An Apology and A Few Words

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   WryLiltposted 12 years ago

   Some of you may remember some of the things I said about Hubpages and their strongarm tactics following their huge drop in traffic after Panda last year.
   
   I also don't like to pull punches or say something I don't mean. So that's why I'm posting this.
   
   I still stand by my opinion that Hubpage's "The end justifies the means" along with their "Blind rule changes till something worked" tactics were not the best options to take to correct their dismal drop in traffic after Panda in February '11. They hurt and upset a lot of hubbers by doing so...
   
   However it did work with a few exceptions (and I'm hoping you guys see a return in traffic soon.)
   
   I'm now seeing at least three times as much traffic as I had pre-panda, and I'm now averaging well over $10 a day from all revenue sources for this account alone.
   
   And although I will start to write again on Hubpages occasionally, I have learnt my lesson that you should NEVER rely on one place for your earnings. Since I stopped publishing on Hubpages I've built up a handful of my own sites, as well as content on other revenue sharing sites - although all those revenue sharing sites are now secondary to promoting my own sites.
   
   Google could change again in a year and you could lose all your earnings and traffic - remember that.

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      Mighty Momposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Way to go on the public amends, WriLit!

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         Dave Mathewsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hub is still in its infant stages. It is bound to make mistakes. So long as it corrects them that's good.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, only ONE of their changes - changing to sub-domains - worked.  All the other unpredictable, poorly communicated, upsetting changes did little or nothing to help - I remember Paul admitting that in an interview when he was explaining the move to sub-domains.
      
      Bearing that in mind, I do think it's a pity HubPages hasn't reviewed those rules to see whether they could be reduced or simplified again - which would reduce their moderators' workload and newbies' stress!
      
      I don't think you have anything to apologise for.  There are some people (no longer on HP) who were (and still are) far more vicious in their attacks on HP than you were!

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         Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I don't know where you got that information, but that's not true. You can look at Suite101 as an example of a site that just did the switch to subdomains and whose recovery was very short-lived. Both the higher quality standards (we removed about 20% of our Hubs as part of the cleanup) and the subdomain switch deserve the credit for the traffic recovery.
         Not going to happen. We wouldn't risk our readership by fiddling with a formula that has worked.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I got it from an interview Paul Edmonson gave:
            
            "We’ve spent the past five months trying to figure out what Panda is looking at and how we can increase the quality of our content. We have tried everything and nothing seems to work. Once you are marked down by Google, it seems there’s almost nothing you can do. It’s tremendously frustrating.
            
            The only thing that seems to work is converting to sub-domains for each author. We think it’s because then Google can treat each sub-domain separately."

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               Jason Menayanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Yep, that was our thinking at the time. Suite101's results shortly after that made it clear that our higher moderation standards and content cleanup were an essential part of the formula.

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   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   I think there was a lot of things HP could have done better at the time.
   
   To newbies reading here, when the crash happened, out of the blue, HP seemed to panic. They ignored the multiple forum threads about what could be wrong, and what we could do to fix it, and at that time the forums were teeming with helpful and knowledgeable people, who sadly have since left (or no longer post).
   
   Whereas before Panda, HP staff would stick there heads into threads frequently, suddenly there was silence.
   
   It's OK, we understand why, they were busy trying to sort it out.
   
   Then they started taking pot shots. We'll try this...everyone remove all x.y.z from your hubs.
   
   Then a week or so later, new rules, remove a,b.c.
   
   I think this scenario played out 3 or 4 times before they hit on the idea of moving us all to subdomains.
   
   For people with 10 hubs, there wasn't much of a problem, but for people with 100+, it was like...sigh...not again!
   
   They still refused to engage us with meaningful conversation. It was a case of 'do this and shut up, or get out', backed up by unpublication of hubs where the changes were not made almost immediately.
   
   Wrylilt was one of those who said "enough is enough". I am voting with my feet, and left, sort of.
   
   While she and many on this site are now doing well under subdomains, myself and several others are not doing so well.
   
   Forever the trier, I have not yet given up, because I had a taste of the success that is possible on this site, and can be seen again, I hope.
   
   So, thanks Wrylilt, for your public apology, but as far as I am concerned it is not required.

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      Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi IzzyM, like the new avatar. As I wasn't here pre-panda, I don't know exactly what happened. All I can say is I  hope you don't give up because you are one of my favourite hubbers here in the forums and I always look forwards to your experience and advice.

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         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Aww, thanks, that is such a nice thing to say!
         
         I found I just had to start again, with new subdomains, the first of which is doing quite well now, and should (at the current rate) hit payout soon after the start of next month.
         
         It was sandboxed too for a time, but seems to be out of it now - touch wood!
         
         This account missed payout last month for the first time since Hubads came in, still I made up for it this month with some surprise Amazon sales. Fingers crossed the items aren't returned.

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            Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That's great IzzyM, I really hope things pick up for you again. Thank God for Amazon sales, I am yet to make a buck there...lol

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            viryaboposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I'm happy to hear that your new subdomain is doing quite well and things are looking brighter for you Izzy, after months of waiting it out.
            
            You never gave up, and that's good, highly commendable and worth emulating, especially by new hubbers.
            
            Its hubbers like you that keep many of us going and you will surely "rise up" again, sooner than later.
            
            A good reminder to us all that "tough times never last, but tough people do".
            
            And Amazon has been a pleasant surprise for the past 2 months now, even for me!
            
            Well.......TOUCH WOOD!!

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      FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I love the new avatar too, Izzy. I know I joined post-Panda and as such, I have no comparison. Not a single hub of mine was pre-Panda. You are a sweet lady and very kind. I hope things improve for you.

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   logic,commonsenseposted 12 years ago

   You have nothing to apologize for WL.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it turns out to be wrong or not justified.  Your presence back on Hubpages is only an asset to us all.

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   Xenonlitposted 12 years ago

   I'd be happy to make $3 day. It's more like $3 a month. I am trying every trick in the book, but this place is not paying in relation to the effort.

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   Arlene V. Pomaposted 12 years ago

   Online is all about chasing those pennies, and everyone is an expert when it comes to making those big bucks, right?  I'm glad I've got that pension coming in because there is no way I'd survive on freelancing.  HubPages is only a tiny piece of the pie when it comes to a writer's total earnings.  A very, very tiny piece!  If you want that money, you'll have to work it outside of this site as part of the package.  Maybe do it the old fashion way and pitch articles to some magazine editor?  But I do like having a chance at writing and designing my articles for online publication.  HubPages is mostly for the applause, but there is nothing wrong with that at all.  But as a way to pay the mortgage, the car payment and send your kid to college?  Forget it!

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   PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

   I always enjoyed your presence in the forums, WryLilt, and expressed my disappointment at the time, when you said you were leaving.  You are usually such a voice of common sense, I was a little surprised when you appeared to act and speak in a way that seemed rash.  I am glad that you are back and things are going well for you.
   
   The HubPages site is better all round with the tightened up rules and a large portion of the spammy stuff removed.  HP team haven't always been 100% perfect in their execution but I have always thought that their gut instincts and judgements for what needs to happen are generally spot on.
   
   Some of the Hubber "experts" in the forums know what they are talking about, but others are like popularist politicians - they say what people want to hear, get a little gang together and push their point of view, even though the thinking behind it may not be at all sound.  You pays your money and takes your choices with them and people can make their own minds up on who they want to believe or disbelieve.  But it is Paul E and his team that have to make the decisions at the end of the day, and they've done a great job overall, methinks.  That's my opinon, anyway.

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      rmcrayneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well said Paul.

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