The "Maven Recommends" Widget

1. 83

   samanthacubbisonposted 4 years ago

   This new feature is a handy widget that appears at the bottom of your screen with suggested articles. These suggestions are related to the site you are on, and only appear when you scroll up (aka, when you are ready to move on to the next read). Instead of having to backtrack to the top of the page, this feature will make it easier to keep your flow going.
   
   We apologize for not sending out a notification sooner, we were ironing things out right up to the last moment!
   
   

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      Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Nice! I think this is a great addition

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         Patty Inglish, MSposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         It pops up on my downward AND upward scrolls halfway down any desktop or laptop page on HP, hurts my eyes, and causes a physical headache for me.

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         chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         This Maven Recommends pop-up is ill thought out and will undermine the niche site value. Viewers will leave and I can't blame them.
         
         
         It needs to be removed immediately.

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   2. 96

      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sorry but this is a very serious issue. Any pop-up at any time on an article is potentially a disrupter and that can lead to immediate abandonment of the page. It just doesn't work. It will put people off. And once they know this pop-up will appear on a site they'll avoid it. Simple.
      
      
      The majority of my viewers need to spend a decent amount of focused time on a page. Having a pop-up repeatedly in their faces isn't conducive to close study.
      
      Perhaps the HP/Maven team need to get round the table again and rethink. We've just had a Google update which may affect some niche sites negatively. This Maven Recommends pop-up will only add to the confusion.
      
      This pop-up should be removed before it's too late.

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         Sue Adamsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         +1- Popups are a no-no in any circumstances. They are spammy, offensive and annoying; an invitation to quit reading the page they appear on.

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      OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I'm finding this feature annoying.  Can anyone on the team explain why this is a good idea?  Was any testing done before rollout?  Is any monitoring of reader engagement being done subsequent to rollout?  I'm anxious about this new feature because I am finally (after many years) starting to get significant traffic increases and not incidentally making good money.  I don't want to lose traffic or money because someone got the brilliant idea that popup recommendations would be a value add without considering the impact on readers, authors and niche sites.

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      Jean Bakulaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Why should we keep writing high quality articles to have annoying pop ups appear on them to distract our readers? My earnings are so low now I don't even bother to write.

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         lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         But the problem is that this hub of yours is on hubpages.com. There are no good hubs that are left on hubpages.com unless they are new or the author has a lot of hubs and is waiting for the 14 days to pass before the next submission. The lack of good hubs results in bad recommendations. Try checking out the niche sites and you will see better-related hubs and recommendations.

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            Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            That's not entirely true. I have a few good ones left on HP and I don't have a lot of articles waiting for submission. The staff is taking a long time going through ques and no longer gives us the option to resubmit without wasting another submission. One of mine the staff has had in its que for over a year now. It gets some traffic, but I'm stuck waiting for the staff to finish it before it can be moved. I've edited and resubmitted a few times but it still hasn't moved so its not going anywhere any time soon.

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               lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Over a year!? That's a long time.

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                  Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Yep and I've contacted staff, but they can't do anything. I've done the edits, but I'm done wasting submissions on it. I've pretty much given up on it at this point and am putting my efforts elsewhere.

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                     lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     So it's getting rejected for some reason? I had one like that and I have no clue when it was finally moved.

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                        Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                        It was "accepted" but needed a few edits. Was moved to the que for the staff to edit before they move it. I was given a few suggestions to complete and resubmit, but it still wasn't accepted and moved.

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                           lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                           Okay.

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                           Glenn Stokposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                           In addition the the suggestions they gave you, did you go through all the requirements for a stellar hub and update to get to a 10 rating on the QAP scale?
                           
                           I once wasted a submission and had to wait 60 days to resubmit. I learned my lesson from that and started checking all my updates against the QAP rating scale. I always tried to reach a 10 rating on the scale and now have all my hubs in niche sites.
                           
                           Here is the scale...
                           https://hubpages.com/help/hub_hop_table#informational

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            Jean Bakulaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I'm not sure I understand. I don't have any work left on Hubpages, all I have is articles on niche sites.

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      OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Okay, that was weird.  I just finished writing a new hub and went into preview mode to check the formatting, etc.  The new Maven Recommends widget appeared as I scrolled.  Why?  It's a preview, not a published hub that the entire internet can read.  No one is going to see it except me before I hit the Publish button.

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2. 97

   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   The problem is that a reader may need to examine a diagram in an article, and have to scroll up and down several times, referring backwards and forwards between text and image. So this is very annoying when it suddenly blots out the screen.

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. This pop-up will undermine the viewer's experience and they might not return once they know the whole niche site is being bugged by these nauseating things.
      
      I think the HP team need to get rid asap.

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   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   Just saw this thread, and as I commented on another, yes it does seem to show only on an upward scroll. I'm happy with that, but an upward scroll can happen pretty much anytime.
   
   Question: do people really scroll upwards when they are done reading? I would think they just hit the back button or the x to close the tab.
   
   Instead of saying Maven recommends why not say we recommend? I know it's all about getting the Maven name out there, but Maven recommends on a Dengarden article when the hubs are all from Dengarden anyway? Isn't it about niche site branding too? Why not say Dengarden recommends? Lots of management in this decision and I do not expect an answer, but I had to throw it out there.

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I've emailed the team because I think this is a potential disaster. It needs to be removed asap.
      
      Many of my viewers need focused time on a page and because I deal with close-up analysis mostly for students they'll not tolerate a distracting pop-up.
      
      
      I'm all for innovation but this idea seems not to be have been thought through.

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   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years ago

   Hmmm, I'll have to try it out on mobile, eugbug. I'm not seeing the feature on my laptop anyway.

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5. 97

   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   I think it would be better to popup the widget when a user clicks/taps the back button after reading a niche site article and before they return to SERPs or their previously visited page. At that point they may be more inclined to browse the related content. Doing it while they're trying to navigate an article is distracting.

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   Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

   I saw it this morning. First impression, not happy with it because pop-ups are passe. It is piggybacking my article, and I am trying to be in Maven shoes and understand the purpose of these ads.  I don't get it. Why would someone click on another article if they are reading my well-written piece?
   Brandon has a good point, keeping continuity with the niche site is advised.  "HubPages" recommends or "Dengarden" recommends. "Maven" popping up is non-sequitur and confuses the reader. 
   I suggest surveying HubPages writers beforehand because we know more about our site and how it influences our readers.  Please add a turn off button.
   I want to like this new feature, but it's irritating, and my readers will not like it.

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I've emailed the team because this is a potential monster. I'm not usually so agitated but this pop-up is going to turn people off and once they know the thing is site-wide they'll not want to return.
      
      I hope the HP/Maven people will listen and act. Please get rid of this pop-up.

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7. 88

   Will Apseposted 4 years ago

   It is almost impossible to read a pages comments at the moment. If there is a conversation of some kind you really do need to scroll around to find the beginning of that conversation. As soon as you do that, the stuff you are trying to read disappears.

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      This pop-up is a shocker. It needs to be removed asap or viewers will leave in droves and never return.
      
      I've emailed the team. Please get rid of this bad idea.

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8. 92

   Jodahposted 4 years ago

   I agree with most of the other comments. I did find this annoying at first sight. It may just be a matter of getting used to it, we'll see. I do agree it would be better to say HubPages or the niche site recommends rather than Maven though. Reference to the Maven influence seems to just continue to grow.

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   1. 88

      Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      The problem is that one time visitors are not going to take the trouble to get used to it. They will simply exit.
      
      Also, the links are not all within a particular niche. They got rid of the interlinking of niche sites in the sidebar because it was bad SEO, now they have reinstated it in the popup.
      
      Personally, I hate seeing work being wasted, so I hope they can adapt the feature to work constructively.

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   Brenda Arledgeposted 4 years ago

   This is annoying.  Maybe if it wirked properly it would be ok, but right now it pops up constantly while i am typing a reply.

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10. 96

    EricDockettposted 4 years ago

    I have no problem with this the way it currently appears. Maybe it has changed since yesterday.
    
    The linked content is, for the most part, on the same site and highly related. It appears when you scroll up, but goes away when you scroll down again, so it doesn't seem that intrusive to me.
    
    Problems start when HP links out to crazy, unrelated and sometimes disgusting content on other Maven sites, but that doesn't appear to be happening, at least that I can see. Is someone else seeing it?
    
    I'm sure the Team will be extensively testing, but if this widget can keep people on the niche sites longer it is a good thing for all of us.
    
    The only negative I agree with is that is should not say "Maven Recommends". The reader will likely have no idea who or what Maven is, and might be confused when they look up and see a different name on the banner at the top of the screen. It should be specific to the niche site (Dengarden Recommends, etc).

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Yup, I agree.

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       Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       It is better now. It covers less of the screen and the recommended links seem to be more relevant. Also the X to get rid of the popup is easier to see.
       
       They need to check the visitor reactions, though. See if we get fewer comments, lower dwell times etc.
       
       If there is no improvement in engagement stats, it might not be worth keeping.

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          lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Ah yes, I like it now. It's smaller. Also, the x works and it does not show again.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Lots of other websites are pulling the same stunt and Google apparently hasn't punished them for it; yet. I guess it's welcome to the evolving internet and we shall see.

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12. 98

    Glenn Stokposted 4 years ago

    I discovered this yesterday before seeing this thread.  I agree with everyone else that it is extremely annoying. Pop ups in general are frowned upon. I have no idea why Maven thinks this is good for us. It will have a negative effect, just like when they listed sexual content several months ago, and also when they had annoying “vibrating images” in ads. Now this!  Looks like Maven keeps coming up with dangerous experiments.     
    
    Eric made a good point earlier, that people have “no idea who or what Maven is.” To make this even clearer, readers from organic traffic don’t know Maven, especially since the heading at the top has a different name. In my opinion, I think this will cause people to think the pop up is some kind of spam.

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       chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Glenn, I agree 100%. I'm trying to picture one of my viewers intent on some serious study of a literary analysis, scrolling up and down for facts and ideas, interconnecting and so on...when suddenly here's an intrusive pop-up splashed with Maven Recommends.
       
       Big or small, pop-ups are an intrusion and are irritating. I think this idea is too risky and will turn people away from the niche sites. I like the theory that says most folk when they're after a quality page of information go for the path of least resistance that is, they prefer not to tolerate interference in their quest for useful and valued content.

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       Sue Adamsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I agree totally

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          Madeleine Claysposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, I agree also. I think these pop-ups are annoying and distracting to readers.

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    Rupert Taylorposted 4 years ago

    I was just on the History.com website and the Maven pop-up appeared at the bottom of the screen. No idea what to make of that, but it looks as though it might drive traffic to our articles.

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       Glenn Stokposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I’ve gotten the same pop-ups there too, as well as on A&E (aenetworks.com).
       
       I noticed that A&E Television Networks and History.com include the Maven logo with the Maven key icon on their sites, indicating that they are “A Maven Channel.”
       
       I’m confused by this, because when I Google “Who owns A&E Networks” I don’t see anything about Maven.
       
       In any case, I don’t think this will bring us traffic though. Their pop up’s (same as we see here) only include articles on their respective sites.

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          Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Maven is a platform provider for the most part. It owns some of the content producers but not all.

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    Wolfyposted 4 years ago

    Severely detracts from the user experience in my opinion.
    
    Google's whole mission is to gauge how a user experience is and rank websites accordingly. If they don't figure this out now, they certainly will in a future update. Hope it doesn't burn all of us too bad when the shoe drops!
    
    Bad idea in my opinion. A definite liability just to get a few extra page views. Might come back to bite!
    
    Ugh.

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    AliciaCposted 4 years ago

    Based on the articles that I've just been reading, the pop-up has moved to just below the last comment. I think this is a much better place for it. The problem is that if it's closed, the pop-up reappears every time a reader scrolls into that area and stays open until it's closed again.
    
    I don't know how many readers will scroll to the last comment repeatedly, but if they do, they are in for a frustrating experience. I discovered the behaviour of the box accidentally when visiting an article with no comments.
    
    Clicking an X on a box generally means you no longer have to see the box during that visit to the site. Having it reappear no matter how many times you click the X or being forced to leave it open is annoying.

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       Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       There is a strong case for only allowing the popup to appear once, lol. It is very annoying if you want to write a comment.

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          AliciaCposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Actually, to be fair I should add another thing that I've realized. When I start to write a comment, the pop-up that I triggered by going to the bottom of the page disappears.

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    eugbugposted 4 years ago

    I'm finding that it still appears in the body of the article, not just after comments. After 3 down/up scrolls, it doesn't appear on the 4th scroll up or subsequent down/up scrolls.

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       Patty Inglish, MSposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I find the same phenomenon, but it disappears for good when I tap the X and no longer hurts my eyes.

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          paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Apparently, HP and Maven like to experiment as much as I do. Hopefully, they are keeping an eagle eye on the comparative bounce and duration rates and will react to anything negative before Google does. And so it goes and so it shall be.

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             Patty Inglish, MSposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             Amen.

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    EricDockettposted 4 years ago

    They seem to be gone now. I am probably the only one sorry to see them go. LOL.
    
    For everything on HubPages there is a reason, I suppose.

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting. I wonder if it's temporary or if the stats show that it was not doing what it was supposed to.

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       chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       The pop-ups have gone? RIP. Or good riddance. Common sense prevails for once. I really think they were unnecessary. I wait biting my nails for Maven's next innovation......

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    Will Apseposted 4 years ago

    Perhaps it fell into the same pit as the stats. Which I think has giant, intelligent spiders at its lower depths.

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    LongTimeMotherposted 4 years ago

    With my Iphone held landscape, the Maven box completely filled my screen. Original page was easily forgotten by a reader who may find the recommendations interesting. Not a good look for easer engagement/ time spent on the page.

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       chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Which site you were on at the time and have you tried it in the last few minutes?

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    It looks like pop-ups have left on my end.  If it is true, then HP/Maven heard us and got rid of them. That is a good thing.

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       chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I really hope these horrible things have died a quick death. But which site you were on? Only one, or several?

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          lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          I've only checked 2 articles on Dengarden.

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       If it truly is gone, I doubt it is because of us. It's going to be based on data. If it were due to us we'd have a staff response here.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    True. But, they are not quick to respond. It would be nice to know that the pop-ups are off permanently, and if so, why?

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       samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       The pop-ups are not permanently off, we are doing routine operational adjustments.

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          Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          You have developed an Eliza mode, lol. Probably a reasonable response to these forums...

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          lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Nice. I liked the result of the popups.

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    Glenn Stokposted 4 years ago

    It may be gone here, but Maven still has it on History.com stories.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    I think the pop-ups affected the CPM. DANG!

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Just checked, my CPMs are in the ball park of the highest they have ever been even the last update from June 11th. Very similar to this time last year, way more than the previous years. Hopefully, yours recover soon.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    Yes. My stats were doing well before this pop-up snafu.

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting. Should bounce back up then.

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          samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          The intent of this project is to help readers discover more quality content to follow up with on that particular network site. We are monitoring user engagement and will be making adjustments to improve user experience based off of our findings.
          
          Your articles will be promoted on nearby pages, which should increase traffic and direct readers that are looking for the next thing to you.

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             Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             Why would readers want to "discover" articles not related to what they are reading? Not to mention it still pops up when scrolling, which is kind of a nuisance when you're trying to find something.
             
             Owlcation has a plethora of unrelated topics. If I'm reading a humanities article I'm likely not going to be interested in electrical engineering which is a very specific and in my experience hard subject to learn. If I'm not looking to learn about engineering the pop ups are annoying and irrelevant. Will these pop ups eventually 100% relate to the content being read or just whatever is on that particular niche site?

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    Okay. My stats are doing better, so the CPM should follow with that. I will know more tomorrow.
    In general and overall, my stats and CPM are doing far better than last year at this time.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    I am not sure what that is...

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       Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       It is fairly obscure, but not impossibly so. So I ain't helping, lol.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    I feel a meme coming on here. Or not.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    am no longer able to do memes.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    Certain niche sites are proactive, while others are not. I edited one, and it moved over. The other one is still sitting there in the queue for an edit. I edited it once, and it hasn't moved over yet. I can't even remember which article. It's been so long. 

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    One of my articles your editors/curators rejected has hit big-time on my website. Actually, now that I look at it, more than one.
    
    Not self-promotion; you will not find the link on my profile; don't go there.
    
    Meanwhile, HP is doing good. The money keeps coming in (sentence ends with preposition, gasp!!!).

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Coming up on a decade this October. @HP: You have been good to me.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Miscommunication is a problem. My previous post was sincere, not sarcasm. You guys have been gold. You, and I do mean you, have affected my life these last 10 years.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    That is awesome, Jean.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    

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       Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Your distinctiveness will be assimilated one day.

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          paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Now that is gold.

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