HubPages is still 100% friendly with Google

1. 58

   Andrew0208posted 14 years ago

   HubPages is still 100% friendly with Google - From every indications, this is all about the quality of what comes up top with Google search results; bringing down less useful content. 
   
   Hardly do crapy or less informative hubs make it to top rankings with Google including HuBPages placement within the community. I know for sure that the new algo will adversely affect article spinner generated and duplicate(copied) contents which are under good control here in HubPages. Though the exist but can't get anywhere with gaining quality traffic either. They'll only but go down day by day.
   
   This is weekend(off workdays) and my stats are pretty ok regarding that it's weekend already. I hope to see better improvements from Monday.

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      pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      my stats too are steady and have been steady for entire month...i haven't seen any drop in that...

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   Mark Ewbieposted 14 years ago

   How does this equate with a 50% traffic drop over two days?

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      TopUniverseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good question, almost everyone in the same boat with 50% traffic drop.

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      2besureposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree!  I have a sea of blue arrows on my statistics page. I guess it may take a little time for things to settle down and balance out again.

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   relacheposted 14 years ago

   From the Wall Street Journal, dated Feb 26, 2011:
   
   "Paul Edmondson, chief executive of HubPages.com, which shares ad revenue with writers that publish Web content about a variety of topics from making scarves to Mexico's Day of the Dead holiday, said it was too early to tell how his site, would fare under the changes."
   
   for the full article:
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 … 47136.html

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      prairieprincessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      this link is not working. Do you have another one to show this article? Thanks!

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         prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 … 47136.html
         
         These are the two paragraphs relevant from that site :
         
         Paul Edmondson, chief executive of HubPages.com, which shares ad revenue with writers that publish Web content about a variety of topics from making scarves to Mexico's Day of the Dead holiday, said it was too early to tell how his site, would fare under the changes.
         
         Web traffic sent by Google to a HubPages article about nose piercing rose by 40% since yesterday, he said, while traffic to an article on "what happens if you abandon your home and let it foreclose" dropped by 80%.

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            Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            That last paragraph is very interesting, because it would imply that HP itself has not been punished but that the algorithm is affecting specific pages.  The problem for HP (unless they have inside information) is to figure out why this and not that. Is it from external backlinking efforts, pro or con or is it internal? Is it the HP RSS feeds? 
            
            Reverse engineering that kind of answer is challenging.

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               prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Right, HP is figuring that out now, but then they need an ample data of course to see which is causing it.

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            David 470posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Interesting article.

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         rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 … stpop_read
         
         it also has a short segment on the video

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   WryLiltposted 14 years ago

   My traffic is down to 950 for the day. It's been averaging 1200-1750 for the last 4+ months. It's not the weekend that's causing such low traffic.

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      Richieb799posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Mine is similar to your situation, down to 1095

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      David 470posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I 3rd that. I have lost 100s page impressions the last couple days. I have not checked today, a bit afraid lol...

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         adrienne2posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         @David I thought I was just seeing my numbers wrong.  Traffic have been steady, but I did see a downward dip over the past two days as well.

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   CASE1WORKERposted 14 years ago

   relache- your post must have overloaded the Wall St. link wont open

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   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   My research shows that hubpages is one of the hardest hit sites on the net.
   
   Hubpages down an average of 31 positions
   
   my experience says that means nothing at this early date as big algo changes have a period of resettlement afterwards

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      Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I do not know if this is a permanent change, but - if it is I guess google will have de-valued hubpages' internal links?
      
      Andrew - I suggest not slandering everyone. Take it from me - I do not create garbage content and I am looking at a substantial drop in traffic and rankings.
      
      I will officially start panicking next week if it looks like a permanent re-valuation, but these things usually take a while to settle down.

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         sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         of all the theories Ive read - that is something that jives with some of the more intelligent suggestions.
         
         a possibility that an effort to target "content farms" by evaluating the amount of authoritative links to number of pages in a domain-  would have to discount internal linking.
         
         so a big site that grows rapidly and does not get an average level of links would be seen as low quality and get booted down/
         
         but it really is all conjecture at this point , for all we know the changes they implemented could have been done specifically to bring crap to the top so they could identify and kill it.

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            Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah - I know. I was just thinking out loud. That is the way I would have done it if I was Big Daddy G. The Hubpages internal linking strength is one of the reasons I have invested time and money here.
            
            We shall see if it is a permanent change or not soon enough, because all I am seeing in the results I was ranking for is garbage now and some of it is spun or re-written versions of my own original content.

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               sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               I think I was thinking out loud to .. I know your quite savvy
               
               if that was the actual twist in the algorithm and it would make sense when farms like DS are churning out a million pages weekly, that would suggest an element of irony with some of the recent contentious topics

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            David 470posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            "but it really is all conjecture at this point , for all we know the changes they implemented could have been done specifically to bring crap to the top so they could identify and kill it."
            
            That sounds like a very valid point. Don't know if that could be the case, but perhaps?

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      2. 58

         Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Mark, you already ranking high with your helpful and quality hubs among other great hubbers. This is a search algorithm reset or changes by Google which will take a little time to settle or propagate, you know I'm also a student of yours here with issues like this. I tell you Mark, no need to panic. HubPages is sound and healthy. It's too early to panic.

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            Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I am not panicking.
            
            And I also think hubpages is sound and healthy. But - there is also a lot of garbage here that is ranking well when it should not be ranking at all.
            
            We shall see. I will officially start panicking in a week if it does not settle down by then.
            
            But - I accept your kind offer to pick up the slack if normal service is not resumed. I will send you a bill.

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               Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Mark, we're truly watching what comes out of Google's improvement on search results; HubPages became 100% friendly with Google since 5 years now for helpful, informative and quality content to search results.
               
               Our HubPages Chief Paul Edmundson defended the cause also on the media. The link had already been shared here. Now, the Big G have to protect the interest of searchers, advertisers, publishers, and themselves.
               
               This check on "content farms" will bring down article spinner generated, copied, and other less useful content with the sole intent to make sales or earnings amongst others best known to them.   
               
               
               I know HubPages Team will definitely follow suite. Cheer up!

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                  bgamallposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  I don't spin articles. I have had articles republished on BI with permission of Hubpages. They were good enough for one of the biggest financial websites on the face of the earth but not for Google. Not that I was making a bunch, and I am working on ebooks, but it is just the irritation of the blunt club they used without regard to good content.

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7. 63

   CASE1WORKERposted 14 years ago

   funny thing is, I wa quite upset as I am nearin my first payout. Checked adsense and yesterday was a good day, only 96p to go ! maybe less views but same no of cliks and higher cpm

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8. 61

   Mark Ewbieposted 14 years ago

   Can you experienced guys give me a lead on when to panic?  I don't want to start too early and run out of steam when everyone else is getting going.
   
   My traffic's at least 50% down - this comes at a point when as a newb it should really be improving. I have read so much web stuff over the last 24 hours - and none of it looks particularly good.

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      ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      In a weeks time.

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      sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      here this is only 30 seconds and should give you a clear understanding of your chances
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu87FttH49E

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         ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I think this song is better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1 … re=related .

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            sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            one of my favorites - but its 430am here so my humor has taken a darker twist
            
            i tried very hard to find a smaller clip // "im gonna get out of this mess , but im pretty sure your ..." but copyright concerns and all that - hard to find an unadulterated clip
            
            

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            Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I KNOW I'm in trouble when that Python song gets rolled out.
            
            But thanks guys.

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      Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It's fine if you want to start panicing now, Mark. After all, you are on GMT, so it's only right that you should start things off.

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         bgamallposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Lol, PC. Time to tweet massively.

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   Ritsosposted 14 years ago

   Oh great .. I've just joined too .. not what I wanted to hear

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    CASE1WORKERposted 14 years ago

    mark- surely a man with your incisive intelligence can make a hub out of this?
    e.g. The day the aglorythm  (cant spell it) landed, or a concise theory of the different uses of rhythmn
    
    we need a light break from all the doom and gloom
    two weeks and it will be back to normal for most with a new system to boot out the carp (yes thats wrong too)

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       Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Absolutely Case, and thanks btw.  Algorithm it is, I know that because I spent much of yesterday Googling it.
       
       Two days ago I would have written a hopefully amusing piece of nonsense around the changes, trying to score a few personal points of course and presumably adding to the low quality content pile.
       
       Right now I feel that my writing game is on hold. A shame for me and for Google - because my last piece was about selling toasters - just the sort of high quality product placement Adsense and Amazon driven garbage that Google has made money out of for so long.  Their ideal form of writing in fact.
       
       Problem is that Google is in danger of being left behind by the social network revolution.  Trouble for me is that I'm not Facebook material.

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          Aya Katzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Not Facebook material? How could that be? Anyone who can write convincingly about toasters should be able to do Facebook!

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             Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Ah Aya, I'm not really into the touchy feely nature of friends and stuff.  I dislike Facebook - the people, the software - the whole experience.

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                Aya Katzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Really? I would think FB would be great place to share your toaster hubs! It's not all touchy-feely. Even tight-lipped, unemotional types can communicate with the world via Facebook. And your "friends" don't all have to be friendly, anymore than "followers" on HP really follow.

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                IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Me too! I never use Facebook except to post new hubs, but have even stopped doing that after meeting an old friend on the street who said he had regretfully dropped me from his Facebook because I kept posting hubs!
                No-one ever came over from facebook to read them anyway, so it's possible everybody, including all my family , have already dropped me

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                   Aya Katzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                   I figure that people who don't want to read my hubs are not really friends. ;->

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                      IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                      Well that's a point, but on the other hand I have been a prolific hubber so it could easily overwhelm people.
                      
                      I have loads more hubs to write, but until this mess gets sorted out, I am reluctant to work on them.
                      
                      Should use the time to work on my own sites...

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       Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Case, you gave me inspiration! I wasn't going to write anything anymore but...

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    Carl Citrinposted 14 years ago

    We've noticed our traffic is down too.  These things usually take a bit of time to settle down so we'll wait and see!

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    melbelposted 14 years ago

    Wow, I just checked my SERPs for my strongest Hub. I was sad to see it has dropped. Hopefully, over time, my hubs will find a sweet spot in Google search, but it looks like those nice SERPs are gone. Hopefully HubPages will do what they can to get us all back up and ranking again!

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    I just looked at the SERPs for some of the keywords I was #1 in google for for over a year. Typically I've been replaced by Amazon, Dillards, Nordstorm and similar big name retailers. So it looks like Google is going to the name brand retailers - that carry the products, instead of affiliate sites. This is a trend that I've been seeing for over a year. I've slipped from #1 to #19 or #20, for dozens of keywords. Long-tail phrases are doing no better.
    
    This is what they mean by quality I believe. It's not that affiiate sites are necessarily badly written, but they aren't the primary source or merchant.
    
    I don't see a way that shoppers will go past 4 Amazon listings for a product, and a listing with 5 picutres to get to one of ours - no matter how well written.
    
    I'll do other non-affiliate website work for a week, and then check the SERPs again, to see how my hubs fared. I do have travel hubs and I'll watch those as well. They were the first hubs I wrote so they've had almost 2 years to mature.

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       Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       You could be right. But - lets face it - Amazon is also an affiliate. They hold almost no stocks and many of their products are either drop shipped or sold through a third party.
       
       I am bounced out of the results for many non product related keywords as well so I am not sure this is the case.

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       wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I wonder if you haven't found a clue to this, Nelle.  Some product hubs I've written and expected to do fairly well I can't even find in a search.
       
       From Google's viewpoint, why send a searcher to us when they already know what they want?  Send them to the big box where they can buy it instead of to us and then to the big box.
       
       At the same time, hubs of the type "best of" or "review" might do better in the future.  Time will tell.

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    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    at least some of the blue arrows are gone this morning.
    
    here's another article from NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/techn … =1&hpw
    
    
    I only have one true product hub and that one has taken a nose dive. Some of my other informational hubs are still ok. But I think I'm going to delete my Snipsly account to get rid of those links. I have some of my hubs listed there, but not all of them.
    
    quotes from the article-
    "They (consultants) said Google’s real target was the hundreds of no-profile companies that post duplicate copies of the same text on hundreds of Web sites."
    
    “This is a group of people who will analyze this change, come back with a new strategy on Tuesday and be ranking by Thursday,” he said. “It’s kind of like what happens when drug dealers get busted. They don’t find new jobs. They switch corners.”
    
    EDIT: The hub I referred to that had taken a nose dive to p3 yesterday has now moved up to the top of p2, directly after business sites. I did a small amount of updating yesterday.

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    I know what your saying Mark, but Amazon is the largest online retailer and a name brand to many. Not quite like you and me.
    
    It feels like certain Google filters pick up the nature of shared sites like HP, SheToldMe and others. So it doesn't matter what you write, it will get hit. (The exception being a nose piercing hub that was up 40% yesterday according to Paul Edmondson in the Wall Street Journal.)
    
    Little guy affiliate sites haven't increased in the SERPs that I'm looking at. So I don't think, its going to be as easy as just writing on personal websites. Although my personal websites haven not taken the hits this past week. But I made the decision a year ago to go with unusual micro-niches. Maybe this saved me - at least for this month.

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       Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I have sites that are product related. They have not been hit at all. This makes me think it is something else.

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    Dolores Monetposted 14 years ago

    But I read that Google is attempting to "reduce rankings for low quality sites." That doesn't sound to me like they want to concentrate on product oriented sites. Doesn't anyone remember Alta Vista? They were super huge, then became totally commercial and disappeared - one the top of the heap, then commercialized themselves out of the picture.

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       Aya Katzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I remember Altavista. I liked them, because no matter how obscure the keyword, they came up with the best match, even if it was on a site that was getting no traffic and had no backlinks.
       
       I don't think they went commercial. I think they were beaten by Google, which skewed search results by popularity and advertising.

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          Dolores Monetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          But I remember that I loved AltaVista, then every time I looked for something, it was all a bunch of ads, and lists of links.

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    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    I don't think only hubpages got the manual slap here. Other sites like theinfomine, infopirate, bukisa, infobarrel, triond got SERP slap this week. Many affiliates sites promoting products from moreniche/amazon/linkshare also got devalued in this update.

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    IzzyMposted 14 years ago

    All my sales hubs have dropped out of sight
    
    If google wanted to slap the guys who put up sites with loads of affiliate product listings with no original wording, all copied content directly from the Amazon pages, fair enough. But my sales hubs (and most people here too I imagine) had original product descriptions.

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       ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Same with me.
       
       Basically, my sales hubs have been /dev/nulled.
       
       Some content hubs I have on other ID's are not /dev/nulled in the same way.
       
       :shrug: I don't have enough info to really tell what is happening yet.

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       Hauntyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe Google grew tired of selling Amazon products instead of serving their adwords clients' needs. I hope your hubs recover soon, Izzy.

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       Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Izzy, as an amateur observer of product hubs I would rate yours as amongst the best I have seen.  I do not believe that Google is improving the viewer experience by demoting your hubs.

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          IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Mark!
          The cheque is in the post

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    lrohnerposted 14 years ago

    I've looked at every possible angle with my top hubs (I'm also down 40% to 50%), and can't seem to find any common thread. Some were product hubs, some were informational with no product links. Some were backlinked on my personal blogs, others weren't. Some had loads of truly organic backlinks, but not all. None were backlinked on Snipsley, Shetoldme or anything like that. All had a good average time on page (3 to 6 minutes), so readers evidently liked what they were reading.
    
    Seven of my top hubs are still on page 1, but lost their top spots. Two of my best information hubs (no Amazon) can't even be found on the first couple of pages.
    
    My personal sites are doing very well, with either stable or increased traffic.

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    IzzyMposted 14 years ago

    Hmmm...I did a detailed analysis with my calculator and my views are down 31% (not as bad as I feared) but my adsense earnings are down 60%.
    My amazon sales must have been to other hubbers. Thanks hubbers

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       ngurecoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Your adsense is 60% down!
       
       When we lose traffic, someone else gains it. The question is: Do those who gains in traffic monetize with adsense? If not, then it won’t take long before Big G come looking for us.

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          Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Wrong idea.
          
          Google cares about quality of search. Quality in this case means that the results are seen as better than Bing et al. 
          
          That's what is important to them. Happy searchers mean happy advertisers and happy advertisers means that websites WILL run Google ads.
          
          You have it backwards. It doesn't start with us. It starts with search.

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             ngurecoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Yours is a very good reasoning, Pcunix, and I like it.
             
             But sometimes a lot of dynamics can come into play here. If, for example, Amazon is a huge consumer of adwords, and you give them lots of prominence on front pages, then, they Amazon will see no need to buy more adwords, and someone somewhere will be short of money.

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    likeasmileposted 14 years ago

    Only 4 from my 18 hubs get traffic today.

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    Mark Ewbieposted 14 years ago

    Not sure where to put this bit of info as a lot of threads on this subject.
    
    I just had a look at Quantcast, comparing Hubpages with Squidoo.  It is frightening.  The HP graph plummets, and I mean plummets, whereas the Squidoo graphic by comparison merely dips.
    
    Now I hear everyone saying that it's early days, but surely its early days for Squidoo as well?  So why would there be such a huge disparity in the amount of Google Slap (if that's what it is) that HP has received.
    
    I don't know the names of any other content farms, not that we are one of course, to check against.
    
    edit: 2 google.com hits in last 24 hours.  I was heading to roughly 20 per day before this.  I know its not big numbers, but it meant a lot to me. I can't remember when I last had 2 hits in 24 hours, must be about three months ago.

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       ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       In a major algorithm change sometimes google goes in reverse... they change the algorithms to make the cess rise to the top and then BAM!
       
       This algorithm change has not been ported to countries yet, which means google is still implementing it.
       
       Which means... BAM! could be in the future.
       
       That is why people are saying not to panic yet.

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          Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Thomas.  Seems a funny way to do things.  Slightly worrying is that there was a climb in HP traffic immediately before the big drop.  And it was a bigger spike than Squidoo.
          
          What other article directory sites to compare with?  Ehow doesn't really show anything.

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             ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Of the top of my head:
             
             infobarrel
             snipsly
             ezineartilces
             articlebase
             webanswers *
             xomba
             
             *not really a article directory but a content farm anyway,
             
             some of these are probably misspelled.
             
             I've been checking out webmaster forums, there is very little noise in the way there would normally be for such a major update... even the blackhat forums are quiet...
             
             I am currently on 33 hits today  on hubpages.... according to adsense... so roughly a 50% drop for me on where I should be.

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                Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks Thomas.  Of those a lot "don't have enough data".  Some are similar in drop to HP - but none are worse.

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                   ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                   Snipsly suffered really badly at the beginning of the month. 90% drops at one point, before it crawled back a bit.

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       Sally's Troveposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for sharing what's happened to your google dot com views. I generally get around 200 per day. In the last 24 hours, the count is down to 50. Since misery loves company, I was glad you shared but not at all glad for what you shared.

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          Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Sally - at least the misery is not personally directed, it's more broad brush than that.  If it was just me I could try writing something better but I don't see what I can do.
          
          Apart from wait of course and hope.

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       wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Mark - a little reassurance here.
       
       One of the hardest things I had to learn was that with low traffic figures (under maybe 1000/day) the loss of a handful results in a huge percentage drop but is really meaningless.
       
       Yes, you have had a 90% drop in google traffic, but if only a few of those lost didn't allow cookies or simply mis-clicked on something else instead or something like that it would actually rise to perhaps 50% drop, which seems to be what most are reporting.
       
       We've nearly all seen a large drop, but it probably isn't nearly bad as your figures indicate.  My own has dropped from around 250/day to 100.
       
       Hang in there, buddy - we'll weather this yet!

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       Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       There's a traffic drop this week anyway, or at least for some of us.  If you looked at my main site in Quantcast, you'd see a small dip this week. But you'd see the same dip last year because it's a common time for vacations. 
       
       Too early to tell.  Way too early.

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    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    I expected eHow to get some royal google treatment but 2% increase in ehow traffic ? WTF!
    
    So looks like every random content network site out there got slap except demand studios. lol.

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       bgamallposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Demand Studios requires a formula based writing. You cannot write naturally or passively. Google is being fooled, IMO, and since my daughter tried it, she will have nothing to do with Demand Studios.
       
       Here is the deal, massive editing, and little payment for the authors. Demand Studios, for many writers, is a sweatshop with little return.

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    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    http://trends.google.com/websites?q=eho … amp;sort=0

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    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    1. http://www.quantcast.com/ehow.com (estimated)
    
    2. http://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com (quantified)
    
    Yieldbuild uses quantserve analytics to measure traffic so atleast HP stat on quantcast looks legitimate to me.

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    Spacey Graceyposted 14 years ago

    http://www.sistrix.com/blog/985-google- … ality.html
    
    Just posted that on a different thread but it seems relevant here too.

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       ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Wow.

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       Sally's Troveposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       That's an eye-opener. Keyword analysis aside, perhaps a reason for eHow not getting socked (even though it was targeted as an example of a content farm) is that its products are consistent. They are written to a formula, they are fact-checked, and they are edited according to their inhouse style guide based on AP standards.
       
       No one knows for sure how HP got targeted (as forum threads here in the last two days show), but a huge content format and quality difference exists between HP and eHow.
       
       As a reader/searcher, I'm going to look to eHow if I want a quick overview "how-to" on filtering my koi pond for maximum aeration. I know the eHow format, I know the instructions are probably rudimentary, but I also know that the references / link sections will point me to original sources and added information.
       
       That kind of reader expectation isn't usually met on HP.
       
       Thanks for that link to sistrix.

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       lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Wow, I'm surprised WiseGeek got hit so hard. I actually do read their stuff when I'm looking for information. For the most part, it's informative, concise and well-written.
       
       The one thing I did notice about that list is that most of the sites (with few exceptions) have little to no editorial oversight.

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          ThomasEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I hate wisegeek... it is not the content, so much as the way they have adds every two microseconds, which drives me insane.

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             rmrposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I hate the ads there, too. But I write there, and can attest to the fact that they have pretty strict standards. It seems odd that they were hit that hard, but things are still in flux, so I imagine everything is still subject to change.

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          Sally's Troveposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          To my point about consistency and expectation.
          
          Also, I too am surprised by what happened with WiseGeek. It's a site full of reliable information.

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    Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

    @ Andrew0208
    
    Getting back on track with the topic of this thread, I hope HP is still 100% friendly with Google, friendly enough to get HP back on track as a desired Google destination.

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    prettydarkhorseposted 14 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/68311#top
    
    wisegeek placement of ads is not good

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       lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I agree. Their ad placement makes my eyes hurt. But...their information is really good and the stuff is factually accurate. I can't say that for most of the other sites I saw on that list.

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    Andrew0208posted 14 years ago

    Great Hubbers! What do you understand by Quality Content? Google has laid it out for the world to follow inorder to continue being friendly with her search results...

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30. 63

    emdiposted 14 years ago

    last Friday i checked one of my hubs. It was ranked last in the first page. Now it is ranked number 3 in first page. I am happy :-) but in general traffic to my sites have gone down, I don't know whether it is because of weekend.

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       Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I like the shakeups...I'm glad HubPages is up to the task having been here for over three years now. Google is truly in good business...

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    simeonvisserposted 14 years ago

    HubPages has posted about the Google Update: http://blog.hubpages.com/2011/02/recent-google-changes/

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       David 470posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       That's good to see.

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       Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Just visited the posted HubPages blog; glad to read the statement of the HubPages Chief on recent Google changes update relative to us. Things are already improving.

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    Mark Writerposted 14 years ago

    Explain how Edmundson saying he sees Hubpages nosediving is improving?

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       David 470posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       At least HubPages is acknowledging what is happening. They will make improvements in accordance to what the Google alg has caused.

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          skyfireposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Don't reply to troll.

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          Mark Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          LOL

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    Kangaroo_Jaseposted 14 years ago

    

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    Brie Hoffmanposted 14 years ago

    My income is way down from the past 2 weeks.

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       Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Hope it gets better your side soon, some hubbers already started seeing improvements. Don't panic either. It will settle normal in no distant time.

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       wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       The devil you say!  Today's income is $.07, down from a normal several dollars. 
       
       On the other hand it seems that traffic has perhaps risen some.  A good thing.

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    Andrew0208posted 14 years ago

    I guess Hubbers are putting up some smiles now. Moday(workday) and the future days will even be better than the successes and friendliness with Google already recorded in HubPages community and beyond. HaPPy New WeeK!

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       viryaboposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       i say AMEN to that.

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    Susana Sposted 14 years ago

    This article by search engine watch is well worth reading. http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110226-184951

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       IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks susana
       
       That was interesting, even if not especially hopeful, except where they say
       
       "The short term impact is being seen right now -- a month from now the SERPs will be very different in many, many cases."

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          Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          No not very encouraging but at least there are some useful stats to compare.
          
          I can't believe that eHow is seeing an improvement in traffic and rankings when all other content sites are taking a bashing. I very rarely find an eHow article that is actually useful.
          
          The only way I can see hubpages returning to the HP/google love, is to get back to the "best page on the web" philosophy and dump the shite. I know it's extreme but I'd love to see a 750 word minimum, except for in the poetry & photos categories.
          
          

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    IzzyMposted 14 years ago

    If I had to choose between ehow and wisegeek (I use both when researching - or rather - they both tend to appear in the searches in the first page or 2) I'd have to say wisegeek despite their in-your-face ads.
    I find their info useful and factual as opposed to ehow's just-touch-the-surface-of-a-subject approach.

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       lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Funny thing is, many of the WiseGeek writers also write for eHow/Demand Studios.

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          IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          They have thousands of pages - no doubt I have only viewed a couple of 100 or so.
          
          Slightly OT - did anyone notice yesterday that one of the internet sites talking about ehow laughed at an ehow page about what to do if you lock your keys in the car - and the answer was to call a locksmith?
          
          When hub-hopping yesterday I found a brand new hub with the same information and a link to a locksmith

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             wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Now that's some really solid, valuable advice!
             
             Best new hub layout:
             
             How to blah blah                     (ad)
             call a pro                                 (amazon ad)
             (ad)
             (link to pro in different city)
             
             That'll keep 'em coming back, for sure!

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    Mark Ewbieposted 14 years ago

    Can I post a link to some utter tripe?
    
    http://sites.google.com/site/howtorefer … /hierarchy
    
    OK, what do you think the chances of me ever getting indexed are?

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       Spacey Graceyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Lol - I'm really late replying to this but I am just catching up with the threads. Mark - I clicked on 'front door', very funny, and it reminded me of a time when me and my Dad bricked up our neighbours front door, so when they carefully opened it in the morning they couldn't get out

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          Mark Ewbieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Spacey, you may be my only ever visitor.
          
          As for the neighbours front door - blimey, that's a hell of a practical joke.
          
          I enjoyed doing the How To stuff but couldn't get my website(s) noticed by Google or visited.  Which was a slight problem.  Plus I didn't have a coherent reason for anyone to visit.  Another problem.
          
          Maybe, if things don't pick I need to have a bit more of a go, it's just so much easier on HP.

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          Brie Hoffmanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I'm glad I don't live next to you!

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    Will Apseposted 14 years ago

    My newer Amazon hubs have lost around 50 per cent of their traffic.
    Older amazon hubs are down only a little and adsense stuff is only down ten or fifteen per cent- nothing special, this could happen any time and go back up again as quickly.
    
    I remember the complaints about poor search results in blogs and newspapers mainly mentioned searches for products. Two products mentioned were dishwashers and iPhone 4 cases- extensively covered here...
    
    Might be coincidence but I reckon selling Amazon stuff is going to get a lot harder.

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    brandonhart100posted 14 years ago

    This thread is the perfect place to express my thoughts and opinion on the recent google algorithm changes because rather than focusing on what HubPages need to change I'd rather focus on what hubbers can do to change the way that their hubs are viewed in the eyes of google.  I'll leave whatever HP needs to change to the experts and staff and work on what I can do personally.
    
    I believe that too much emphasis has been placed on google labelling HP as a content farm and not enough emphasis on understanding the new google changes and what you can do to get your Hubs back where they were.
    
    Rather than thinking that this is HP's fault we should look at what the sites that have replaced our specific "hub" are doing.  I only mention this because everyone wants to concentrate on spam and duplicate pages... when the SEO rules have changed.  Look at this recent quote from Matt Cutt on January 21, 2011 as my source for this discussion (source http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/ … -spam.html) :
    
    "As we’ve increased both our size and freshness in recent months, we’ve naturally indexed a lot of good content and some spam as well. To respond to that challenge, we recently launched a redesigned document-level classifier that makes it harder for spammy on-page content to rank highly. The new classifier is better at detecting spam on individual web pages, e.g., repeated spammy words—the sort of phrases you tend to see in junky, automated, self-promoting blog comments. "
    
    If you haven't read that article in its entirety than I recommend that you do.
    
    One thing I have noticed is that some sites like redgage that I have bookmarked a few of my hubs on have now overtaken my hubs themselves.  Most people have just assumed this is only because HP has been devalued, but I'm not so sure yet. 
    
    Think about how you write a hub:
     
    I don't keyword stuff, but I do try to incorporate my keywords into various titles I have throughout my pages.  In fact, I even do this in my RSS title and links as well. 
    
    This has worked well for me in the past (almost 200k hits in 3 months at HP), but since redgage is beating me (in some cases with one liners), then the problem could be with my title placement and onpage SEO.  In fact, google may now see some of it as spammy and I may be getting devalued for it (beyond just its presence on HP). 
    
    I mention this because I see A LOT of hubbers that use these types of SEO tactics on what could be considered very well-written pages.  For example if they are writing about "The Best Pocket Digital Cameras" they may write a title section of their hub with Pocket Digital Cameras and another section of their hub with Best Digital Cameras and another section of their hub with Sony Pocket Digital Cameras in the Title.
    
    I also see a lot of Hubbers (including myself) incorporating their keywords within their articles and then bolding them.  For the above example I may start out my hub by writing "In (this part is bolded) the best pocket digital cameras (end bold) we'll discuss various options that you could expect... blah blah blah.  Again, all of this could be considered "spammy" and unnatural by google. 
    
    My observations:
    
    Site Names
    In the past google has placed an emphasis on sites that incorporate what they write about in their website name.  I believe that additional emphasis has been placed on this.  Again this has nothing to do with HP but how SEO works now.
    
    Links - We have yet to see what the full ramifications of links are. In my opinion google has managed to find a way to devalue links that weren't built naturally (profile links, forum links, comment links etc...) Those who have subscribed to Angela's links over the years now that she preaches about how adobe ranks #1 for the keyword "click here" even though "click here" isn't written on their site anywhere.  Adobe is still #1 for "click here" so links are obviously still a very important part of their formula for determining who is ranked where.
    
    My opinion about the "wait and see" approach.
     
    Google has mentioned that they are "very good" at changing their algorithm at this point because they have done it many times.  Another hubber quoted that Google has "moved the cheese" and I believe that this is the case. (If you haven't read this book, it's short, and it's a must read.
    
    You can wait and see, but my guess is that these changes are permanent, so we all need to permanentely change the way that we approach SEO and writing.  How we approach that will be tested and proved until we get somewhat of an idea on how we should do it.
    
    Should you move your content?
    
    I could go and move some of my low traffic hubs (that up to this point had been performing well) to WP and that "might" work, but at this point it might be how I've written it more than it being published on HubPages.
    
    In the end it may help if HP removes some of their duplicate content and improves their filter system, however; what you can do personally to your hubs might even make a bigger difference.

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    barryrutherfordposted 14 years ago

    brandonhart100
    
    
    Except not all of us want to write product reviews

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       brandonhart100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       @Barry my response does not just deal with product reviews.  The example I have above would apply to a "how to" or informational article as well.

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          barryrutherfordposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Sure I understand that but this current algorithm alteration by Google has hit hubpages across the board both good & bad writers most have been hit we can just hope that they will recover...

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             brandonhart100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

             @Barry - My response has to do with what you can do and we can do to test the current situation in hopes that we can get our Hubs back to where they were.  HubPages will change whatever they need to change but my guess is is that's only a small part of the problem.
             
             Google has changed how they do things and the only way to rectify the situation is to play their game and understand it.
             
             Look at it as an opportunity.  Now that Google has changed the way that the game is played everyone is on the same field trying to learn the new rules.  If you understand them quickly, then you'll have an advantage for a long time before they change the rules again.

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    Spacey Graceyposted 14 years ago

    Mark - don't give up on it if you enjoy it, that's the sort of thing that will get an article go viral. Although even if it did get mega traffic you would need to think hard about how you would squeeze money out of it - how likely are people to click on an ad for a locksmith?
    
    But just keep plugging away and slowly but surely strategies for generating content, driving traffic, and ensuring that traffic results in money will emerge. I have been mulling it over for my own site for about 6 months and finally had a plan together, then the events of the last week are making me have a rethink but I guess it is all part of the game.
    
    As for practical jokes.... to the same neighbours, who went to the States for a few weeks and we were looking after their house and cats, we piled up dozens of newspapers and tons of junkmail, and left it both sides of the front door. Then got as many glass milk bottles as we could find and filled them with a mix of green and white paint and water and left them outside, so it looked like they'd been gone for years. Not sure whether they loved us or hated us

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    seamistposted 14 years ago

    Hi Everyone!
    
    Like everyone else, my traffic has taken a 50% hit too, but dI've never had good traffic anyway even though I've done some backlinking. I guess I've thought about two things concerning this issue. One, as many have always advised, it's best to have your own domain. Consequently, you have a little bit more control. Secondly, as people have suggested in the past, rather than write a little bit about this and a little bit about that,  it's probably best to center your articles around a niche. That way if people continue to write for Hubpages and things don't improve, the content can be pulled off and used for your own website. Only problem with that is that I get bored easily writing about the same stuff all of the time. Thankfully, at least when one writes for Hubpages, the content still belongs to you. For me, that factor was one of the things that drew me to Hubpages in the first place. Best of luck to everyone!

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       Andrew0208posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       @seamist, it is ideal to have your own domains and also dance the google dance. This dance has gone to another level now. The way forward; it is very important to take time to exactly read, romance and know what Google wanted from "content farm."
       
       From close observations, amongst other practices carried out at content farms by users(farmers) that promptly attracted our Big brother G to ensure that quality content stand top on search results was the gross abuse of "automated content generation." We saw it, Google saw it.
       
       In fact, many of the content automation tools were spunning and chuning out mixed garbages with it's automated wheels to do the seo and farm them in tens, hundreds and thousands without even the user trying to review them.
            
       These automations were hitting top search ranking, making the user more money on ads and leaving the reader or search with less useful information(bad deal for searchers, advertisers, and G). Coming to seo: continued repetition of targeted keywords/phrases checked. Volume abuse of Text Bolding and other spammy techniques. 

       
       No need to even panic again if you got what Matt wrote on their official blog. This google dance is worth dancing along with them.     
       
       Traffic and earnings have greatly improved on hubs(content) for many. HubPages was not affected per say on her parent domain but by individual pages(hubs). 100% friendly with Google. Still observing and learning to do.

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