Hub was "Overly Promotional" Question

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   Conflagrantposted 14 years ago

   Hi,
   
   Let me just say first of all I love hubpages and have enjoyed my time here.  This isn't a moan, I just need a clarification.
   
   I recently had a hub unpublished as it was "overly promotional" as I had included two links to a site I admit that I own and also an RSS feed to the same site.  No complaints, I just didn't know that what I had done was wrong. 
   
   I was trying to follow the "flagship hubs" style of creating a hub and included and RSS feed I knew was relevant (as I own it).
   
   When can I include an RSS feed from my own site?  More specifically, does including the RSS feed mean I cannot include a link back to my own site other than the RSS, or can it be one text link and one RSS feed?
   
   I just want to stay on the right side of the rules here as hubpages has been good to me.
   
   (The hub has since had the RSS feed removed and has been resubmitted by the way.)
   
   Best wishes to all.

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2. 60

   SiddSinghposted 14 years ago

   Hi Dave,
   
   Did you read what Maddie Ruud (she is HubPages staff) has writen about overly promotional hubs?
   
   Btw, welcome to HP!

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   1. 60

      Conflagrantposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sidd Singh,
      
      Thank you for your welcome and the link. 
      
      I have just read the hub you linked to.  It was very helpful generally and the author seems to have almost infinite patience.  An impression I got after reading the comments on her page! ;-)
      
      However I only really want to know one thing as I think I understand the rest:  Two links to one site - fair enough.  But can I link once in text and one RSS feed or does the RSS feed preclude any other links to the same site?  My gut feeling is that it does, but I haven't seen it explained explicitly anywhere.
      
      If including an RSS feed does mean that I cannot link to the same site elsewhere in the text then the simplest answer is not to include RSS feeds at all, as a link in the text will always be 100% on topic and an RSS feed might not.
      
      This is the policy I have followed previously and I have never had a hub flagged before.  Two links per article is entirely reasonable and it is something I am used to from writing for EzineArticles anyway.
      
      The only reason it has happened now is that I wanted to include more content on my hub pages like video, images and RSS feeds, links and stuff, but I clearly did not understand the rules here. 
      
      No big deal.  You live and learn. :-)
      
      Thanks for replying. 
      
      I think I will mail the team and ask directly.

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      1. 60

         Conflagrantposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Feeling kinda dumb right now!  lol
         
         Just re-read the hubpage email before mailing the team and it says that including an RSS feed precludes another link to the same domain.  It doesn't use those words, but I "get it" now. 
         
         It is an either/or choice.

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3. 95

   angela_michelleposted 14 years ago

   You can only have two outside hubpage links on your page. It sounds like you had three, which is why it was considered overly promotional. By taking away one of them, you would be able to get it republished. I did the exact same thing awhile ago, and didn't realize that it was considered three links!

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4. 78

   N. Ramiusposted 14 years ago

   Having an RSS feed and a single link both to the same site is considered over promotional as well if I remember correctly.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Funny, I'm sure I was told that an RSS feed counted as one link, so you could have one more link in the text.  I've got exactly that situation on a couple of old Hubs. 
      
      However, I got an overly promotional warning on one of my recent Hubs where I did that, so maybe something has changed.

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         janices7posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Marisa -
         The rules must have changed  because I just got an e-mail from Hubpages stating that one of my hubs was overly promotional.  I went through and counted and didn't have more than 2 links to any one domain.  However I did have one link to a wedding blog in the text body and then an RSS feed for that same blog.  I thought that would count as two links, but I kept getting marked overly promotional.
         
         Therefore, I re-read the rules again and found this:
         "* Your hub may not contain an RSS feed that directs to the same site as a link within the body of the hub"
         
         Guess you can't have a link in the body with an RSS feed to the same blog or site.
         Janice

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