<loud_yell>Whoooooooo!</loud_yell>
We rolled out RealRank last Wednesday and crossed our fingers. I had a pretty good feeling that we created something that our advertisers would find value in, but you never know until you see the numbers. The first few days were admittedly slow (and scary). Opp creation was down in general during the Thanksgiving holiday, but since then utilization of RR has picked up a bit. Well, I’m lying. More than a bit.
In fact 60% of all Opps created since Thanksgiving day have used the RealRank requirement. I am both excited and relieved. I truly believe that this the path towards higher quality bloggers in our system…leading to better ROI for advertisers…leading to more advertisers..leading to better pay for bloggers and so on. I am hoping to see that RR utilization number climb over time as we have more blogger adoption.
No-Follow Option Coming
By weeks end we will roll out a new No-follow option for advertisers in PayPerPost. No-follow has always been something that advertisers could specifically ask for, now we have made it as easy as clicking a button. Bloggers that are more comfortable with no-follow sponsored posts should hopefully see more and more opportunities over time.
We had already committed to required no-follow in SocialSpark (prior to the Google Blogosphere Rampage), now advertisers will have the option to easily do so in PayPerPost.
Most of the opps I’ve seen utilizing RR have also asked for PR, which the majority of us long time PPP users no longer have. Will you be continuing to allow advertisers to select a RR / PR combo?
The Pr RR combo is hurting a lot of us. I’ve seen a lot of RR’s out there too but so many more bloggers could take an op if they didn’t include PR as well.
The Pr RR combo is hurting a lot of us. I’ve seen a lot of RR’s out there too but so many more bloggers could take an op if they didn’t include PR as well.
okay, my question is going to come out a little lame. “required no-follow” means we must put back the “nofollow” into our template? we have removed the nofollow then when some opps required it. is that what you mean? or am i saying the opposite. (and how to put it back is going to be a mini headache because removing it is one thing, and putting it back is another, because i wouldn’t know where to slot it back.) am i the only one who is dumb in understanding simple language. i am so sorry.
Perhaps if the PR were to be left in, advertisers should be charged more and make it a higher paying rank. Two of my sites dropped from 4 and 3 to a big old ZERO, obviously hurting my money but my main site which is 90% non-paid only dropped from a 5 to a 4. I think that maybe it is just a matter of content and how much of it we have as far as Google goes.
Either way, I agree with Colleen in that it was a major hit in the $. Most of the paid posting that I have done over the last three weeks has been other than PPP simply because the great majority of the decent paying opps that I had been taking require PR5+
The way I see it, advertisers are hooked on Google PR as much as breast fed babies to their mom’s tits.
mistipurple, adding nofollow would mean just adding it to THAT one link, not your whole blog.
Thank you Jade.
Can’t say that I can agree with your thought process Richard about matter of content vs. paid posts. I have over 130 entries on my site and less than 10 percent of those are sponsored posts. My page rank went from a 2 to a 1, and finally to a 0.
I admittedly don’t take a slew of opps because I want them to fit into the parameters of my blog. Live by the niche, die by the niche, but apparently to Google that doesn’t matter either.
Anyway, just my two cents on it.
I guess I’m wondering the same thing as everyone else. Is PR always going to be an option or will that be phased out?
If “no follow” is made a requirement instead of an option, that would make the RR/PR combo worthwhile, and Google couldn’t claim IZEA is selling better PR to advertisers. Posties should also get their PR back.
I got mine back in about a week, as an aside.
Well I’ve seen 0% of the 60%. Likely due to the the PR/RR combo. I used to get a lot of great ops and was pulling quite literally ten times what I’m able to earn right now.
Is it because my RR is bad or a RR/PR combo that I can no longer meet since the Google bashing? Who knows? I think my RR is good, but with no yardstick to compare against, I have no idea if I’m near the front of the pack or in the back. While the transparency in the formula is nice to see, the rankings, without a reference point, are absolutely baffling.
I had a PR rank of 4 and it dropped to 2. I wasn’t making much money, but it was something. However, my RR has ranged from 155-174 which I think puts me way in the top 10%. I’m still seeing nothing worth taking. It is frustrating because I have a well-visited blog on many levels and am selective about the opps I take, only taking those that I think would truly interest a significant portion of my readership. But with the combo of PR/RR, I’m getting plenty of nothing.
I really hope RR works out!
Why was my email posted when it said it would not be?
Hmm, some ppl have their email linked here, and some don’t. Not cool, really. Can you guys fix this?
NoFollow Option Coming
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Im really new to all this get paid to blog&#…
Ah, how nice. Just this morning I made my official drop to a big 0 on PR. So glad to finally join the ranks of the whacked.
My newer blog I haven’t touched in over a month and gets only a tiny fraction of traffic compared to my main blog (but no PPP) is still firmly a 4.
Maybe it will be a 0 shortly too. Coincidence I posted to this discussion and all the sudden I was a 0? Maybe. If my other one miraculously plunges, I guess we’ll know the Google eyes were here and out to get me.
No, I’m not paranoid. Just annoyed.
It hurts to see all the high $ opps which I would easily qualify for based on Alexa rating and RealRank but because I’m a zero PR from a 4, I can only watch them with 0 votes meaning these ads are going unfulfilled.
What is Izea going to do with EXISTING ads on the system that are not fulfilled due to the zero PR of posties? Can the advertisers be notified and somehow ask that the opps be based on blog traffic(Alexa and RealRank)?
yup….I just lost ALL pr on my multiple blogs…what a rude awakening!
first from 4′s and 3′s to 2′s, finally to 0′s…
I think its interesting that even at this late point in time Pr is still changing. By the way Sb its the same with me. i had blogs I hardly did anything with at all with almost no traffic and they still have Pr to this day.
This PR thing is really very frustrating. I have 3 blogs for PPP with PRs of 4,3,3. But then all of them got a PR2 after 2 weeks and now, it’s finally zero. I used to grab plenty of high paying opps, but that was already history.
Google, give us our PR back!
I am sorry but this is the dumbest thing I have heard so far about the backlash from Google.
Why would any advertiser want their link nofollowed? This is ridiculous. PPP has been successful because it is a source of good quality links with specified anchors.
You guys really need to think about what you are doing, why you are doing it and if the market even wants it. I spend a lot of money on PPP both for my own sites and on behalf of clients. I can tell you we don’t want real rank (as it is today) and we don’t want nofollow.
I also have never been surveyed so I assume you are not asking your market what it wants, just deciding what we want and giving it to us. Perhaps you guys should phone up some folks who were IBM execs in 1978 and ask how well that works out.
Jack Spirko
I am sorry but this is the dumbest thing I have heard so far about the backlash from Google.
Why would any advertiser want their link nofollowed? This is ridiculous. PPP has been successful because it is a source of good quality links with specified anchors.
You guys really need to think about what you are doing, why you are doing it and if the market even wants it. I spend a lot of money on PPP both for my own sites and on behalf of clients. I can tell you we don’t want real rank (as it is today) and we don’t want nofollow.
I also have never been surveyed so I assume you are not asking your market what it wants, just deciding what we want and giving it to us. Perhaps you guys should phone up some folks who were IBM execs in 1978 and ask how well that works out.
Jack Spirko
@Jack Spriko
While it sounds like you are only interested in SEO the majority of advertisers using our system are not. While there are some benefits to using PPP for SEO that is not our core value proposition. We would be foolish to create a business based solely on someone else’s algorithm that we can neither control nor decipher.
We are not taking away your option to create a link without no-follow, we are instead providing an option for those bloggers and advertisers who prefer no-follow. Given that the overwhelming majority of the online advertising media has no weight on SEO, the market is still considerable.
If you are solely interested in SEO I can understand that RealRank wouldn’t have much appeal. RealRank is a measure of traffic and influence, not Google juice.
You can still choose PR for segmentation, though you should recognize that we operate a marketplace with supply and demand constraints. There are still very many bloggers that have PR intact, however I would be surprised if your SEO focused Opps get filled at the same rate or cost given the overall fear of being deranked.
We still very much so want and appreciate your business, but I encourage you to look beyond just the SEO benefits as that doesn’t tell the whole story.
I’m in the same boat with most of the other posties here. I’ve been selective about accepting opps. I was a t a very happy PR3 with expectations of a comfy PR4, then all of a sudden I’m at 2, then 0. Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. the problem is, I have no idea if my RR score of 378 is good, bad or otherwise… I’ve also had all of my other blogs dropped to PR 2′s, so there aren’t a whole lot of higher paying opps left.
I am looking forward to the nofollow option, perhaps we can all go bow to google at that pint and grovel enough to get some ranking back…
Sorry about my spelling. My fingers just aren’t cooperating with me today.
Jerry: From what I can ascertain, 378 is pretty good. Mine is 1670 and I think that puts me with a RR of 6, which means top 40%. I would imagine with yours being that much lower than mine, you are easily a RR 8 if not a 9.
Ted: It is good to see someone dedicated to helping everyone, instead of caving to sarcastic, even snarky individuals. My only hope is that some advertisers go away from requiring RR and PR, because while my RR is decent enough to take some good ops, my PR has disappeared.
Chris, Thanks for the information! I know that as far as PR went, I have a lot of inbound links from sites with a PR of 5 and 6, but as of three days ago that became a mute point. Of course in a food blog it’s pretty easy to get a fairly high PR without an awful lot of traffic, because nearly 100% of my traffic is highly qualified.
Pardon me but I am not an SEO expert but here is how I understand this whole thing translated on layman’s terms.
For businesses who want to be on the top searches on Google, they can go straight to Google and buy advertising from them. Why go through an SEO business(link reseller, middleman) if you can go to the right to source?
For businesses who want to be talked about and reach out to blog readers, they go to Izea.
As a consumer, I have learned about alot of companies who offer different products that I can personally use, so in a way they are already advertising to us 80,000+ consumers.
Well, my blog still has a PR of 4 but I just looked and I have a RR of 0. So, does that mean that because I didn’t get slapped by Google that my blog isn’t worth any PPP stuff? I don’t get it. So, so far I’m not a fan of what you’re doing here with the RR.
Gerri: Make sure you have the PPPTools (ITK) installed on your blog. Without them , you won’t get a RealRank.
@Gerri, it’s just a matter of time until Google’s eye turns on you. We PPP bloggers are marked with the scarlet letter, I had a PR 4. It takes time for the bots to crawl the web.
I agree with Jack Spirko 100%! All his objections are right on, and it’s not in Izea’s best interest to brush us off.
A no-follow link is worthless. Unfortunately, so is the idea that “buzz” alone is going to generate sales anywhere *near* worth the investment–clueless companies who advertise on no-followed sites notwithstanding. Don’t be fooled by big advertisers who say they want it; those companies almost surely (99.99999% chance) have outsourced their web campaigns to shops with no sense for Internet marketing.
Currently, getting REAL links at PPP is still an option, but I have a sense of foreboding for the future here. Your Social Spark holds no sparks for me; I read all I needed to when I saw “no-follow mandatory” there.
Ted, you claim that most advertisers aren’t here for the SEO. Have you done any surveys to show this, or is it your speculation? Because IMO, most people DO buy links *precisely* for SEO–and then make up other reasons, in order to avoid the Google hammer. SEO is the entire reason an advertiser wants specific anchor text; if not for SEO, any anchor text would do.
As for PR, I couldn’t care less what Google claims the PR on a site is. The fact is, lots of posts with DO follow, coming from all over the place, makes for better ranks in the actual results pages. (But, since Google seems to be using some dumb program to lower visible PR, I put their URL in for this post just for kicks. It would be funny if they PR-0′d themselves…that’d teach ‘em to be more careful, if only because the entire Internet would laugh!)
Someone asked why not just advertise directly with Google…it’s because Google has a ridiculous algo to crack just to get PAID ads showing, too, not to mention the fact that they charge way too much. So if we’ve still got to crack one, might as well be the Big One.
Before we all get further confused here, let us define the word—> OPTION:
1. the power or right of choosing.
2. something that may be or is chosen; choice.
3. the act of choosing.
for more info: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/option
Izea is giving an option to advertisers and not forcing them to use the no-follow tag.
From my blog: “….Companies can just take the easy way route and advertise with Google. But you see with smaller companies, they can’t afford to make high dollar bids for keywords just like the big companies do. So what option do smaller companies have to get an edge on the online marketing? ”
http://mygoodfinds.org/2007/11/27/a-call-for-change-with-seo-businesses/
Google doesn’t like Manipulating PageRank (w/c is being implemented now and Izea happens to get the brunt)
For search-engine optimization purposes, some companies offer to sell high PageRank links to webmasters.[7] As links from higher-PR pages are believed to be more valuable, they tend to be more expensive. It can be an effective and viable marketing strategy to buy link advertisements on content pages of quality and relevant sites to drive traffic and increase a webmaster’s link popularity. However, Google has publicly warned webmasters that if they are or were discovered to be selling links for the purpose of conferring PageRank and reputation, their links will be devalued (ignored in the calculation of other pages’ PageRanks). The practice of buying and selling links is intensely debated across the Webmastering community. Google advises webmasters to use the nofollow HTML attribute value on sponsored links. According to Matt Cutts, Google is concerned about webmasters who try to game the system, and thereby reduce the quality of Google search results.[7]
–From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank
Ted,
I suggest you listen to Remington here. I can tell you I did not influence his words when he asked you if YOU ASKED your customers why they buy.
Now you responded to my rant about this on my blog and I just got done responding and then came over here. Go read my response, a survey of your paying customers was my main recommendation.
How can you tell us what your core value prop is if you don’t ask your customers? Let me be clear, you don’t tell your market what your value is, they tell you. I strongly recommend that you ask them. Not doing some is a good way to get then answer in a way you really don’t want it.
Just so you know I am not picking a fight or complaining just to complain. I am trying to point out a very big mistake. I agree with Remington this nofollow thing seems real bad, like a gathering storm.
SEO is the main driver of your business, again if you don’t think so, just ask those of us paying the bill.
The nofollow decision is a good one.
David, perhaps you could say “why”. A comment simply that something is “good” doesn’t really mean all that much.
Jack,
You make some good points, but if PPP decided to market on SEO alone then their won’t be a business for much longer. All the blogs in the system would be rendered useless by the GREAT SEARCH ENGINE algorithms.
I think that SocialSparks no follow strategy is pretty good. The no follow links are the mandatory ones. The “optional links” are ones that you can choose to add or not (and don’t have the no follow). My guess is that most bloggers will add these links. Otherwise, they’ll suffer your wrath in the advertising ratings. The difference is that the blogger chose to put the link without the no follow and so it should satisfy the Google. Maybe Izea should ask to make sure. I know other paid link programs that use no follow asked google and got their approval.
http://www.hotcelebs.org
I know this sounds terrible, but I have actually come up in the world with Google being buttwipes. For some reason (ahem) I could never get any ranking with google and was for ever kicked to the PR 0 bargain basement. Now with RR I am still pretty far down the list (I think I was around 3600) but I am not the complete basement and can get some opps that I don’t think I got before. One way or another I think that many things will change. Google is urinating off a lot of people.
Came up in the world yet again, today I am at 3164! The op I took today requires a minimum RR (on the advertisers side) of 2 and I qualified! That’s more than I ever got with google’s fun fun eternal 0
@Techie
Well only if they keep making Posties identify themselves as PayPerPost bloggers. Why should they, why not just be smart about what we are doing.
Also I am sorry but anyone that thinks SEO is not 75% or more of the Paid Blogging success for all companies is fooling themselves.
Like I and others have said ask the advertisers and get the answer. I am publishing an article Monday that will explain how bloggers can protect themselves from this Google Socialism, check then and protect your blog right away.
Yes and it looks like this nofollow storm is gathering. I noticed that this very blog and all other blogs in this community now nofollow ALL THEIR LINKS.
That was not the case just 48 hours ago, what is the deal with this decision? Has Google intimidated you guys into applying link condoms to your own blog?
I can’t speak for everyone Jack, but I know that I personally, have not put nofollow on any of my links. I feel that I can live with Google’s take that my PR is a zero, despite the fact that I still get the same, if not more traffic, and the same inbound links as before.
I am sure there are some people who went nofollow in an effort to placate Google, but don’t lump all of us in the same boat.
I did a good write up between RR PR and PS – It’s my opinion on how to get extra money by manipulating Google PR !! My blog RR is 37 today and I does not seen any opps left for me since the PR gone down to 0.
How if PPP being strict to advertiser for not choosing PR. Just you RR by the way in can helps us to back on our feet again
Chris,
I was talking about the Community of blogs here at IZEA. These blogs never used to have nofollow on their links even the comments were not nofollowed. As they redirected through a typad blog script it didn’t matter and there was no need to nofollow the comments if you happened to believe that was a good idea.
Certainly the links in the body of the posts themselves were not nofollowed in posts the staff did here. Now to be clear no one went in and applied them one at a time. The webmaster applied a command to the header that has effectively nofollowed every link in the blog, all of them.
This sure looks like playing nice for Google to me and that is quite concerning,
Jack,
My mistake for misinterpreting your statement. In my defense, it was late and I was tired, so I probably simply misconstrued it.
For me, I don’t put any faith in what Google puts for a number on me…since the traffic was there before I had a PR, and is there after the one I had was taken away. I don’t understand what the huge fuss over it is, or if a zero majorly affects things from the view of an advertiser. Obviously you could enlighten on that topic, as I will admittedly state that I am no expert.
Hopefully, it all works out the best for everyone, but on that front only time will tell.
Do you sell links? This is the best SEO plan ever!
In my humble opinion, the only one gaining from this RR deal and PR fiasco is really PPP/IZEA. It will get worse, unless PPP/IZEA plans to roll out its own search engine to compete with Google?
My blog has gone now from the current PR2 to zilch. The other blogs of mine in the PPP system would probably follow suit soon.
What do I get in return? A fluctuating RR on a daily basis!
What does it profit a blogger when his/her PR has slid to zero and has no opp to speak of for a day or two just because of signing up for PPP/IZEA and installing some JAVA code.
For an advertiser, what is the gain when a one-day wonder blog with high RR posts an opp which does not show up in any search engine ranking?
I mean, when the blog’s RR falls back to normal, a PR of zero will ensure that the advertiser’s old opp will get no new exposure because no search engine is bringing traffic.
Any way, let’s not kid ourselves that this PR to zero transformation has anything to do solely with PPP/IZEA’s efforts. The real big picture is the following, from the URL at the bottom:
[....The only clear change appears to be among large scale blog networks and similar link farms, where each site in the network provides hundreds of outgoing links on each page of the blog to other blogs in the network, in some cases creating tens, even hundred of thousands of cross links. Previously such behavior has been rewarded by Google with high page rank, although it would now appear that this loop hole may now be shut.
Blogs in the TechCrunch network (we don’t link heavily on each page..nor do we have a particularly large network) and the Gawker Media network (who like us don’t go nuts with links) maintained their page rank whilst blogs across a range of other networks saw big decreases. The AOL owned Weblogs Inc was not immune, with leading Gadget blog Engadget dropping from PR 7 to PR5, Autoblog (6 to 4) and DownloadSquad (5 to 4)....]
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/24/google-declares-jihad-on-blog-link-farms/
Well, my advertising and marketing blogs, which were PR4s, went to PR2s and are now PR0. My travel blog went straight from PR4 to PR0. What is funny is the amount of traffic sent by Google is the same as it has been.
I am not blogging for bucks or for G@@GLE. I have full disclosure on all sponsored posts (unless advertiser requests no disclosure), site wide disclosure and WOM blogging ethics posted–in other words, I am completely transparent in what I do on all my blogs, and have been since I started doing sponsored posts.
People laugh at me for boycotting G@@GLE. I am serious about it. I no longer user the search engine, I have taken their tracking off my blogs and will soon move my blogs and feeds off their services.
They have no right to tell us what to do on our blogs. We have given them this power. Take it back.
I don’t understand any of this, and am just trying to figure out what is going on. All I know is that my blog, which was a PR3 yesterday, is now a PR0. I’m confused and disappointed. Usually i have at least 40 opps available. Today I have 9.
So will PPP get rid of PR requirements completely then? If not I will be adding “no follow” to all blog posts over 30 days old and remove my blogs from your system. I want my PR back.
I’ve got the same problem as many: on my blog (not posted here), I just got Googlewhacked from 4 to 0. Right now I can see a grand total of five opps, three of which are fully filled, one of which I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole and the other which wants 300 words for $5. I think not.
It’s misleading, and nothing to be proud about, to announce that 60% of your advertisers are using real rank when they are also using page rank. Page rank restricted requirements are useless to me. I thought you said that PR/RR was going to be an either/or proposition, not “both.”
Likewise, what’s so great about 100,000 Posties when you can’t feed most of us more than the scraps? I was making rent with PPP until this time last week. Now, I’m not even coming close.
Seriously: this is not a great situation and I am not impressed. I hope that PPP will concentrate more on customer service (I’m waiting for news on payment of three posts where the system screwed up in the submission process, AFTER I had written and published them), getting rid of or at least making RR vs. PR either/or, and opening SocialSpark than in making empty announcements that don’t help the lifeblood of this company: the Posties.
12,000 advertisers might *sound* great, but they’re not available to me.
I’ve got the same problem as many: on my blog (not posted here), I just got Googlewhacked from 4 to 0. Right now I can see a grand total of five opps, three of which are fully filled, one of which I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole and the other which wants 300 words for $5. I think not.
It’s misleading, and nothing to be proud about, to announce that 60% of your advertisers are using real rank when they are also using page rank. Page rank restricted requirements are useless to me. I thought you said that PR/RR was going to be an either/or proposition, not “both.”
Likewise, what’s so great about 100,000 Posties when you can’t feed most of us more than the scraps? I was making rent with PPP until this time last week. Now, I’m not even coming close.
Seriously: this is not a great situation and I am not impressed. I hope that PPP will concentrate more on customer service (I’m waiting for news on payment of three posts where the system screwed up in the submission process, AFTER I had written and published them), getting rid of or at least making RR vs. PR either/or, and opening SocialSpark than in making empty announcements that don’t help the lifeblood of this company: the Posties.
12,000 advertisers might *sound* great, but they’re not available to me.
TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE PPP IS ONLY AN SEO TOOL:
Many opportunities are being posted using a TinyUrl link. This provides them with absolutely NO seo value whatsoever. I’ve also noticed that some really big sites like Overstock use this. They aren’t concerned with SEO when they buy posts from payperpost; they are looking totally for traffic/buzz. Many advertisers are doing this nowadays, so you’re fooling yourself if you think PPP is only for SEO.
I thought I was having a double-vision this afternoon when I logged in, yesterday I just saw 2 opportunities. When I logged it today there was 22 and all of them has a Google of anyrank and they were based on Alexa and RealRank!
That’s something to celebrate about
, thanks advertisers and IZEA!
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