Why unkown post on my website?
This is a follow up on the above mentioned subject.
After worrying about unkown content on my website, and finally figuring out it had something to do with my Shareaholic plugin, I finally got a reply from Shareaholic after submitting a ticket.
They just added a new feature called "Promoted Content". This content is still in beta testing phase, and doesn't even show on most websites. Where the content is shown (as on mine), I get a revenue for those displays. Pretty cool, I think.
Here I was so worried about someone tampering with my website, although I couldn't see anything suspicious at least according to all the settings. So, for anyone else here that uses Shareaholic, if you see strange posts, don't worry, as long as your security settings are all as they should be.
Recent Comments
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So glad it worked out...and that you kept us informed about the outcome. Thank you for that.
Well, glad to hear it's not something to be concerned about and that you've solved the mystery. Hopefully you'll see the $$$!
Personally, I would not allow any content that I do not personally approve to be placed on my site. As one tries to build trust, credibility and brand themselves within their niche, I would be very cautious. You and/or your site are your brand and reputation. I cannot imagine placing that in the hands of a company that did not advise you first that they were doing it by posting on your site. This is not what I would expect from a credible resource. From what I know about these types of companies, it benefits them far more than you. Of course, it is your site/business… you will do what you will… this is simply my opinion backed up with 20+ years experience turning businesses around.
I would worry about no related content showing up and messing with ranking.. I do not know enough about this to really make an educated comment besides the above. I will be checking it out though in the next couple days.
thanks for sharing what you have found out so far. :)
I agree with you Shawn. The ones displaying on my site were health supplements, so were related to my niche, but they are no longer displayed, as they can be disabled.
I'm seeing a LOT of negative reviews at wordpress.org:
From a 10/27/14 one-star review:
"By default, Shareaholic now earns money from ads on your site, and doesn't inform you of this unless you happen to click the "Edit Monetization Settings" at the bottom of your settings page, where you will see that Shareaholic's ads are turned on "for you."
Shareholic says, for people who happen to discover this:
"Revenue generated from these ads supports Shareaholic so we can continue providing free apps to our valued publishers. To turn this feature off, move toggle to the left."
Also, (from: http://support.shareaholic.com/hc/en-us/articles/201770175)
"You may have noticed that there is now an ad in the "Thank you for sharing!" window that appears after your readers share content from your site...We're displaying these targeted ads* to generate revenue, so we can continue offering free apps that help you expand your reach and make money too!"
From another one-star review on 10/15/14:
"I don't want some other site's unrelated article "How Older Men Are Increasing Testosterone", on my client's recommended posts section.
Shareagarabage UNINSTALLED"
Source: https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/shareaholic
Thanks for the share Bob. At least they give you the option to use it, or not. Mine were actually related to my website, and they looked like pretty good websites, but I thought they hacked my website.
Good to know, Gordi. I stopped using Shareaholic because when someone wanted to share to Twitter (which I use a LOT), it asked them for their email address! I got a few complaints and tried it anonymously myself. It sure was doing that! So I switched. Went through about five or six until I settled on Super Socializer.
Yup Carla, I deactivated Shareaholic until I found out what was going on. Now I reactivated it. Are you happy with Super Socializer?
Yes. I had originally settled on Social Media Feather, but the buttons looked too big on my site. I liked the choices on Super Socializer. I'm only using the sharing buttons. There are other things that plug-in can do, but I haven't dug into it yet.
Good to hear there's no problem with your website, after all.
I tried Shareaholic in the past but it just didn't work for my theme.
Enjoy the revenue, Gordi!
I'm glad you sorted out. Be careful I see lot of negatives about this plug-in.https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/shareaholic
Good luck. Jim
Sorry, jimmy, for some reason, your post wasn't showing up when I first scanned through this thread.
Jimmy, I decided on Shareaholic because some members said they liked it. It was only two days ago that this came up. As with any plugin, it's good to understand how they work
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Great Post!...Thanks for sharing