Unrelated Hubs on page!

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   Randy Godwinposted 12 years ago

   I've just noticed something which concerns me a bit and wondered if it is something new or not.  The related hubs, listed on my highest trafficked hub in my best niche, only have one hub which fits the description out of six examples.  The other five--though distantly related--would normally be of no interest to the reader.
   
   Since I write to this niche, and have many related hubs about the subject, I can't understand why these other hubs are listed on my page.  It isn't like this on my other hubs as they refer traffic to the same niche.  But to have the most visited of my articles recommending unrelated subjects instead of mine or some other hubber who writes in the same niche doesn't make sense to me.
   
   Formerly this hub sent a good bit of traffic to many of my other niche related articles, but this could be why some of my traffic has dropped on these.  Anyone else have this problem?
   
                                            

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   1. 89

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't have any answer for you that I am sure of.  Nevertheless, some thoughts do occur.
      
      I'm not sure how HP picks these hubs.  Is it from tags?  Keywords?  The category it is in?  All of these could be checked from the list of "related" hubs you see.
      
      I would also expect HP to send the "best" hubs, in their opinion.  Similar if not identical to the "best" in an RSS feed.  Maybe via hub score, maybe via traffic figures, maybe even by earnings (though that is doubtful).  I guess you are still sandobxed (haven't heard otherwise) - could that be part of it?
      
      Whatever it is, though, it seems a little shabby to put competing hubs there when you have perfectly good ones that match well and don't get the spot.  The hubs I have that are strongly "niched" mostly show my own stuff in the related section.  For instance, a hub on wiring a 3 way switch has 4 of those 6 spots filled by my own hubs.

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      1. 60

         Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not complaining about competing hubs in the same niche.  Just those unrelated to the topic where normally I would have several other of mine in the same subject.
         
         
                                      

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         1. 89

            wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Actually, I meant competing in the sense that they are probably taking a little bit of traffic that you would get with your own hubs, particularly if you have truly "related" hubs.

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            1. 60

               Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               So far, my two best visited hubs are like this! 
               
               
               
                                                      

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               1. 60

                  Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Wow!  I've got a bunch of these!  Okay Jason,  What's the deal here!  No wonder my traffic is so screwed up!!
                  
                  
                                                             

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   2. 89

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Add:  And some others make no sense at all.  A hub on changing out a dryer cord has hubs on changing oil in a car, the evolution of the car and snowmobile maintenance.  Not sure how any of those are related

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      1. 60

         Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         This is exactly what I mean, Wilderness!  I'd suggest everyone check their most visited hubs to be sure their visitors aren't being pointed away or discouraged to look at other related hubs by this feature.  This could cost the writer lots of potential views if they have a successful hub in a good niche.
         
         
                                            

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   3. 67

      Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      90% of my Hubs are the same Randy! What it actually does.. is totally detract away from the basic SEO practice that still works elsewhere, but has been totally undermined here, in these sort of redirection practices!
      
      I think many of us certainly do carry more than our fair share for others, because clearly there are 1005 different ways to manipulate traffic and traffic flow!
      
      I personally don't accept Jason's statement 2 months ago that Poetry doesn't drive traffic anyway! I was amazed at such a BS Statement coming from someone in his position!
      
      (Sorry but I can't be bothered posting the link here.. I am still upset by the total thoughtlessness of the remark! )  - Amazing! Absolutely No Respect! And on the back of a Poetry Comp, actually very insulting to every Poet on the site who carries the Non Poetry Unrelated Hubs of others!

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      1. 61

         Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It wasn't disrespectful, and I'm posting a link here:
         http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/92025?p … ost1963913
         
         Whether you like to hear it or not, it's true - poetry Hubs tend to not attract much search traffic because relatively few people search for poetry. That isn't a diss on poems or poets, but rather the candid reality about the nature of what people search for online.
         
         Interestingly, I was answering a question you asked. I'll be sure to remember that the next time you ask a question.

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2. 72

   LeanManposted 12 years ago

   I think HP must have made a change as to how they select "related" hubs, finding hubs about children's booster seats on my hubs about Saudi Arabia just shows how "related" they are - before the hubs that were showing as related were at least about Saudi or the Middle East..

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   1. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I certainly hope it isn't permanent!  That's all I need being sandboxed already and now losing even more views because of this crazy feature!
      
      
                                         

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3. 60

   Randy Godwinposted 12 years ago

   I'm not kidding HP staff!  I want an answer to this one.  I know you guys are reading this thread so, what gives? 
   
                            

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   1. 61

      Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Randy, I don't know. Like others have said, it might be due to certain words matching among your tags. Maybe there aren't any better-related Hubs. I'm just guessing.
      
      How this would impact your traffic, I also have no idea. Since these kinds of things are determined algorithmically, sometimes less-than-ideal outcomes can happen. We are not hand-picking related Hubs for over 1 million articles.
      
      You have a lot of theories about how we're trying to screw you over, so many that I wonder why you haven't taken your Hubs to another site that doesn't provoke trust issues.

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      1. 60

         Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         How this would impact my traffic seems simple to me.  if people visit my best hub and see other of my hubs in the related niche they may also read them.  Otherwise, why even link to other hubs in the same niche?  I've checked the tags on those listed as related hubs and they are not the same.  These particular hubs have always listed more of my niche hubs before on the page, as have others which now show unrelated hubs.  This is something different.
         
         And I do have other places to write, Jason.  But I don't want to put all of my work in one place and am hoping things eventually make sense here again.  I realize you don't like it when I find things which seem strange here, but on the other hand, there's always things not to like on any writing site. 
         
         I don't recall saying you guys were trying to screw me over in this thread, nor do I recall having a lot of theories about HP screwing me over, unless you are referring to the mistaken 4 week ban which occurred during the controversial Elite thread.  By the way, exactly how did that happen? 
         
         
                                        

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4. 95

   Glenn Stokposted 12 years ago

   Randy,  Just a guess, but try reviewing the tags you are using in that hub to see if they might be matching up in some weird way with the hubs that are displayed as related. If you find any, drop that tag and see how things change after a few hours. The change is not immediate.

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   1. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Glen, but the tags in no way relate to the hubs listed as related on the pages.  It just seems strange my best hubs suddenly display these other niche articles all of a sudden.  The tags haven't been changed and there's no way they should point to some of the hubs listed on the articles.  They've always had either mine or other Hubbers related articles listed there before.
      
      There's something else going on here! 
      
                                                     

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5. 95

   Glenn Stokposted 12 years ago

   Another thought... Check the tags being used in those hubs that are listed and see if you find any that are the same tags you are using. That would explain it if you find any matches.

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   1. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Nope!  Not even close.  The hubs go from floors to Mountain dew to snowplows to electric bikes to air conditioners.  Connect those together if you can.  No similar tags in those to my article.
      
                                           

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      1. 89

         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You may be missing the point.  Are there tags in the other hubs that match what you have, or your keywords?
         
         People often use tags that do not seem, to me, to have much to do with the hub they have written.  Given that, a mountain dew hub could have a tag that makes that hub "related" to yours.

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         1. 60

            Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Nope, unless tags with RV in them means Mountain Dew!  This is a recent glitch as someone else noticed the same thing and posted about it at almost the same time I did.  If I wouldn't be banned for self promotion, I could tell you the names of the Hubs, but even that is taboo it seems. 
            
            Tell you what, I'll put one on the extreme makeover thread and you can take a look. perhaps I'm overlooking something.
            
            
                                                 

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            1. 90

               Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for posting this Randy because I have noticed this before. I am going to check the tags as Glenn mentioned.

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