Xomba No Longer Good For Bookmarks?

1. 77

   sabrebIadeposted 13 years ago

   I got this e-mail from Xomba this morning...
   
   " As of November 30th Xomba has a new rule. You are not allowed to post anything to Xomba that is not original to Xomba.
   This means that you can not take something you have posted on another site and repost it on Xomba. All content must be written directly to Xomba.
   None of your content has been deleted but we have blocked your account to notify you about this rule and to give you the chance to go back and make every piece of content you have posted, since November 30th, original to Xomba.
   Do you understand this new rule and are willing to correct your content?"
   
   I checked the main Xomba site and the only thing I could find relating to this is in the Xomba Staff Blogs from Nick, the Xomba CEO.
   In response to a question he writes...
   " We only want original content because that's what Google wants. It will also be the best way to stop plagiarism.
   Yes, you will still be able to bookmark!"
   
   So I am really not understanding what Xomba means, maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet...LOL
   If bookmarks are okay (via the CEO) why did my account get blocked until I responded?
   I rewrite the info I use with the Xomba bookmark, so that's not duplicate.
   I'm confused.
   
   Anyway, I am talking to Xomba now via e-mail and they have been very nice and hopefully I'll have a definitive answer about this soon.

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   1. 69

      rmrposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If you've been copy/pasting portions of your hubs to use as descriptions in your bookmarks, that could be the problem. I write original descriptions for every bookmark and haven't gotten that email.
      
      I don't think they're particularly good for bookmarks though, because they are nofollow.

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      1. 77

         sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I rewrite the info I use with the Xomba bookmark, so that's not duplicate.

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         1. 69

            rmrposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry, I looked right past that sentence in your OP.
            I can't imagine what else would have triggered that, unless you use similar wording to build backlinks to your Xomba posts or link to the same hub in more than 1 post.
            
            If you've sent them an email, I'd be curious to hear how they reply.

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            1. 77

               sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               LOL...NP
               I'll let you know what they say.
               I'm pretty curious as well.

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               1. 68

                  lindajotposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Interesting that I came across this thread - I also got a message from Xomba that I've been blocked for the same reason. I've always typed in original text.  Waiting to hear back from them.

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                  1. 77

                     sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Here's what I got back...
                     
                     "You can absolutely still link to them. You are just not allowed to include any content that has been posted on other sites. This means that you can not take information from your articles on other sites and place them in Xomba."
                     
                     I'm still kinda fuzzy on this because the information was written by ME about MY Hubs, Blogs etc.
                     
                     I guess just re-writing descriptions isnt good enough anymore.
                     
                     I e-mailed them back for more clarification, but honestly, no more traffic than I get from Xomba (under 900 hits last month)I don't want to spend a lot of time worrying about this.
                     
                     I like Xomba because they do get attention from Google, so that's the main reason I have stayed with them.   
                     
                     They also said they wanted me to go in and make sure all the content was written for Xomba only...but I'm still locked out of the account which makes that kinda hard...LOL

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                     1. 69

                        rmrposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        I actually stopped bookmarking on Xomba recently. My articles there rank much higher than my bookmarks. They only have to be 150 words, and I can still get links to my hubs in. I've made a little more money doing it that way.

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                        1. 77

                           sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           That may be the way to go with them now, especially after reading the CEO's entry about the future of Xomba.
                           I'll look into that...if they unlock my account...LOL
                           
                           BTW, shoot me a link to your Xomba articles if you don't mind.
                           I'd like to see how you are doing them.

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                           1. 69

                              rmrposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              It's probably not cool to post them here. Since your contact link is disabled, send me an email through my profile. I'll send you back some links.

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2. 88

   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   Am interested to hear the result here because I usually write out a summary of about 100 words and use the same summary for all my backlinking. If Xomba want original content it will mean more work.

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   1. 66

      jaymelee23posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yep - if the want original content then they should allow dofollow like Tarin suggests.

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   2. 0

      Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Izzy, I do the same. I didn't get the letter, though. I'm still considering this account. If it's no follow then the only value of the links is clicking on them to get to another site one wants them to go to.

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      1. 77

         sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I looked and now Xomba has this on their Posting Policies page:
         
         20. Content that is not originally posted on Xomba.  This includes both plagiarism (the copying of work that you did not write) and copying and pasting your own content word-for-word onto Xomba. All content on Xomba must be both unique and original.

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         1. 0

            Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I didn't copy anything. I saw the notice about original content and have just written a paragraph or two related to the link I was putting it on. Same with Snipsly. For Associated Content (Yahoo now), I put a link at the end of my article. Basically, it's all to redirect traffic.

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3. 61

   Tarinposted 13 years ago

   If Xomba wants original content then they should definitely change to be dofollow.

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4. 73

   Ultimate Hubberposted 13 years ago

   They blocked my account because I was posting small portions of my hubs there. However I got my account back later.

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   1. 77

      sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well mine is still blocked, so I imagine it will be Monday before I hear anything else from them.

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5. 66

   jaymelee23posted 13 years ago

   Yeah, don't waste your time with Xomba. They are nofollow as someone else stated.

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6. 81

   thisisoliposted 13 years ago

   Xomba has been a pretty bad deal in my opinion for a pretty long time now, first they made it so all links were no-follow, and now they want to do this, on bookmarks?
   
   I think that Xomba is probably pretty dead on it's feet with the bad business decisions they make.  Unique 'article' content I can understand, and I actually think that is better. But on bookmarks too?
   
   I personally have never been a fan, but they way they treat their writers seems atrocious to me.
   
   If you are a good writer on Xomba please feel free to email me your account and I will get you set up on my article directory, it is relitively new, but I allow dofollow backlinks, and you can earn off Google and Adsense.

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7. 0

   Go Writerposted 13 years ago

   Wow. I've only kind of use Xomba in the past, but this sounds pretty strange. Maybe they have new management.
   
   I know directories are concerned about duplicate content because they don't want plagiarism issues, but also from an SEO stand point, you don't want to dilute the backlink.
   
   But I do think they need to be more specific about what they consider duplicate content.
   
   Don't forget that you can bookmark with Google Bookmarks, Yahoo Bookmarks, Diigo, Mr. Wong and all those sites, too.

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   1. 77

      sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Not so much new management as new policy.
      "As of November 30th Xomba has a new rule. You are not allowed to post anything to Xomba that is not original to Xomba"
      
      Funny thing is, it's not mentioned anywhere on their site.
      Doesn't that sound a bit weird?
      Lets make a new rule, but not tell everyone.

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      1. 77

         sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Well Xomba unlocked my account and I went in and rewrote (again) the two entries I had made since the 30th.
         They said I only had to go back to the 30th, which is when they changed the rules.
         But unless I get the time to do what RMR suggested about making actual posts there, I think I'm pretty much done with them.
         I have to agree with Tarin and jaymelee23.

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8. 85

   Rik Ravadoposted 13 years ago

   Yes I've been blocked today too and all I have is links to Hubs.  the only thing I can think is that in some of my links I copied the summary from the original hub.  I found the Xomba email rude and unhelpful.  I agree with the rest of you that what with this and nofollow, Xomba probably isn't worth using any more.

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9. 68

   lindajotposted 13 years ago

   Yep, I'm not going to waste my time redoing anything for them.

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10. 77

    sabrebIadeposted 13 years ago

    I haven't posted anything there in awhile (i.e. since the "Incident") but I went by today, checked out their featured "Xombies" and one of their own featured authors had their account blocked.
    There were only four authors there!
    Weird.

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11. 88

    IzzyMposted 13 years ago

    I got booted out of Xomba just before Christmas. I used to write just one new summary of my hub and post it on several sites.
    Today I went back and made a new username (they'll know its me - I'm still linking to the same username here on HP) and posted one article and one backlink.
    They said they'll take 3 days to 'approve the articles'.
    Maybe I should just email them and ask them for my old account back..
    and send original content to them.
    They seem to do really well for stand-alone articles - and when you can get a link back to your hub too that's even better, even if its nofollow.

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    1. 77

       sabrebIadeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Well from everyone I have talked to, RMR seems to be the only one doing okay with them lately.
       Although I am getting traffic from them myself, I haven't posted a bookmark there since 12-8-2010.

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12. 88

    IzzyMposted 13 years ago

    Well, you know I used to see those adsense clicks that I couldn't trace (couldn't use analytics very well) and just recently I added xomba into my channels in adsense, and it seems that they are the source of some of my best paying clicks. OK not a lot, but every little helps

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13. 77

    sabrebIadeposted 13 years ago

    What I mean was "I usually write out a summary of about 100 words and use the same summary for all my backlinking" wont work on Xomba anymore.

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