Last week I wrote about Ezine’s policy changes in response to Google’s Panda Update. Ezine made some strict changes regarding the submission of articles to their directory, and these changes are specifically to combat the poor and duplicate content issues that have caused Ezine to drop in the SERPs. You can read the full article and policy changes here at Ezine Responds to Google’s Panda. Now that Ezine has made some moves to improve the quality of content on their site I can address a personal issue I have with some of the submission policies at Ezine, not regarding rules such as minimum word count, or number of links, but rather a controlling element in relation to the nature of content submitted.
Ezine controlling for quality or another agenda?
I’ve personally experienced some frustration when it comes to submitting articles to Ezine. Perhaps my primary pet peeve with Ezine has been the way they appear to censor or control the content on their site. Controlling a site for quality is one thing, controlling the content to fit your agenda is another.
Wikipedia defines Censorship as “the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.“
No Negative Reviews? You can’t be honest about a poor product at Ezine.
A few months back I submitted an article I wrote about the social advertising network MyLikes. The article was never published at Ezine so it ended up being published here at infocarnivore (If your curious, you can read it here, What happened to MyLikes? A frustrated Review). Why wasn’t it published? The article was not what I would call negative, it was honest observation about what has been happening with an advertising network that has very little quality control. Instead of publishing it here’s what Ezine had to say (in a personal message sent to me):
“We are not able to accept articles that contain negative language in reference to any particular product, company, individual or group. Additionally, we do not accept negative review articles, or articles that have an overall negative tone. I suggest formatting your article to focus on general issues or problems, rather than citing specific people or groups in correlation with those issues.”
An interesting response, obviously a form letter, almost an automated response when my article got flagged for being an honest opinion piece with what they would call a negative tone. I found that response frustrating since I have always striven to be positive and honest. Even my bio declares that “I aim to contribute a positive and encouraging message to the web”. Does that mean I should overlook obvious flaws, or fail to warn people about scams and poor products? Not at all. If Ezine is not a platform that allows content like this then it is clear as an article directory they are participating in some levels of censorship (whatever they consider objectionable) to the
Relevant Information, Ethics aside, still not accepted
Admittedly, I do understand this next point a little more, yet at the same time I still issue with it because they are not allowing people to make their own decisions on issues such as these. Ezine is not (in my opinion) a website that should be telling people what is right and wrong, there role on the web should be to provide information. I submitted an article about torrents and steps one can take to insure that they do not download dangerous torrents (viruses, keyloggers and other risks abound in the torrent community), the article was intentionally written with an ethics aside approach, designed only to provide information. I even included a disclaimer within it, realizing that people will make their own decision whether to utilize torrents for legal or illegal purposes.
Ezine notified me with an email saying,
“I see your article has been placed in problem status because it contains content on Torrents. We do not accept info on torrents because they are used for illegal file sharing, and we cannot accept content on any illegal activities.“
Like I said this makes a little more sense, but is still frustrating. You can read the torrent article here if you like, how to stay safe on a torrent site. If I’ve had this much trouble submitting quality articles to Ezine I’m curious as to who else has run into issues with their article policies. Have you experienced any frustrations submitting to Ezine? Do you think this is censorship, or do you feel they are making the right call in rejecting articles like the ones I mention? I’d be curious to get your opinions. The conversation is on, below.
34 comments
Dino Dogan says:
Apr 28, 2011
So…seriously..what does the button say? What IS the worst part of censorship[? I couldn’t quite make it out lol
Ezines…I dont get it, I dont want to get it. Always made me feel dirty and I find their content sub par. I never found anything useful on Ezine. How is that for a negative review 🙂
Daniel Snyder says:
Apr 28, 2011
Hey Dino. Personally I’ve also never found good content on Ezine, and it is quite clear that the site is primarily used by people looking for backlinks and a way of promoting their other websites. I too use it for that same purpose. To this end I wonder how long Ezine will last, but truthfully I think article marketing in itself will never die.
A. Tatum Jr says:
Apr 28, 2011
The only thing I can figure is they are afraid someone will sue them if they have articles containing negative content about companies. That’s the only reason I see them taking that stance. Seems really silly though.
Daniel Snyder says:
Apr 29, 2011
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Ah well, it’s what it is!
Nishadha says:
Apr 28, 2011
It does seem a bit silly but I guess they have there own reasons for rejecting the articles. Because of there quality control most websites do tend to publish there articles so it is a good way to build back links as long as you write decent articles.
Daniel Snyder says:
Apr 29, 2011
Thanks Nishadha for your comment! Appreciate your visit too. 🙂 Quality control is a good thing, as long as it is more on the quality side and less on the control side.
AIDY says:
Apr 30, 2011
I also learned this about another article submissions site that will not accept or publish negative reviews. I think by not publishing an honest review of a product is serving the consumer a disservice. Is it a form of censorship, if websites like Ezine are restricting negative reviews mostly because if they cannot make money from your “negative” article (people are less inclined to purchase if the review isn’t favorable) it will not be published. It all comes down to money, in my opinion. Usually, money is the reason for censorship.
Christina Crowe says:
Apr 30, 2011
While I do see why Ezine Articles might not allow users to publish content about torrents, I don’t like the fact that they don’t accept negative reviews, especially if they’re honest reviews and aren’t aimed to attack the company in question.
While I’ve read many low quality articles on Ezine Articles, the fact that they don’t allow negative reviews makes me question them further.
I mean, I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions – the Internet is practically flooded with opinion-based articles. And the fact that Ezine Articles is basically trying to control which opinions are published doesn’t reflect well on the company, in my opinion. 😉
Christina
charlene @ Residential Carpet Cleaning says:
May 2, 2011
I can relate to you Daniel, that’s really frustrating. Just don’t dwell on it. Of course, you may still submit your article to other sites with reasonable policies! Ezine has their rules, you have your freedom. It’s gonna be their loss, not yours! Cheers!
Daniel Snyder says:
May 3, 2011
Thanks Charlene for your encouragement. Though I certainly don’t let it bother me, it’s one of those things that needs to be shared with the world.
Straight male escort says:
May 2, 2011
How can a website not allow negative reviews. What happened to constructive feedback? I believe people are far to bubble wrapped these days. Ezine really need to sort that out.
Daniel Snyder says:
May 3, 2011
You got that right, it makes no sense to me at all!
James Pruitt says:
May 2, 2011
I have seen nothing but trouble from Ezine for a year. They have gotten too big for themselves, and have way to high of an opinion of their impact, mainly because all the gurus got behind them. Honestly, I have never really seen that they were any better than any other crap article directory.
Daniel Snyder says:
May 3, 2011
You know James, thinking about what you’re saying here makes a lot of sense, and really shows how what we “follow” on the internet is based a lot on marketing and the opinions of others. Those with real influence can lead many astray should they decide to. Thanks for the thought provoking comment, I see an article coming on.
Mariana says:
May 3, 2011
Ezines can do whatever he wants to try to have a better page rank. Fortunately, there are many other sites for submitting content. Therefore, if you do not agree with their policies, just add your content somewhere else.
Daniel Snyder says:
May 3, 2011
That works too, thanks Mariana!
Alex says:
May 3, 2011
Great post Daniel!
Seriously mate – it’s refreshing to know that I am not the only one. I have noticed their growing trend to not accept my niche articles because, ast hey say ‘They have a commercial overtone and do not answer the promise that the title implies, nor do they add value”
Who are they to say.
I’ve given up on Ezine articles for niche marketing. Not worth my time and effort dealing with the Nazi’s in charge.
Loved the post image by the way 😉
Daniel Snyder says:
May 3, 2011
Hey Alex, thanks for commenting here. Ezine has not proven to provide me with valuable links at all, and the time required to invest in submitting and getting an article published there is painfully long. There are other web 2.0 properties that provide much better links IMO. Thanks for confirming your thoughts!
grace @ wedding favors says:
May 4, 2011
Wow, the “not accepting negative reviews” hit me hard! It’s just not fair! I know some people who just got frustrated with Ezine and just stopped submitting articles to them because Ezine kept on declining them.
Daniel Snyder says:
May 4, 2011
Yeah Ezine is ridiculous, I think I’m done there myself.
Mariana says:
May 5, 2011
It is not censorship. They can enforce any policy they want and it is up to you to comply with it or not. If you think that you are being censored, just publish your article in your own blog or in any other content site.
Daniel Snyder says:
May 5, 2011
Mariana. I was waiting for someone to come along and say it is not censorship. Of course I think Ezine would say that to, after all they have the right to control their own website. And I agree, and do publish content on my own site. My point is beyond that, it goes further to suggest that Ezine is doing its readers and authors a disservice by being so control about the content they allow. In essence they are censoring things based on a personal agenda of theirs.
Thiru says:
May 9, 2011
you are right dani, it is really a tough task to get accepted a article by ezine. so now a days i dint try it out.. but good directory to use..
Daniel Snyder says:
May 9, 2011
Hey Thiru! Thanks for your visit bro.
[BLOCKED BY STBV] Blokube.com says:
May 9, 2011
Ezine’s Tough Article Policies (Some call it censorship?)…
Ezine made some strict changes regarding the submission of articles to their directory, and these changes are specifically to combat the poor and duplicate content issues that have caused Ezine to drop in the SERPs. You can read the full article and po…
Steve@Internet Lifestyle says:
May 13, 2011
Daniel,
It is good to know that I am not the only one having issues with ezine being far pickier and often seeming to exclude articles on some principle, rather than the qauity of the article.
I have written over 500 ezine article in the past. Since Panda, I have done about 10.
They now have lower traffic, Decreased organic seo boost and they make it harder to get published.
I will likely still write the occasional article there, but it hardly seems worth it these days.
Shivam Garg says:
May 23, 2011
Hey Daniel,
I can really understand your problem.But the fact is that they don’t have an alternative apart from taking harsh measures because Ezine is the one which is under the scrutiny radar due to panda update.
Paul Salmon says:
May 26, 2011
Hi Daniel,
Your posts are always well thought out and always cause me to think, which I am not accustomed to :).
Anyway, it can be frustrating to have articles rejected by Ezine for negative reviews or touchy subjects. But lets face it, I wouldn’t really call it censorship.
Ezine is a business, and needs to run it in the most ethical and professional manner it can – all businesses do (behind-scenes-backroom accounting not included).
They can’t allow articles that get them into trouble being published, or there could be legal consequences. Blogger, WordPress.com, and other blogging sites have a TOS that say pretty much the same thing (read it, it is there).
They run the site, and can establish content terms however they wish. As with anything in life, you need to follow rules if you use someone else’s service. People get upset when they can’t post some things online, but they need to ask themselves a few questions. Did you create the service you are using? Do you fund the service? Do you manage the service?
As you have done, Daniel, if you want to express your own opinion, start a blog and write whatever you want. Chances we also have some sort of quality control over our comments. How many blogs allow hateful comments?
Daniel Snyder says:
May 27, 2011
Hey Paul! Thank you for your kind words… glad to inspire some deep thought! 🙂 I agree with you on the fact that this really isn’t censorship, but it does make for a great title, and inspires some reaction. In some regards they are censoring content (but as you point out, we all do that!). Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Mitch Mitchell says:
Jun 25, 2011
Daniel, I have to admit that I’ve never thought about writing review posts and popping them on that site. Then again, it’s not like I have tons of articles there anyway.
I’ve always seen the site as a place to try to highlight my expertise, so to speak. Any article I put on that site was related to what I talk about for my business, hoping to drive people to my sites or my blogs so that they could then see more of what I have to say.
I’m not saying that’s what everyone should do or why I might or might not support what these folks have done. I do know they’re in scramble mode because of both Google and the allowance of what I’ll say was a lot of garbage articles over the past few years. It’s nice that they’ve altered and improved their standards, yet it’s too bad that they might not have expressed their terms of service to a degree that would have explained better what they did to your article.
Still, I’m betting in the end you got better results from having your article on your own site; I’ve always felt that, in general, that’s the better way to go.
Daniel Snyder says:
Jun 27, 2011
This makes a lot of sense to me Mitch, and the way individuals utilize these sites is wide and varied. I think the marketing industry has put so much emphasis on USING article sites for driving traffic back to their own site and for gaining valuable backlinks that these sites have become cluttered with content that is truly not valuable (slapped together and designed to draw people back to their sites)… not that enticing people back to your site is a bad thing at all, obviously that is the point of all this. But with so many garbage sites cluttering a directory like Ezine it became difficult to trust a service like ezine for quality articles. Finding someone like yourself who is actually sharing something valuable is rare, and you should be commended for actually sharing quality content there. I’m glad that I posted that article on my own site, in the end as you say it was much more beneficial for me.
Steve Tully says:
Dec 16, 2011
Interesting read, I have recently started submitting articles to ezines and can understand some of the points you are making.
kader says:
May 21, 2012
Yep this is what those so called exrteps say. Thus why smart marketers use True Article Marketing by Article Productions. While those gurus has everyone running around scared of google, the real marketers can clean up.
Peter Jones says:
Jan 11, 2012
I thought I was the only one having problems with Ezine’s unreasonably tough policies. I work as a writer for a client who submits content on Ezine. My client sent me an email that some articles were rejected because they were too promotional. I was only taken aback. I had to spend the whole morning reviewing their Editorial Guidelines. I even had to compare my articles with some of those recently published ones, and I could say that my articles were just as fine, if not better. The tough rules are ridiculous. The freedom they give for writers is oddly narrow. It’s frustrating.