Why Hub Hop Some Ask - Here's Why!!

1. 87

   Shil1978posted 13 years ago

   HubPages has this wonderful feature called Hub Hopping or Hub Hop to flag low-quality/copied/spam content. I know some hubbers do use this and help HP staff weed out the substandard content. Here's one more reason why everyone should 'hub hop.' I came across this thread on a Google forum,
   
   http://www.google.mw/support/forum/p/We … &hl=en
   
   Its about Snipsly taking a 70% hit in traffic as a result of spam/poor-quality content.
   
   Here's what Google Employee "JohnMu" had to say in response to Snipsly taking a 70% hit in traffic,
   
   
   "Working with user-generated content can make it hard to keep the overall quality of your site high, but it's certainly not impossible. The earlier you work on ways to "promote" good content and "demote" lower-quality content within your site, the earlier you'll be ahead of others with similar sites."
   
   
   Another reason for us all to actively 'hub hop' and weed out low-quality/spam hubs. That's the only way we can maintain/improve the ranking of HubPages, which benefits our individual hubs as well.

   replyreport
   1. 62

      prettydarkhorseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I had to email the admin of snipsly to remove two hubs of mine which were copied on that site.

      replyreport
   2. 64

      Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The only thing I don't like about hub hopping is that when hopping no ads are displayed.
      
      If it is a quality hub, I tend to like to help the hubber by clicking on a google ad if it interests me. The only way to do this is to stop hub hopping.  I wonder how many people do this.
      
      It is a good way to weed out poor quality hubs. I do have to remember sometimes what is quality to me may not be quality to someone else, and visa versa.  A few things to remember:
      
      1) Just because a hub is short, doesn't mean it is automatically bad.
      2) Just because you don't agree morally with a hub or parts of a hub, does not make it a poor quality hub.
      3) A hub can be long, and long winded making it bad

      replyreport
      1. 69

         lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Deliberately clicking on ads to "help a hubber" is not recommended. Do it too many times and it's a surefire way to get your AdSense account shut down.

         replyreport
         1. 64

            Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I know it is illegal to click on your own ads. I know it is very unwise to go to a friends account and do multiple clicks, since that will get your friend in trouble. It will get you in trouble if your friends do multiple clicks in one day making your traffic highly uneven with the amount of clicks. I do know Adsense may flag unusually high traffic spike to your page.
            
            How will it hurt either my adsense account or the other hubbers if I click on a link that belongs to one hubber, and later click on another link belonging to another hubber? As I said, I click on links that attract my attention in the first place.
            
            If I do click on an ad, I rather be clicking on one from a hub that was very informative and well done. I really don't want to reward those hubs that people put up with low quality content thinking visitors will not want to stay so therefore they have a better possibility of clicking on their ads. If I remember correctly adsense does not take kindly at all to those sites and articles, and neither does google.
            
            If I thought the way you think, then I would be afraid to click on any adsense links whether they are from hubs or other sites. I'm sure Google realizes that many people who have adsense on their sites click on other people's adsense ads, and even buy products from those sites. For Google to cut out those people, it would hurt Google AdWords in the long run. I'm sure a large segment of people uses adsense on their websites, hubs, and blogs. For Google to say to their AdWords customers that they are not allowing any AdSense customers to click on any AdSense links is the same as telling them that we took away a large portion of your potential customer base. Not good.

            replyreport
            1. 82

               CMHypnoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Hubbers get very nervous about other Hubbers clicking on ads, as nobody wants to lose their adsense account because of unnatural click patterns.
               
               I also run an adwords account for one of my sites, and would not be at all happy at having to pay to 'reward' content writers, when that person was not at all interested in what the site was about. Advertising is expensive!
               
               Also, if you use referral trackers, you could inadvertently be clicking on your own ads, and get yourself banned.
               
               If you want to reward other hubbers, much better to do so by reading, commenting, tweeting, etc

               replyreport
               1. 64

                  Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Hmmm, so an unnatural click pattern is clicking on 1 ad that interests me on a high quality hub from one hubber. Then a couple of hours later click on another ad from another hubber.
                  
                  I'm not advocating selecting one hubber, hub hopping all their hubs, and clicking on an ad in each hub. That would be dumb. I'm not advocating clicking on an ad for the sake of clicking on an ad.
                  
                  I'm advocating being able to see ads as if I was not hopping, and when I run into a well developed interesting being able to click on it.
                  
                  If it is so frowned upon, why doesn't hub pages block all ads once a hubber is signed in? Not to mention you just lost the entire hubbing community as potential customers if your ad even appears in any of the hubs.
                  
                  According to you, it was wrong of me to read an interesting hub all the way through, see an ad I saw that interested me, go to the site, read the information there, and sign up for their news letter. Did I buy the product? No. Will I in the future? Possibly. Would I tell someone who is interested? Yes. Did I stumble and digg the site? Yes.

                  replyreport
                  1. 82

                     CMHypnoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     But they can see that you are consistently clicking on ads in hubs over a length of time and that you are a hubpages user
                     
                     A lot of people here rely on their Adsense income and are rightly very nervous of any clicks not coming from organic search traffic.
                     
                     And as an adwords publisher, it costs me a lot if people click on my ads, so I want them to be genuinely interested. Of course, that is not always going to happen, and you have to accept that not all clicks become conversions.
                     
                     I have seen the other thread you started, and really there does not seem to be any other hubbers who are comfortable with what you are doing

                     replyreport
                     1. 64

                        Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Everyone is focused on help the hubber, but completely ignores "on a google ad if it interests me." Which should mean if not interested in any of the ads, you continue on without clicking on them. Or did I have to spell that out?
                        
                        As an Adwords publisher, I'm sure you are very happy to know here at HubPages you have a over a 200,000 member base that is not allowed to click on your ad when it interests them.
                        
                        They have to open your website in a new tab by-passing the ad completely. Therefore you have saved a lot of advertising money that you would have otherwise had to pay out.
                        
                        With no thanks to those who wrote quality hubs so your ad had a place to show up to gain quality traffic, or thanks to HubPages to have created a great community of people.
                        
                        Don't worry, I just found out after two years being on hubs that I'm not allowed to click on hub ads. One less hubber clicking on ads. How many more don't know? Even on the thread I created, I had a person respond confused that they were not allowed to click on the ads. Apparently there are a lot more hubbers out that that does not know this rule.
                        
                        Somehow I thought traffic coming from other hubbers would be of higher quality than those coming directly from search engines.
                        
                        PS. I didn't buy the product because I found out the product cost too much for me.

                        replyreport
                        1. 82

                           CMHypnoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Hubbers are less likely to be looking to buy a particular product or service, as they are generally just browsing for an interesting read.
                           
                           Search engine traffic is people deliberately looking for a product or service.
                           
                           I run a small budget, highly localized Adwords campaign for my hypnotherapy practice, but each click can still cost me up to £2.00 ($3.20). That's a lot of money to pay out, if an appointment is not then made. Just remember, not all Adwords Publishers are huge corporations, many of us are small businesses where every penny counts
                           
                           I believe the CEO has stated the rules, and I'm sorry if you feel they are unfair, but if you really like a hub link to it, stumble it etc

                           replyreport
                  2. 91

                     Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Not a half bad idea, actually.

                     replyreport
                  3. 59

                     humagaiaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Please do not click on any of the ads presented on any of my hubs!!!!

                     replyreport
                     1. 64

                        Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        To set everyone's mind at ease. So far everyone that has posted to this and my other thread, I have not even seen any of your hubs. I tend to remember the avatars of the users. I search for hubs I'm interested in. This is how big the community is.
                        
                        Is it only me you are going to ask, or the others who may or may not know to not click on ads in other hubs?

                        replyreport
                        1. 59

                           humagaiaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           When I signed up to Hubpages (and other article sites) I read the TOS. Those that click on ads either did not, or they did not understand what the TOS meant in this area.
                           The reason Hubpages says not to click adsense ads is very simple: the majority of the income for HP is from adsense. You as a signed up member are a part of HP in the eyes of Google. By clicking an ad you are likely to be clicking an HP adsense ad 40% of the time (thereby not rewarding the writer but potentially HP themselves). If it is deemed that HP condones this their adsense account will be closed.
                           What effect do you think that will have on all of us?
                           No HP any more as they will have to close due to lack of income.
                           All your hubs will be non-operational.
                           All your income streams from HP will cease.
                           All the income of every hubber will cease from their HP hubs.
                           Not just adsense, but Amazon, E-bay and Kontera.
                           If you want to reward an individual for their writing, click on an Amazon or E-bay links and buy something. This is not against the HP TOS.
                           I for one, because of the impact that you could have on HP and hubbers, would wish that any hubber clicking on adsense ads regularly be banned from HP, whether or not the actions were innocent or not.
                           When you sign a contract, which you did when you became a member of HP, you should be bound to the clauses you signed up to. There is no defence 'I did not know'. You are liable for your actions and you should be more careful in what you sign up to.
                           
                           Sorry to all those wanting a debate about hubhopping and flagging poor content but, as this thread had been hijacked with adsense clicking I felt I needed to put the record straight about what damage can be done by people not reading what they sign.
                           
                           On hubhopping - this is a great facility to allow all of us to employ our need to keep HP a quality site. In debates about sites like snipsly, HP is often quoted as the site to aspire to. Look at how Squidoo is now viewed - as a spammed out site.
                           Keeping quality as the cornerstone of HP is essential for all of us.
                           One caveat: do not flag hubs just for the sake of it. Make sure that HP staff are not overwhelmed by flagged hubs.
                           Perhaps, due to other sites closing the doors on spammers, copiers and the like, it is time that HP reviews it's criteria for publishing hubs. Perhaps a new hubber should have their first 1, 2 or 3 hubs reviewed by a panel of their contemporaries (us) before these hubs are released for publication. This would weed out a lot of dross.
                           Is it time for HP to utilise crowd-sourcing further to ensure the integrity of this great site?

                           replyreport
                           1. 64

                              Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              Thank You, that is the best explanation I have received from anyone. I do not remember reading it in the terms when I signed up. Maybe that means my memory is just faulty.
                              
                              Please make this a hub, I found out there are many others that do not know this information either. Neither has anyone told them it was wrong to do so. I'll go do so now in the threads I found, even though one is eight months old.

                              replyreport
                  4. 65

                     I am DB Cooperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     The thing is, these ad systems are getting very smart, and Google's is among the most advanced. Even if you like the content of a hub and you think an Adsense link is interesting, if you just click on it and don't take any further actions (such as buying something through that link), you're telling Google that this publisher is producing a poor quality click. One click won't ruin a publisher, but it will decrease the average quality of their clicks. In the long term that doesn't help them.

                     replyreport
                     1. 64

                        Bible Studiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        The systems are only as smart as the people behind them. It sounds like the people behind them only think quality traffic comes in the form of people buying the product or taking action when they first see it.
                        
                        If this was human nature, then thousands of dollars wouldn't be poured into branding a product, so people will keep seeing and hearing about it over and over again. Even internet marketers keep pushing to get your product or blog branded.
                        
                        Google has an interest in protecting the advertiser much more than the publisher whether or not the advertiser has anything worth to sell or take other action on. The advertisers don't have deep pockets, and expect people to take action right away. The publishers get the short end of the stick so to speak when people don't.
                        
                        Then again Google can not track for sure how many times a person returns to the advertisers site, if they bought the product later on, or if they told any of their friends.
                        
                        Surprisingly I have been to a couple of sites where there was no action to be taken. I wonder how Google ranks the publisher on that?
                        
                        It is neither right or wrong, but is just the nature of the beast. If one keeps worrying about who is going to click the ad, one will get gray hair fast and no sleep.  By the time you think you know what is going on, everything has changed again.

                        replyreport
2. 0

   TopUniverseposted 13 years ago

   Interesting link that was.
   
   So do you mean hubpages also have some risk of it will fall out of google love or it will lose its search engine position?
   
   I think ezine articles which also PR6 like hubpages has slight upper hand than hubpages. Because every article need to be approved before there are published that is not in the case of hubpages.

   replyreport
3. 0

   Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years ago

   I have absolutely no problem whatsoever what flagging content that doesn't fit with what google (or Hub) wants despite this being unpopular with some hubbers because 'hubbers are supposed to suport each other and hub pages can look after itself.'
   
   Let me explain to you why:
   
   1) Generally this perspective is held by those who are doing things that are slightly wrong and they know that they might be flagged if flagging were encouraged.
   
   2) HP has a 6 ranking. Google will drop this if there is a lot of substandard content on HP and from what I've seen by hubhopping there's a lot of it coming on board. The numbers of that sub standard content will continue to rise as more and more sites suddenly find their traffic dropping as articles aren't indexed anymore. The people who post sub standard stuff will try every single site they can, including HP.
   
   3) I want to earn money here. I don't want substandard stuff here because in the medium to long term, that's going to affect me and everybody else who is paying attention to the rules and doing the right thing.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      ssaulposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I normally feel bad when hop hopping, simply because of having to flag low quality content and spam! Some people just cut and paste or it has too many links as well as rush writing!

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         it takes time, research, and effort to make a good hub.

         replyreport
4. 96

   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   A good post, Sophia, especially #2.
   
   I don't hub hop very much as so much is either garbage or uninteresting to me, but I think I will change that some and do more hopping.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      thank you, wilderness.
      
      I think it's essential to remove people with substandard copy from HP. And as it isn't automatically removed but checked individually by HP, there is no chance of anything that is valid being removed.

      replyreport
5. 69

   L.L. Woodardposted 13 years ago

   Being new here, I regularly hub hop as a way to read different content and get a better feel for the community. I was reluctant to flag any hubs initially, but for all the reasons already stated, I do so now when the content warrants it.

   replyreport
6. 77

   sofsposted 13 years ago

   Shil this is an awesome post to create awareness about the need to flag low quality hubs and also to stop posting such hubs. I am sure if all of us take this job seriously HP will remain the best place ever, on the net.. I sure believe it is..
   I Hubhop regularly and have raised these issues earlier.

   replyreport
7. 77

   kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

   It is probably good to mention here that if you flag something it does not necessarily mean the hub will be un-published, just that the staff know to check it out and see if it is acceptable or not. If you flag and the staff think it is fine then it will not hurt the hubber who wrote it.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      TopUniverseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Few days back i flagged some hubs for short content and one profile for spamming.
      
      As a result staff also flagged the profile but they didn't unpublish those short hub. Ultimately i never mind, my part was over once i flagged it.

      replyreport
8. 88

   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   I'm feeling a bit guilty now. Snipsley is one of the sites I regularly send duplicate hub summaries to for backlinks.
   Maybe this explains why Xomba is insisting on new content?
   I think I'll leave Snipsley alone just now. If they aren't getting google love I am not helping by sending the links I was sending, and also it is not worth writing new content when they are not doing so well.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      shazwellynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      and of course it is a complete waste of time for you when your links are counted!

      replyreport
      1. 88

         IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Strangely enough, I don't think I have ever seen an actual backlink come from Snipsley. Are they nofollow?

         replyreport
         1. 0

            shazwellynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            You know, they werent, but I think they are now - I've not seen a backlink from them since last may.  Could be wrong, but Snipsley is certainly a waste of time (p.s. I was supposed to say aren't instead of are in the above post.. doh me!)

            replyreport
            1. 68

               rmrposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I haven't put a lot up there, but I just checked a few of my posts and the links are still dofollow.
               
               I actually came across that thread in Google's forum the other day. I had started to investigate why I hadn't sen any impressions from Snipsly lately, and that's where I ended up. If you read through the whole column, it looks like there are a lot of sites with the same problem, and many of them seem to be Wordpress based. That could be a coincidence, though.

               replyreport
            2. 88

               IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Glad you said that Shaz because I was scratching my head trying to figure out what you were trying to say!
               
               Decided at the end up it couldn't have been anything bad because you're not like that

               replyreport
9. 0

   shazwellynposted 13 years ago

   I think hub hopping should qualify for hubkarma points.  It is a good way to make us 'feel' rewarded (although hubkarma doesnt actually mean much, it is a neat touch).

   replyreport
10. 83

    Happyboomernurseposted 13 years ago

    I didn't realize how all this worked, although I have recently started to hub hop looking for new, quality hubs. Now that I realize how important it is to also weed out the substandard, I'll be more careful to flag something very substandard. One time I saw absolutely no content, just a link to someone's website, which I'm sure was an abuse.

    replyreport
    1. 95

       Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I had never realized the importance of doing it.  I thought it was just a way to read newer hubber's work and encourage them.  Now I understand the importance.

       replyreport
11. 59

    humagaiaposted 13 years ago

    I recently started hub hopping to see what was being published - and I was shocked at the amount of low-quality content that is being generated. I flagged a few and hope it made a difference. The majority of hubs though were not sub-standard, even if not in subjects I am interested in.
    If you think this it is bad practice to flag hubs and profiles then consider whether you wish your hard work producing quality content to be degraded by others that spam, copy, write short hubs and generally lower the standards of Hubpages.
    Once you have considered this I think you will be of the opinion that clearing out the dross will make the Hubpages experience better for those that write and also those that take the trouble to come and read what we have to say.
    The most important part of all this is not to make our (hubbers) experience better, but to ensure that all that drop in to read a hub have an experience that ensures that they will return again and again.
    Only by this happening will we all experience what the majority crave - a regular income for the work-effort we put in.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       shazwellynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I have seen a lot of drivel whilst hopping.  It made me realise that actually, my stuff is quite good

       replyreport
       1. 88

          IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Your stuff is good.
          
          I like to hope mine is too. it certainly is compared to some of the drivel that some people post.
          
          I'm wanting to get into freelancing but am suffering a bit from lack of confidence.
          
          Cheered up no end when I read a hub by a supposed 'expert freelancer' who could barely string a sentence together!

          replyreport
          1. 81

             Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Guys, you are both good.
             
             Respect.

             replyreport
12. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 13 years ago

    In total agreement with the hub hopping thing, even though I have myself had content flagged.  Quite right too, it was rubbish.
    
    I probably should have had one or two others flagged as well, although after various edits they eventually come together.

    replyreport
13. 88

    IzzyMposted 13 years ago

    Pity yours is rubbish Mark! <g>
    
    joking!!

    replyreport
14. 95

    leahleflerposted 13 years ago

    I was hopping today and found two obviously bad hubs. One was on a pressure washer, and the text read as follows:
    
    "Three of the piston swashplate axis, the length of an induction motor, Gun Club. Gun wand assembly is fully adjustable spray washing, cleaning agent tank, water filter, jet kit and high-pressure hose. A rotating nozzle level of service and technical support."
    
    I flagged it.
    
    The other was nonsensical and was absolutely filled with links to other sites (spam):
    
    "After tearing away page of calendars, only MBT Shoes then suddenly discovered that in August, this in the summer had already arrived terminus."
    
    I flagged that one, too. Honestly, some of the hubs are absolutely HORRIBLE. These ones didn't even give me a chuckle like a previous one I found about the balled headed man.

    replyreport
15. 90

    Docmoposted 13 years ago

    I hop regularly and have no qualms about flagging inferior content. Usually it either written half heartedly, poorly written, badly researched and too short or too promotional without much information. Some are blatantly spamming something too!
    
    When I find great hubs and good content I always rate and leave feedback and it is a delight to discover new and varied hubs. I have learnt so much by hopping!
    
    I normally spent hours researching an idea and take care and attention building a hub because I think anyone clicking on to my page deserves a good hub and not a wasted journey. I try to enrich content, make topics relevant and always check as much as I can to see If I am posting original content and not just duplicate whats gone on before.. I know it doesn't make them perfect but I hope the effort shows.

    replyreport
16. 61

    dianebowlingposted 13 years ago

    I've started hubhopping, too. I also wondered if some of the substandard comment would hurt HP as a whole so I started flagging. Some of the stuff is just terrible and I wonder when I see a hubscore of 18, why the person is still on here publishing hubs.
    Great points everyone made.

    replyreport
17. 67

    Rosie2010posted 13 years ago

    I hubhop regularly too to help Hubpages.  There are so many spam and low quality hubs.  And there were a couple of hubs I flagged for using bad language that the HP computer for some reason had missed.  Those are not the kind of hubs we want to be associated with here Hubpages.  A couple of my hubs were flagged also when I was new here (I'm still new and learning).. one was overly promotional of another site.. I didn't have anything to do with the site, but I didn't know any better, and the other was too many tags. (too may tags!!!!)   I myself only flag spams and low quality hubs.  Hubpages has been helping us a lot and hubhopping is my way of thanking the HP team.

    replyreport
18. 0

    Tilecleaninghubposted 13 years ago

    Instead of hubpages staff paying someone to do worthless web updates they can pay them to do a quick review of potential hubs and just not publish it if it is garbage.

    replyreport
    1. 88

       IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       That sounds a bit negative. I'm sure with the limited staff Hubpages employ, each staff member will have a primary role.
       
       Meanwhile there are thousands of us....

       replyreport
19. 43

    Mikeydoesposted 13 years ago

    I'm glad I read this! Never thought about this!

    replyreport
20. 69

    lrohnerposted 13 years ago

    @BS - Give it a rest. Seriously. Or...keep on clicking. I'm relatively certain that you'll lose your AdSense account way before the rest of us.

    replyreport
21. 63

    Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

    Hub hopping is something I have to do in small doses, but it's really easy to do, when you come down to it. Hubs are generally either obviously OK (even if they aren't particularly the kind of Hub a hopper prefers) or they're obviously awful.
    
    Some are more in keeping with a hopper's idea of what a Hub is "supposed to be" or "what makes a great Hub" - but there's usually very little middle ground when it comes to Hubs that have had some effort put into them, and those that are obviously slapped up and/or spun.

    replyreport