Help Me With My Hub.

1. 65

   kpfingazposted 16 years ago

   I don't agree with the 2 links to a single domain per hub rule but nevertheless I still play by the rules.
   
   I'm trying to cooperate because I don't want my account banned. I've been a member for over 10 months and I've never done anything wrong on hubpages. No spam, nothing.
   
   Anyway I submitted this hub once after I made some changes but was sent the above email.
   
   Since you cant see it with the hubpages link, I dug up Googles cached result.
   
   Please tell me what is wrong with the hub so I can make the necessary changes.
   
   12 Month Internet Millionaire - Is It Good.
   
   To me it has only 2 links to the domain (It originally had 3 like you would see here but I took out the one in the middle)
   
   All the content is original - its a freakin' review for crying out loud...so I am allowed outbound links.
   
   How is it overly promotional when I'm reviewing a book? Am I not supposed to talk about the book?
   
   I have a feeling someone at hubpages doesn't like me!

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   1. 61

      Jason Menayanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Count again. (I'm looking at your actual Hub) More carefully if you still see 2.
      
      
      
      Oh come on, kpfingaz! Fix the Hub and resubmit it for review.

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      1. 65

         kpfingazposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Oh ok. My bad.
         
         I did fix it. Maybe I didn't save it.
         
         What about the other hub? I know it has 4 links in it. Two redirect to one domain and the other two redirect to two different domains...so three domains.
         
         Is it because they are all Clickbank domains?
         
         Whats the difference between Clickbank and Amazon?

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         1. 72

            Maddie Ruudposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            Clickbank and Amazon are both single domains.  Linking to different pages on a single domain still count towards your link limit.
            
            
            
            
            I'm sorry you feel defensive.  Please don't take the flagging personally.  And remember, you came into the forums asking for other hubbers to help you figure out what was wrong with your hub, and they did so to the best of their ability.  Nobody has personally attacked you, only offered opinions as to what might be violating the HP rules...

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   2. 72

      Maddie Ruudposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I've heard this refrain several times since I started working at HubPages, usually on the forums from someone who hasn't bothered to email me directly to ask what was wrong with the hub in question or request further clarification.
      
      I do NOT have it in for anybody.  I knew when I took the moderation job that it might make me unpopular with some users.  Since I've been hired for a job that didn't exist before, and was covered by several other team members in their spare moments, there's a large amount of backlog--hubs that have been in violation for months, even up to a year or more, without being flagged.  And of course, I come in and start digging through the backup, and I look like the bad guy, coming in and imposing the rules where things have been let slide.
      
      What you need to realize is that, even if your hubs have been up for months without setting off a flag, that doesn't mean it doesn't break our rules, or that you shouldn't have to bring them into compliance when asked.  Nor do a large number of flags in a short period of time mean that I "have it in for you," or "don't like you," as has been implied on this and several other threads.  It simply means I'm working through the long queue of things that have piled up over the last few months, as HubPages rapidly expands.
      
      Please also keep in mind that I look at hundreds of hubs a day, and I am human, so there are times when I may make a mistake, in which case I work to correct it as soon as it's brought to my attention.
      
      Hope this makes things a little clearer for everyone.  If your hub has been flagged, and after reviewing the automated email and the terms of use, you still don't know where you're in violation, send an email to the team email box and I'll be happy to clarify for you-- if you simply keep resubmitting hubs that do not meet our guidelines, your account will probably end up flagged or banned.

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2. 60

   Tellicoslimposted 16 years ago

   kpfingas, I have the same problem. I wrote an original article (took me three hours) and had two links to a web page. Of course I got the Email. So I then asked about it in the forum under help heading. Several people kindly answered and said put the article on the forum so they could look at it. I did that. Now! my question, the answers and the article are gone from the forum. Total BS. Fred

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   1. 61

      Jason Menayanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Fred - You had 2 Hubs moderated. 1 doesn't exist anymore (you must have deleted it), and the other I restored and published. It looks like there were 3 links via the RSS capsule, but that's fine since you didn't link to the same domain in the body of your Hub.
      
      I don't see any record in your user history of a forum post deleted - did you post it under a different account?

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3. 71

   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   Kpfingas,
   
   I think your problem might be that you are using Clickbank hoplinks.
   
   Clickbank is considered a "bad neighborhood", and as I understand it the thinking is that links from HubPages to Clickbank will damage everybody's traffic in the long term, as search engines are the ones who decide where the "bad neighborhoods" are, and they don't discriminate between individual Hubbers. If some of us are linking out to Clickbank, all of us will suffer.
   
   I suggest you send an email to the team and ask if this is the issue.
   
   If it is, you will need to host the bulk of your review on another domain, and use your Hub to send traffic to it - for example, have a Hub that is a "reviewography", linking out to your reviews which are on article sites, a blog, or Google pages.
   
   You can ensure people go there to buy through your link by adding a bonus, like the big guys do. It's recommended anyway, for best results as an affiliate.
   
   Jenny

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   1. 83

      embitcaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Clickbank is not a "bad neighborhood". 
      
      A bad neighborhood on the Web is any website that uses any dirty tricks to try and increase their site's rankings or do harm to customers reading the site. These include:
      cloaking
      spamming
      installing viruses or malware
      link farms
      breaking other laws
      
      These sites get delisted from Google. Clickbank does none of these things and is a PageRank 6.
      
      Not only is Clickbank listed all over Google, but it also gets one of those prime listings at the top of the page that you see them do for major websites (including Hubpages) . It's that second set of 8 internal links directly underneath the index page link that indicates other pages. They don't do that for bad neighborhoods. They only do it for the top sites in the search engine.
      
      You may not like personally care for Clickbank products or the methods that some folks use to promote them, but that does not make their site a bad neighborhood.

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      1. 71

         Inspirepubposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         I have no personal opinion on Clickbank one way or another. I have seen Clickbank links specifically referred to on these Forums as an issue in terms of "overly promotional".
         
         I will leave it to Jason or Maddie to articulate the official HubPages position on Clickbank, and whether hoplinks are accepted, prohibited or merely discouraged.
         
         Jenny

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         1. 83

            embitcaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            I'm sure they may well be an issue when it comes to "overly promotional", but it is frequently mentioned that they are a "bad neighborhood" and since they categorically are not a bad neighborhood as the SEs consider it, I finally decided to say something because this misinformation is repeated frequently.
            
            Whether Hubpages considers them so is another matter, but hubs certainly wouldn't be penalized by SEs for links to such.

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   2. 65

      kpfingazposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      You sound like a know-it-all. I hope they don't make you a part of the team.
      
      Don't worry...I'm leaving hubpages.

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4. 61

   Jason Menayanposted 16 years ago

   Clickbank is not considered a "bad neighborhood" - i.e. Hubbers can link to them.
   
   Sometimes some Hubbers get a little too aggressive and put in too many links to clickbank (or other affiliate) offers; that's Overly Promotional and not allowed, naturally.

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   1. 83

      embitcaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for clarifying. I am bookmarking this for future quoting

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5. 77

   Lissieposted 16 years ago

   Go Maddy! People need to remember that a comment on their hub isn't a comment against them personally! And just because "I got away with it before" isnt an excuse in any aspect fo life!

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6. 0

   terrygposted 16 years ago

   Well done Maddie, I suppose we will all understand you have a difficult job to do and you have my support. Maybe you should ask for a pay rise.
   
   What, what do you mean I am sucking up to her so she won't flag my hubs...oh come on now she won't know its me... what do you mean she can see my photo??? What photo.. hey wait a minute don't press that ....

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7. 72

   Maddie Ruudposted 16 years ago

   I'm not prepared to argue our policy with you.  Clickbank links all count as a single domain, as do TinyURL or any cloakers we might see.  We do not follow affiliate links to see where they lead.  It is enough that they are affiliate links.  Can't you see how that would be construed as overly promotional?
   
   
   
   
   We encourage the use of revenue capsules vs links, even to Ebay and Amazon sites.  For example, a hub may just as well be penalized for an Ebay affiliate feed as for a bunch of Clickbank links spread throughout the text.  The capsules are HubPages-sanctioned, designed specifically for that purpose.  They are not disruptive or misleading the way that affiliate or SEO links may be.

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8. 72

   Maddie Ruudposted 16 years ago

   PS>  I apologize.  Some confusion caused the original post by kpfingaz that is referred to in my last post to be deleted.

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9. 65

   kpfingazposted 16 years ago

   The amazon links are affiliate links. So are the ebay links - all affiliate links....commercial links.
   
   Clickbank links are a single domain? They don't even go to Clickbank.
   
   So can I link to my other Clickbank links using tinyurl?
   
   Won't I still have 4 links on my hub leading to the same 4 domains?

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   1. 72

      Maddie Ruudposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      As clearly stated in the email you've been sent, TinyURL and other cloakers count as "wildcards," adding to whatever other links you already have, so they'd still put you over the limit.
      
      At this point, I don't think there's anything to be gained from continuing this conversation.  The policies are clearly stated, and I've repeatedly clarified them here.  Either revise your hubs to meet our standards, or don't be surprised when your account is banned.  It's as simple as that.  Thread closed.

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