Earning Money from Hubpages Questions

1. 89

   WryLiltposted 12 years ago

   I haven't seen a thread on this (feel free to post the link if there is).
   
   Hubpages will soon be giving ad share for questions.
   
   
   From the Hubpages weekly newsletter:
   While some of these Questions are winning prize money, all of them will soon be able to bring additional ad revenue to the people who asked them. This is because we are making Questions on HubPages more like Hubs. They'll now be organized under your subdomain, and you will be able to view their statistics and moderate their Answers in a new section of My Account.
   
   Information in the Hubpages blog http://blog.hubpages.com/2012/03/ask-good-questions/

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   1. 87

      Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      are they trying to be life webanswers?

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      1. 87

         SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I thought that - but the 'questioner' is the only one who receives Ads, and they can delete 'unwanted' answers - so it is different to Webanswers.

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      authorfriendlyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wont google see all but the most popular questions as being like short and insubstantial hubs, and in turn these would then hurt our subdomains?

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      1. 89

         WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Well technically the answers make up the content...

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   3. 83

      Pamela N Redposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yay, I like this. I would rather make money answering questions here than on another website which I have thought about doing. This is great news.

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      ngurecoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hubpages IS NOW giving ad share for questions. Check it out on the latest blog post.

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      1. 61

         FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I noticed that. One thing though. I have switched to this option but have not found a way to delete answers that were hidden due to excessive negative feedback. One of the reasons I wanted to switch was the ability to do this. Perhaps it is just too soon after I switched?

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            relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I'm seeing a simple delete button next to answers, and it works.
            
            Are you not getting that option?

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            1. 61

               FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Yes I do see the words , but I click on it and nothing happens. I can do it with answers that are not hidden. But not the answers that had been hidden.

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2. 81

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years ago

   That is really a great idea.  I think it would encourage people to take asking questions a hell of a lot more seriously.
   
   Oh I recall nightmare days (most weeks) of folks asking twenty silly questions in a day...all of them previously asked a thousand times before, and none of them having any sort of answer....just opinions.

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   1. 89

      WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think if it is correctly implemented it will be good. I think to work properly, the question section may need quite a bit more moderation...

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         relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ask crappy questions and you'll wind up hurting your subdomain and your own earnings.  For people who are smart, that's completely self-moderating.  For those who are not, they'll pull themselves down the same way that people who make poor quality Hubs do.
         
         The questions will most likely wind up just as more or less moderated as they are now.

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         1. 89

            WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Good point. And I'm sure with more people making use of the questions, more people will be flagging bad ones anyway.
            
            As long as it doesn't end up like Webanswers with bots putting up dumbass questions from internet searches!

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         2. 87

            SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            One problem with this logic is that questions like 'What is Justin Bieber's phone number' get thousands of views daily - so potentially, as traffic factors into 'quality' according to Panda, you could actually benefit by asking inane questions!!!

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               relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               My logic is logical.  HubPages doesn't exist in a bubble.  With hundreds of other websites showing the identical inane question, it won't be profitable, it will be duplicate content.

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               1. 87

                  SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I am on a 'top' Q&A site - I've asked over 1000 questions - the majority are good quality questions (subjective). 4 of my top 6 questions I've asked that have received the most views are:
                  Do you believe in the death penalty?
                  Who is the sexiest man alive?
                  What star do you look like?
                  Do you like Justin Bieber?
                  
                  Each of these has received over 500 views each - I've got some quality hubs that haven't even reached 50 views. (subjective I know!)
                  
                  Assuming that HP has the same reach as the dedicated Q&A site, then these type of questions can be profitable even though they have been asked hundreds of times - especially if you're in the HP Ads program.
                  
                  The question is whether questions I ask benefit from my sub-domain and therefore get ranked highly or whether they will drag my subdomain down?!

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         3. 86

            cabmgmntposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            A little moderation may be the key in the area of questions. I often notice words that are spelled incorrectly and questions that make no sense what so ever. The moderation may help to change the quality in this area.

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               Pamela N Redposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I ran across that when I was looking for questions for this contest. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what some were trying to say.

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3. 61

   FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

   I saw this too and think it is wonderful. There were a couple responses to questions I asked that were nasty and they were eventually voted down and thus hidden from view. But it would have been great to have been able to remove them right away and not have to see them at all.
   
   I had to laugh when I saw the whole wording of this update. It said not to worry about proper grammar or adding the "?" since it is already in this section. Here I have been fussing over just that all the time to fit my question within the number of characters we are allowed to the point where I was embarrassed to realize that a question I posed yesterday had a key wording missing that made the syntax incorrect. Yet I did indeed add the "?" at the end. Bizarre.

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      Millionaire Tipsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Flora, the blog tells you that you should watch for proper wording and the question mark.

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4. 88

   Victoria Lynnposted 12 years ago

   Yeah, Wesman, how is HP going to stop people from posting continual stupid questions? I think it's cool we can make money from questions, but I don't want it to be abused. That would be annoying.

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   1. 81

      Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'd like to see the ability to moderate the answers!!!
      
      If I ask the question, I'd like to be able to deny the answers that I feel aren't appropriate.

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         FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That is exactly what I would want with this change.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Very true!  Who's going to ask questions if it means you'll have rubbish answers attached to your sub-domain?

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      3. 87

         SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You have that opportunity....from the blog entry:
         
         You will be able to delete your Questions as you please, as well as inappropriate Answers (just like you would remove an inappropriate comment on one of your Hubs).

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            Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Awesome!!!
            
            Sounds like a total win for the persons that do things with discretion!!!!
            
            HOLY SMOKE!!  That is so freaking smart of the HP staff!  Why let Webanswers have all that...when we've had the ability right here for YEARS??
            
            TOTAL CAKE AND WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

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               Pamela N Redposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I think so too, Wesman.

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            Peggy Wposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I don't see an area where you can delete questions, muchless answers.  Where is it?  Now that I have listened to the webcast, I would delete some of my own questions.

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            1. 89

               WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               It has yet to be implemented.

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5. 61

   againsttheoddsposted 12 years ago

   Does anyone think that a massive amount of questions suddenly being moved to a subdomain could cause it to undergo at least a short term penalty with Google?

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   1. 87

      SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good point - perhaps we should have the ability to unpublish some of our questions prior to the switch! And as per the blog you can:
      
      You will be able to delete your Questions as you please, as well as inappropriate Answers (just like you would remove an inappropriate comment on one of your Hubs).

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      1. 89

         WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Good thing I've answered far more than I've asked!

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      2. 94

         Peggy Wposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         How do we delete them?  Where?

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         1. 89

            WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            It has yet to be implemented.

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            1. 94

               Peggy Wposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks!  Will look forward to learning how when they have it implemented.

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank goodness I've hardly ever asked a question...

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      1. 81

         Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         ....But I thought new content ALWAYS strengthened a site's standings with the G man?

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         1. 89

            WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            LoL no.
            
            If you throw up a whole heap of content at once, or transfer a whole heap of content, some people say you can get sandboxed. Or Google gets sus.
            
            Adding new content slowly over time is meant to look good to Google.

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      2. 62

         Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Same with me.  On the other hand, I've answered lots of them and took answering seriously; but it looks to me like answering them doesn't do anything for the person who answers.  The answers to people's questions will be moderated under the subdomain  (Well, whatever some "serious-effort" answers do/don't for the person, under "Hubtivity", looks like it will be the same - at least, I'm assuming.)

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         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Good point!  If the questioner gets the advertising income and the "fresh content" on their sub-domain, what's the benefit to the answerer?
            
            The only thing the answerer gets is inspiration, and a hyperlink.

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            1. 62

               Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Of course, I suppose the person who asks the question (and ends up with the additional task of moderating the answers) is doing something toward earning his keep (or revenue share).  Maybe..   It's really a big plot to get HP members to clean up that Answers and Questions mess by a) having incentive for asking better questions and b) having the person who asked them clean up bad answers. 

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            2. 68

               Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I would take the "what is in it for the answerer" as the same for the hubber who makes a comment on a hub.
               If extra incentive is given, there may be overwhelming answers being posting just for that reason and not for good answers.

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            3. 88

               WannaB Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Some of my best hubs were in answer to questions someone asked. So the answerer may get a fresh idea and a new hub. This month that could net quite a bit.

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         2. 81

            ngurecoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            We may have a situation where we have far more questions than answers unless incentives are provided to the hubbers providing the answers.
            
            They have said that hubbers answering questions should do so in the form of short hub answers so that they can benefit from ads. Unfortunately, writing a good hub is a difficult thing unless one was allowed to write a short hub answer that will not be judged, on basis of length, as substandard and of low hub score.

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            1. 89

               Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I think they are trying to harness some of the kind of energy that goes into the forums (without any cash incentive). Some people really do like being helpful and involved. Even I do, when I'm in the mood.
               
               They got a million views from q&a pages last year, not a lot for a site with around 600,000 views a day but worth expanding.

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            2. 88

               Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Once we see how this works and what Google likes about it, I'd be willing to give quality answers to unique questions requiring detailed reply.

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6. 94

   vocalcoachposted 12 years ago

   This is another opportunity to earn income and I'm all for it. I like the additional benefit of learning a little more about hubpages (if the questions are so directed.) Now, what would qualify as a good question? Hmmm. Let me see. :-)

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7. 62

   Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

   I just got the e.mail about it.  Others who haven't looked at their e.mail recently will probably find it waiting for them.

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8. 39

   charliegrumplesposted 12 years ago

   This does look interesting. I've rarely used the questions section but I've noticed this last year or so that many of the keywords I've targeted have had Yahoo answers in the top ten results so this could work.
   
   I was wondering why anyone would bother answering if they get nothing from it but perhaps if they are allowed say 1 link per 100 words both parties may benefit.
   
   Do we actually know when this officially starts?

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9. 89

   Will Apseposted 12 years ago

   Moderating threads and getting involved in discussions can be pretty time consuming. People often ask questions that I don't know the answers to on my hubs. Annoys the hell out of me.
   
   Or are we going to pose as complete imbeciles and just hope someone with a brain turns up to help us out?
   
   Edit: I just asked a question but I haven't made any money yet.

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10. 59

    ytsenohposted 12 years ago

    Wrylit, thanks for posting this information.  I just read the blog that's dated 3.14.2012 so I would assume it's already in effect.

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    1. 72

       relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       No, it's not yet in effect.  Read the blog post from the 13th.
       
       http://blog.hubpages.com/2012/03/questi … ubdomains/

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11. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 12 years ago

    My first instinctive response was "Oh Gawd, this will lead to even more spam" but now I can see its potential. In fact, I've got one or two questions lined up ready and waiting

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12. 79

    skyfireposted 12 years ago

    That is like saying, just because there is wikipedia, one should stop writing hubs or any informative content. Oversimplification? hell yeah.

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13. 90

    lobobrandonposted 12 years ago

    Here's an example of my question on the first page of Google:
    
    The questions is:
    What are the top ten qualities of a perfect leader?
    <link snipped - no promotional links>
    
    Google link: <link snipped - no promotional links>

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14. 79

    skyfireposted 12 years ago

    That question is on the last entry of first page. I am not sure where it stands for you. Google Search is now Personal(ized). The result you see on top for Google.co.in may not apply to Google.com and also it'll vary as per user activity on G+ and few other variables with which Google ranks website for users. In any case - I see traffic.

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       lobobrandonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       That's true but its rank #2 for me
       
       I guess mines .in as well not sure. I keep typing in google.com it redirects to .in
       
       Just an example that with time HP questions have the potential to rank well. Not many people are gonna be searching for that question in the way its typed. But, I just used it as an indication to show anyone wondering if HP questions do rank anywhere well - I had the doubt and hence checked all my questions stopped when I found this.

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          skyfireposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Use : http://google.com/ncr    to force google redirection from regional domain to generic one.

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             lobobrandonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Thanks

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15. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

    I also don't use Questions often, but when I do I appreciate the answers that actually give a decent answer. I have noticed also that yahoo answers are often outdated but still appear in the top results.
    
    It would make sense to ask questions relevant to our subdomain content.

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    skyfireposted 12 years ago

    I do see chance of people trolling on questions section. Something like this - check the username in the image.
    
    

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17. 94

    PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

    I wonder if part of the HP strategy is get more links going, as well as creating another income stream?  Asking and answering questions creates more links for the site.  Just an idea.

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18. 62

    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    I was wondering if "attaching" them to individual subdomains might do something to discourage what can go on now, which is that someone comes looking for (or writes) a question, looks for the better answers, and then goes and posts best answer under him own name on a site that rewards people who have the best answers.

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19. 72

    relacheposted 12 years ago

    The changes that Google just announced this AM may cut short any benefit from the Q&A pages.
    
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 … TopStories
    
    If Google stops serving pages as replies for simple queries, the majority of the Q&A section will not be earning anything.

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       FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Well, that was short-lived.
       
       Since this section was meant to generate hubs anyway, perhaps this will now happen instead of the short answers.

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    2. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Oh, boy.  That article is the most depressing thing I've read for a long time.  Especially this quote:
       
       "For a more complex question such as, "What are the 10 largest lakes in California?" Google might provide the answer instead of just links to other sites."
       
       Visitors are usually coming to our Hubs or websites to find the answer to a question. If Google is going to start providing the information direct, instead of just linking to other sites, that has implications for all online content.

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          FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, that's the most depressing thing about the article. That eliminates most of the 5 W' s and H of articles.
          It's just a matter of time before Google figures out a way to eliminate "Why"  and "How" for separate links.

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       2. 81

          Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          This is another thing I do not understand.
          
          How the hell is Google going to make money from adsense by doing that????

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             Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             The article offers some explanation of that.

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             EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Every time you do a Google search, you get your 10 "organic" search results on the page, but at the top of the page and down the right hand side, you usually also get sponsored links/ads for the same type of thing as your search. The difference is that the organic search pages are there by virtue of site owner's use of SEO (real or accidental), while the sponsored links are paid for through Google Adwords.
             
             My reaction to the WSJ article was the same as Marisa's. It means that organic search results aren't just going to be competing with paid-for ads, they're also going to be competing with Google's attitude of "this is what we think you want, so here you are, right at the top of the page. No need to bother with all those organic search results, eh?"
             
             In the short term, the result of this is that organic search results will matter less, except in niche/obscure subjects. What the long term results will be, I don't know.

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             1. 89

                Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Searchers are aware of the difference between paid ads and organic results. According to Hubpages a couple of year ago about 4 per cent of visitors would click an ad. I would be surprised if paid ads on a search page do much better.

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                   EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   There's a difference between the ads that appear on HubPages (which are obviously ads, even to the most naive Internet users) and the Adwords ads that appear on the Google SERPs. The latter look very, very similar to the organic search results - a blue link and some text.
                   
                   And we're both experienced Internet users but I know an awful lot of people who can just about use a search engine and would simply click on the first link that looked vaguely relevant, without being remotely aware of (or bothered by) the fact that some Google search "results" are paid-for.

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                      Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      True.
                      
                      I've done just that myself in the not too distant past before I became a writing for dollars guy.

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20. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

    With such rapid advances in technology, it's not just Google that is affecting changes in how people get search results. It's mad competition to stay on top. Mobile search will soon take over regular online search. The latest iphones equipped with the Siri technology make search easy and rather personable for those who need quick info on the go or at work. And it works well.
    
    We were playing around with it the other day at work and asked it where our business was located. It answered with a rather comical response. I don't recall the exact phrasing, but it was to the effect of, 'I think you're quite capable.'
    
    After reading that article, I also see it as another way Google will weed out content farm, spammy type articles. I wonder how it will affect sites like Ehow.

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21. 0

    kimberlyslyricsposted 12 years ago

    Do we get to ask the team questions?  It would certainly be educational. 

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22. 61

    FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

    Hey everyone.
    Simone has posted a new thread about this option now being available.
    
    Here it is:
    http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/95116#post2030055

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