eBay capsules, Amazon and any other commercial add-in being "snipped."

1. 96

   TeriSilverposted 8 years ago

   I've had yet another eBay capsule snipped from a piece I published two days ago.  This article is on dogwood trees, and the eBay product was about dogwood trees/seeds and planting of this tree species --  which is something directly related to the hub itself.  So, now I think it is time for HP to completely remove the option of eBay add-ons, and Amazon, too.  Find a better way for writers to make up this revenue.  I am OK with a snip if it means the article will be featured or if eBay puts something different in there from the original listing -- they do that if an item is no longer available (not the case, here).  But my understanding is that the edits only would involve commercial capsules that are offering unrelated items for sale -- that is not what's happening here (and not the first time).  I am sure I am not the only writer concerned about having appropriate capsules deleted arbitrarily.  Thus, if HP doesn't want them there, why have them at all? It seems that these eBay capsules are a concern for HP, so perhaps it's time to re-think the revenue structure.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, many of us here are still making money from those ad capsules, so apparently there is something amiss with yours.  I would contact the team for help on this one to make sure they haven't made a mistake.
      
      Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water, please!

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      1. 96

         TeriSilverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I've made some money, too.  But it seems that HP doesn't really want to  keep these commercial links.  I don't believe I'm the only one with this concern, as I read so many of the same complaints in these forums. (I would hate to see the commercial links go, too.  But to suggest that it is just my hubs would be in error). Again, I think HP should decide what kind of site it wants to be ... it was much different a few years ago but then again, so was the internet and Google's search algorithms.   I have previously questioned the selection of what is "appropriate" and what isn't, and receive answers that don't make sense because the hubs and their ad capsules are, indeed,  the same -- but it is at a moderator's discretion and that can mean anything to any person. I rarely put ad capsules in anything now because no matter how on target they are to a subject's matter, the bottom line is ... HP really doesn't want them anymore.

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   2. 96

      Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Did that capsule generate sales?

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      1. 96

         TeriSilverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         No time to find out; the article had only been online for less than 48 hours.

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   3. 93

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Teri,
      
      Was the Hub about how to plant and grow dogwood trees? If it was just about the trees in general, an ad for the seeds would be considered unrelated.

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      1. 96

         TeriSilverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi, Christy, thank you for your response.  The article is about how adding these trees to a yard or landscape would generate color, beauty, etc. and it lists different varieties of dogwoods based on color and height. Adding these trees to a landscape would require planting -- either by seed, seedlings, cuttings or established saplings.  The eBay capsule was about seeds, I think -- it may have been saplings; I cannot remember now.  The article did mention USDA zones, soil testing, location and choosing varieties based on colors and heights.  I can't say I understand why an ad for seeds is unrelated to any of this -- one cannot add add trees/flowers/shrubbery without having seeds/cuttings/ saplings, etc. -- but so be it.  Thank you for putting this piece in your niche site.

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         1. 93

            Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Could you post a link to the Hub? I'll take a closer look.

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            1. 96

               TeriSilverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               https://dengarden.com/gardening/Ohios-Dogwood-Trees.  It's OK, I don't care all that much for the eBay capsules anyway -- depending on the article -- but I am still not clear, I guess, on what is "relevant."  I was trying to follow your previous advice but it doesn't seem that all the HP moderators see things the way I do.  Thanks,  t

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               1. 93

                  Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Ah, I think the issue here is that the title, the Hub's subject, and the product are not tightly tied together. I'd recommend elaborating on your title to make it clear to your readers what you're talking about. Maybe something like "Why Ohio Residents Should Plant Dogwood Trees" In that case, a section on how to plant the trees that included a capsule for dogwood seeds would be appropriate since the Hub's title, the text, and the product would all be about planting dogwood trees.
                  
                  As it is, your Hub's title states that it's about dogwood trees in Ohio and the Hub gives general information about dogwood trees and is not tightly focused specifically on planting them, which is likely why the editor did not think a product would be necessary to a reader just looking for more information on dogwood trees.
                  
                  Hope that helps to make the snipping process a little clearer. Some things the Snip Editors ask themselves are "Is the reader coming here to buy?" and "Is this product likely necessary for anyone who lands on this article?" Someone looking for more information on growing dogwood trees is probably not there to shop, but seeds or saplings are necessary for anyone getting started growing dogwood trees and they're also something it's unlikely your readers will already own. But if your readers are just there to look up info on dogwood trees in general (as your title implies) they probably only want info and not products, since they aren't necessarily looking up how to grow dogwoods.

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                  1. 96

                     TeriSilverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     Thank you for your input.

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2. 96

   TeriSilverposted 8 years ago

   Updated to say that this piece was moved to the new niche site "*Dengarden"), which I kind of wondered may have happened (when the piece was snipped). But again, the ad capsule was relevant, so it makes me wonder if HP really just doesn't want the new sites having eBay or Amazon capsules which essentially compete against the ads placed by them or Google. That makes sense, but again, why have them at all, then?  Sigh, OK,.... That's cool. Oy.

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   1. 92

      Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I had an article snipped before it was moved to Dengarden. There had been two Amazon capsules on that article, and only one was removed. They were both tools that were discussed in the body of the hub. I don't know if they just thought two was too many. My main point is, they did leave one.

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   2. 85

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You will find that the hub moved to the new niche will get better views than it did before...at least this has been the case for many people.
      
      I have had hubs moved to the niches also, and have been able to keep a few of my Amazon ads there.  The others they simply added in as links.
      
      They are being extremely careful with this issue because they don't want Google downgrading these sites the same way the have downgraded HP.
      
      Lots of people are complaining about this, but the truth is that many here have placed far too many ads on their hubs and that is one of the reasons HP has made this move.
      
      Be happy you had a hub moved over because in the future, I believe that's where the money and views will be.

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3. 91

   VirginiaLynneposted 8 years ago

   I went through and took out all of my eBay capsules which weren't earning anything since we no longer get anything for views.  I'm eliminating a lot of my Amazon ones but keeping the ones I get regular revenue from.  I do get a good steady stream from Amazon but almost all of that comes from about 4 Hubs out of my 300, although I will randomly get sales that I know aren't advertised on my Hubs.  I'm guessing that people click through my Hub and then buy other things once they are on Amazon.

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4. 84

   Azure11posted 8 years ago

   I've had exactly the same problem on 2 of my hubs that have been moved over to new sites. Both hubs only had one Amazon capsule on with a single relevant product and both of those were removed. There was also a link on one of the hubs to an external site (one of mine) which had some really useful info very much related to the hub and that was snipped too. Seems to me that HubPages are trying to eliminate all external links...
   
   I'm not going to bother to complain as I am in the very slow process of moving a lot of stuff to my own sites due to lack of traffic on HP :-(

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