post was in direct response to Nellie's post which I interpreted to mean that rather than starting a thread here, I should've reported the hub, etc.
      
      Glad to see that you interpreted the OP as it was intended.

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7. 71

   livewithrichardposted 15 years ago

   Lynda,
   
   As long as you don't make claims to the ownership of the video it is completely ethical. Part of article marketing is riding on the success of others. I may have mentioned before but how you approach SEO really depends on what you are promoting and how much competition you have.

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   1. 61

      Lynda Garyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      So, what do you do?  Record a video with your thoughts, post it in reply, and somehow provide a relevant link?  I've never done an online video response, so I'm not sure how that works.  I just know that I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it unless I have something relevant to say, and wouldn't provide a link unless it, too, is relevant.

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8. 74

   Bill Manningposted 15 years ago

   I have my own youtube channel with 8 videos now. I have posted one of my own as a video response to others like it. It's a very common thing, and yes you do it to get noticed and get traffic.
   
   But I have not seen a whole lot of extra traffic from doing that. I myself never even notice video responses and I'm sure most never do.
   
   It's just one of many dozens of ways to get traffic, nothing more or less. Now, making a quick video about anything just for the sake of posting it as a video response DOES seem a bit,,,, bad.
   
   I only post one of mine that I made for the purpose of getting my own traffic from it. A video response is just extra for me.
   
   There are many ways of getting traffic. Do them all or many of them in a quality way and down the road you'll get results. Do them all in a sloppy way and you'll get,,,, slop.

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