Disabled Ads

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   Ian McKayposted 6 years ago

   Hi fellow hubbers!
   
   I have started writing an article based on crime and I have got a warning message in the top right of the screen saying 'WARNING: Advertising has been disabled on this Hub based on automatic content filters'.
   
   There are no lurid details of any crimes, it's more a historical look at things. Does this mean ads won't be displayed on the hub if I complete it? I understand that advertisers wouldn't want to be associated with the more lurid details of murders and the like, but this article is't that sort of thing.
   
   I guess what I'm asking is, should I bother completing the article, or scrap it?
   
   Thanks.

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      Jesse Drzalposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Kind of hard to gauge that without a link I think.

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         Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Yes I guess it is. It's about the history of serial killers.
         Obviously I don't want to go to great lengths to do a polished article if it isn't going to be featured though.

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            SmartAndFunposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Perhaps the best route would be to submit a rough draft to HP admin and ask them directly? It is ultimately their decision as to what gets ads and what doesn't. They could guide you better than fellow Hubbers.
            
            If HP decides that they will not place ads on your article, it could still be featured if it passes the quality assessment -- it just wouldn't have ads on it. If the message of your article is something you want to put out regardless, it might be worth it to you to have it published without ads. If your main reason for publishing it is advertising royalties, you may want to publish it elsewhere if HP decides they do not want to place ads on it.

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               Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Ok, thank you for the advice. It's appreciated

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   Wesman Todd Shawposted 6 years ago

   I may be very wrong about this, but I seem to remember that years ago if you wanted to talk about crime and you used the word 'rape' in a page where such a thing would logically be discussed, that merely the use of the word shut down advertising. I may be remembering this wrong, it's been a while, and things may have changed regardless.

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      Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Which I completely understand. Who wants to advertise their product next to such a topic? Unless of course you are selling personal alarms for women I guess. Nevertheless I don't see why a subject should be off limits as long as it isn't being glorified in some way. I am treating the subject in a historical sense.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         The thing you have to remember is that HubPages relies on Adsense for a huge part of its income.  Even the HP Ads program has a large component of Adsense.  If HP lost their Adsense account, they would have to close down because the business would no longer be viable.  Don't think that can't happen - I know of one site that lost its account, and another that came very close! 
         
         So it's not surprising that HubPages interprets the Adsense rules very strictly, because they can't afford to make a mistake.  Their automated filters are based on the Adsense rules.

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            Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Oh I completely agree Marissa. The last thing I would want to see is HP losing it's Google account. I guess I will finish my article and submit it and see what they say. The worst that can happen is I have to delete it

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   iwrite100posted 6 years ago

   Save it first before you delete it. I deleted some of my hubs but I copy-pasted them first to my gmail. It could be useful for other purposes. (ex: use it as sample if you're offering ghostwriting services or you might want to create a website soon.

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      Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Maribel, thanks for the advice.
      
      I have saved a copy of all my hubs so far. I think it's only prudent to do so, given that websites come and go. Whilst HP has been around for some time and hopefully will stick around for a long time to come, you just never know. I'd hate to lose all that work put into research and writing.

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   Ian McKayposted 6 years ago

   Just to update those kind enough to give me advice. I have published the hub as normal. Once the moderators have decided if it meets the required standards to feature it or not, I will update you again on whether adverts are allowed or not. I will decide what to do with it once tht stage is reached.
   
   Again, thanks for the advice!

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      Jesse Drzalposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I think a good tact to follow is to keep as G-rated as possible. That's what I do anyway. But, with your subject matter that can be tough, I just wouldn't be gratuitous about descriptions of violence, things of that nature. Good luck!

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         Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Feel free to take a look if you like Jesse. An opinion is always welcomed.
         
         https://hubpages.com/politics/The-Histo … ial-Killer

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            Jesse Drzalposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I don't see how anyone would have a problem with that.

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               Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Good to know. Thanks Jesse!

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   Jan Saintsposted 6 years ago

   Ads were disabled on a hub of mine about a site review, and the hub is not describing any prohibited or sensitive subject! I think HubPages need to fine-tune their automated filters to make them catch only hubs with sensitive/prohibited content.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      As I explained in my previous post, I can understand why  HubPages wants to set its automated filters to be extra-cautious.  They're protecting their livelihood (and ours) after all.   You can appeal (email the team@ hubpages) - plenty of people have had their ads reinstated after a review by a moderator.  The only snag is that the ads will get disabled again every time you edit the Hub.

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         Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         At the moment, I'm more concerned about building my number of articles, than worrying about ads. I'm trying to build up a sound base to access a Google Adsense account, so quality of article and a decent portfolio seems to be the way to go in order to achieve this. If the ads are disabled on that particular hub, then so be it. I am confident that nothing in that article can be considered to breach any rules of any kind.

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   Heather Ganttposted 6 years ago

   I had this same warning on mine and my article is only about Suicide Prevention because I am an advocate of The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. I read everything and had nothing in the article that was against policy, maybe it was just the word "Suicide" I submitted anyway after I did a check on any material that was prohibited and the search came up 0. So I submitted for a review!  Does anyone have anything they would like to read on, interested in?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      You guess right.
      
      Like I said, HubPages must apply the rules set by Adsense, because it relies on Adsense for its income.  Advocating suicide is one of its "prohibited" subjects.
      
      Obviously, Adsense appears on so many thousands of sites, it's impossible for them to use humans to police them all, so they use automated filters (we call them robots).  The robots are too dumb to read context, all they can do is find words, so that's what they do - look for words. 
      
      The result, of course, is that the Adsense robots see a helpful article about sex therapy the same as a pornographic article, because they're using the same "prohibited" words.   HubPages automated filters are set up the same way, so they have the same issue.

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         Heather Ganttposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         That's crazy that advocating for suicide prevention would be prohibited. You would think they would want this world to lower the rates! I am also an official advocate for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. That's crazy! I could see if you were for suicide, or for killing someone that sort of thing. I looked at my violations and have 0 violations. Just does not make since.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Um - no it's not crazy. I explained why it happens.   The sheer volume of articles being published online (thousands every day) means that it's impossible for them to be monitored by humans, and the robots can only look at words.  If you can think of a way around that, then good for you!
            
            The thing is, there are plenty of opportunities for you to write about the subject if your goal is to raise awareness and help others.  HubPages will happily publish the article and so will many other sites.  You just can't earn money from it through Adsense.

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               Ian McKayposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Ok, final update. The article has obviously been read by a moderator and the disabled ads icon has been lifted from the article. All good Thanks for the comments and advice...

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