HubPages
HubPages is a user generated content, revenue-sharing website founded in 2006. It was a startup that struggled over ten years until its acquisition by Maven in 2018. The company acquired its main competitor, Squidoo, in 2014[1]
| Type | Web publishing |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, USA |
Key people | Paul Edmondson, Founder and CEO |
Number of employees | 24 |
| Website | hubpages.com |
History
The site launched on August 5, 2006, funded by a US$2 million investment from Hummer Winblad.[2] The three founders, Paul Edmonson, Paul Deeds, and Jay Reitz, are former employees of Microsoft and were part of the startup MongoMusic.[3]
It raised $8 million between 2007-2008 and has not been able to raise any since and struggled for the next ten years.[4]
In 2011, traffic to revenue-sharing sites, including HubPages, was slashed following changes to Google's algorithm ("Panda").[5] Over the ensuing years, HubPages made strenuous efforts to recover from the setback, while most of its competitors gave up and closed their doors. In 2014 HubPages acquired its largest competitor, Squidoo, in a friendly takeover.
In 2016, HubPages announced it was moving from a single-site to a multi-site structure with the introduction of separate "vertical sites". Each site contains articles covering a group of broadly related subjects.
In 2018, it was acquired by Maven which gave investors a mild payout.[4]
Membership
Members post informational articles and earn a share of the income from those articles through the HubPages Earnings Program. At one time, having an AdSense account was a prerequisite for being a member but no longer.
See also
References
- "Squidoo To Move Content Over To HubPages After Being Acquired - Search Engine Journal". 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
- Arrington, Michael (2006-08-05). "HubPages Launches, Gets $2 m from Hummer Winblad". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- Arrington, Michael (7 February 2006). "HubPages, a better Squidoo?". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- Levy, Ari (2018-01-06). "After 12 years and endless fights with Google, start-up HubPages finds a buyer". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
- McGee, Matt (2013-02-25). "Google Panda Two Years Later: The Real Impact Beyond Rankings & SEO Visibility". Searchengineland.com. Retrieved 2017-10-28.