I just finished reading Paul Edmondson's explanation of why HubPages lost 22 percent of their traffic on May 3rd, 2015. He seems completely clueless. To him, it's all Google's fault.
Nothing could be further from the truth, in my mind.
Strange how some former Squidoo authors have forgotten how unfair the Squidoo-HubPages deal was to those of us who had no intention of being associated with HubPages.
We were lied to numerous times, had our earnings withheld, and were told our lenses [articles] would disappear if we did not click on a "transfer" button.
Yet, one of the biggest cheerleaders from Squidoo (who turned out to be a bandwidth thief) has been gushing over everything HubPages does. I did a double take when s/he stated this in the HubPages forum thread Squidoo is Gone, Gone, Gone:
"HubPages didn't acquire Squidoo, it only acquired the rights to transfer and host the webpages from that site."
Really? Then why did people need to make a decision?
Just a reminder, former Squidoo authors had to:
Click on a transfer button on their dashboard or respond to an email, follow some link, and input a "code." An email I reported for phishing. [And it really wasn't a choice since our deserved portion of the ad share was withheld if we didn't comply].
Those on holidays, sick, offline, or too busy with other obligations (from August 15th - 29th) were shocked to find their work imported to HubPages (along with their identity and profile) without their consent.
Without their consent.
Seems that some Hubbers only fully understand "without my consent" when HubPages does something to them (like edit their work without their consent).
I think Google understands (now, after numerous writers, not just myself) have complained about HubPages and how egregiously unfair and deceptive the Edmondson's business practices have been.
Do I hate Hubbers? Not at all.
It's not the writers at fault here.
Lastly, I found yet another important piece of evidence that points to HubPages proceeding with their "agenda" long before Seth Godin made any announcement. In that same forum thread Squidoo is Gone, Gone, Gone, toptengamer stated:
"One odd thing about the Squidoo transition, that I just realized, is that many of my best performing Squidoo articles were redirected months before they moved to HubPages."
Months before they moved to HubPages.
Hmm, could the grand plan that Paul Edmondson had be finally unravelling?
For those of you who want to continue to bash Google. Consider this: has Google ever imported your work, identity, and profile; placed THEIR ads on 277 of your articles (4 years worth of your work); kept all your earnings (including any Amazon or eBay royalties)?
ReplyDeleteIf Google did this to just one person, I'm sure we'd all be hearing about it.
So I ask hundreds of you (who witnessed my numerous public protests) does a little money from Paul Edmondson really have THAT much power over you? Because if it does, our online community is suffering terribly.