Quora Policy Violation?
Can someone please help shed some light? I only recently started answering some questions on Quora and I do believe that I understand the policies of Quora, yet they flagged an answer I wrote which took me quite some time to write and which I believed provided a lot of value to the reader and contained no affiliate links.
In the appeal I told them that I do not really care whether they delete my answer or whether they keep it and I have no intention on appealing because my intention was to provide value to the reader and I spent quite some time in doing so.
What I did ask of them however is to provide me clarity in how I violated their policies in order not to make the same mistake again? Or to at least explain what policy was violated.
Their only answer was that they stand with their decision and no further explanation was given.
I decided I would ask people at WA here this question. I am happy to be corrected if I am in the wrong and will actually be grateful if anyone can point out how I am in violation of Quora policies and in violation of what specific violation? This will really help me out.
So here is the Quora Question: What are some creative ways to make money during covid?
My answer:
First of all it depends on whether you are talking about making a few bucks here or there online, and quickly, or whether you are talking about a long term strategy of making loads of money online in the future getting passive returns over and over again to provide security to you and your family, should a pandemic like Covid-19 ever happen again in future, that jeopardised a lot of jobs and financial security.
I will start with some quick jobs you can do online that can earn you money quickly, but not the kind of money that will replace your full time income, if this is your aim.
1.Online Surveys
Research companies worldwide are always recruiting new members to test products or to answer questions in relation to new research conducted. Surveys can sometimes just take up a couple of minutes of your time, or at times, quite a bit more of your time. The sums of money you earn per survey is usually not substantial. You can probably earn up to around £3 ($5) for some surveys, but it does add up eventually.
A few good ones to try are: Survey Junkey, Toluna, Lifepoints, Onepoll, YouGov, Valued Opinions etc.
2. Paid for simply searching the web
There are some simple add-ons you can install to your browser and when you conduct a search there may be a few sponsored results alongside your normal search.
Qmee – Earn real cash when you take surveys, shop & search is one such example.
Each Qmee result has a cash reward attached. There is no minimum amount required to cash out.
Once again we are talking about small amounts of earnings adding up over time.
3. Review websites & apps for cash
UserTesting: The Customer Experience (CX) Platform for example pays you to review all kinds of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and earns you around $10 (£6.50) via PayPal.
4. Gigs on Fiverr
People offer all sorts of services on Fiverr and a lot of people get incredibly creative there as well. The service you offer could be absolutely anything from article writing, to translating, to logo design, to the creation of funny shout out birthday videos people are paying for.
Go browse around on Fiverr and you will get plenty of ideas on what services you could potentially offer. Some people are able to make a full time income from Fiverr Gigs depending on what it is you have to offer.
5. Sell on your education
Udemy is a perfect solution for those that would like to create an online course on literally anything and you will get paid on that course forever as new customers are continuously signing up to your course.
6. Freelance work
There are a lot of online marketers and bloggers that requires help when it comes to article writing or the management of their social media platforms and websites in the form of a virtual assistant.
Freelance work can also include graphics design or perhaps even website design. Freelance work also provides you with the opportunity to become creative.
Upwork | Hire Freelancers. Make things happen. is a good place to start.
7. Building your own online marketing business
Although Freelance work can earn you a substantial sum of money depending on what it is you do, we are now going to look at creating your own online business, instead of working for others and in doing so create some job security and peace of mind during a time when physical work is scarce due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
There are various areas you could venture into, e.g. MLM marketing, become a blogger earning revenue from Google Adsense predominantly, start a e-commerce business or become an affiliate marketer.
I am not going to focus on all of them as in my opinion the easiest way to start an online marketing business that is cheap to start, has very little risk involved and has massive money making potential, is affiliate marketing and therefore this will be my focus.
To start a successful online marketing business, you basically need the following:
- Website
- Website Hosting
- Keyword Research Tool
- Education
- Community Support
I wrote an article: “Jobs during Coronavirus” and towards the end of the post I make some recommendations that ticks all of these 5 boxes mentioned above. If interested, you can read the article here: Jobs During Coronavirus
8. YouTube
You can start your own YouTube channel, but do know that this will require hard work in order to start earning revenue. YouTube now has a requirement of at least 4000 watch hours per year and a 1000 subscribers at least in order to be able to have Google Adsense ads show up on your YouTube videos which will generate you income.
However, YouTube can be incorporated in the affiliate marketing process to drive more sales. To get a return from YouTube, it is however not going to happen over night and will require a lot of hard work and dedication.
Now I need your help to tell me what the violation is please?
The blue text you see is the only links I put in the Quora text which simply directs to sites like e.g. Upwork etc. which are not affiliate links at all. These links just go directly to the home page e.g. Upwork and these are real solutions I provided for which I get no incentive at all?
The only other link I had in the post which I unlinked here was a link to my article: "Jobs During Coronavirus" which is a massively detailed post I have written that provides a lot of information on physical companies that are hiring in the UK right now e.g. Amazon, Tesco, DHL etc. to name a few with exactly where you can apply, what the salary rates are etc.
This post also provides at the bottom online marketing as an alternative option for those seeking to start a business from home.
So can anyone please explain to me how did this answer of mine on Quora violate their policies?
PS: PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE NO AFFILIATE LINKS IN THIS POST AT ALL. THE LINKS THAT ARE ACTIVE IN THIS POST JUST SIMPLY DIRECTS TO THE HOME PAGE OF UPWORK FOR EXAMPLE. NO AFFILIATE LINKS HERE. I JUST WANTED TO MAKE CLEAR WHAT LINKS I HAVE PROVIDED IN MY QUORA ANSWER IN ORDER TO GET HELP FROM WA MEMBERS IN WHAT THEY THINK I DID TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THE QUORA POLICY.
Recent Comments
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That's weird. You can link to your website articles as long as it's relevant and not spammy. My guess is that the bot algorithm thinks one of those links is an affiliate link. Most large platforms have automated messages and moderation, so if you keep emailing them to ask specifically what the person is you may get a live person. I did this with Amazon until I got someone who looked at it. Drives me crazy that so many customer service or support people have automated responses and you literally have to keep asking them to clarify before you get an answer or a reversal.
Maybe you had too many links and they only like one?
My suggestion is to make the long post answer and then link to your blog post, not each individual website. That way your blog post expands upon your answer with links, and it won't get flagged as spam.
Yeah no I think what is even better is to just simply remove all the links to e.g. Upwork etc. as people can find it themselves and simply link to my blog article "Jobs During Coronavirus" that provides a wealth of additional information on jobs available etc.
Thanks for your input. Much appreciated!
Yes, I think you are right. I think if you are going to have a link, then only have one relevant link and that is it. The rest the reader can find themselves if you simply make mention of the website etc. that may be helpful without providing a physical link.
Yeah, I've asked hundreds of questions on Quora, and a few answers - mostly questions though. I feel like as very good way to make money on quora is to ask questions that obviously haven't been answered, but ask people who have thousands of answers on that subject - that's how I've done it. Now that the mobile version of quora seems to randomly sort answerer profilesthough, it's kind of difficult to look through them to see who might have a good quality answer.
All the best with all your ventures, WA and quora! :)
Hi can you explain a bit more. How do you benefit from asking questions on quora? I benefit through answering as you can put a link in the answer for example to your blog article or YouTube video etc. But how do you benefit by asking questions on Quora?
Sure! Once you become a Quora partner (seemingly randomly one day, I got an email asking me to become a partner), you get the ability to make money directly from asking or answering questions.
Here's a screenshot of what the financial dashboard looks like.
I'm still getting residual income from what I already asked - as I haven't asked any questions on Quora in months. But that's the gist of it, you just ask relevant questions. The idea is that they select you to be a partner when you have a certain amount of relevant content on Quora. That's how I seem to have become one anyway.
The question was asked: "Can anyone be a quora partner"
https://www.quora.com/Can-anyone-be-a-Quora-Partner
Many thanks for the detail! And yes of course. I was more thinking in terms of benefiting as an affiliate instead of benefiting form getting paid by Quora itself. But not a bad idea to benefit from both.
I dont know the answer but this is interesting information and answers are informative. Thanks Jen.
Yes, Jen. It is good to be able to learn from others' experiences. This is what is so great about WA as we can all learn from one another's mistakes and experiences.
Hi there. I subscribe to Quora Digest. Daily, I get many different topics that are covered. One thing, I noticed is nobody puts any links there to any sites. It’s considered spam. It’s ok to cite name of the site without a link or a .dot org or com but not a blue link, any link is considered spam therefore violation of their terms of service under acceptable policy user. It states no links of any kind to any direct traffic to commercial sites or affiliate links, if that happens your answers will be deleted. It’s ok to say UpWork but no linking to them. The user can find the websites on their own. Also the answers are short. Never long. The links I see are reference to previous posts. It’s exactly like it is here on WA. We dont use spam links here so Quora is the same thing. Not too surprised to see this happen to you. Hope you’re not banned, just deleted your answers. Next time use better caution when providing your answers. Let this be a lesson learned, and move on.
I do not fully agree with this although I do believe that caution is good advice and to not leave a link even if helpful to do so is probably also good advice just to be on the safe side, however this is what Quora states in their policies:
"The gist of the answer should be able to be understood without having to leave Quora to access an external website. Answers that cannot be understood without navigating to an external site and appear to be doing so for promotional purposes may be considered spam."
"Self-promotion in answers is permitted only in the context of a sincere, helpful, and direct response, otherwise it is considered to be spam."
"Affiliate links are not allowed."
I believe I have made a great effort to explain each heading without anyone having to navigate to an external link in order to understand the gist of it and there was no promotional motivation behind it as there were no affiliate links for me to benefit from. The advice I have given was sincere and helpful so I do believe I have stayed within the policies.
I have seen many a long detailed response on Quora questions and I would say detailed answers are encouraged. I have also seen many a Quora post containing links which are not only links pointing to other answers on Quora at all. This includes links pointing to YouTube videos for example as well, news articles etc.
However I will rather walk on the side of caution though as you suggested to stay on the safe side and will just simply not provide any helpful links in Quora in future. As you mentioned they can find it themselves.
However, if you have written a detailed article that provides a lot of value for example where people can find jobs during the coronavirus and your article provides detailed and helpful information in response to the question then I cannot see that it is against Quora policies to share that article with others. This is a regular occurence I see in Quora people directing to helpful YouTube videos, articles etc.
Thank you for your valued contribution. It is much appreciated and good advice and I have taken on board what you said!
A long answer may provide value just as much as a short one. Whether we agree with their policies or not, they own the site so its up to them to define how they want their TOS to work. Nonetheless, people are looking for quick answers and providing a simple answer has value if its done appropriately that is agreeable to their TOS. If you own Quora, then we’d be having a different discussion right? Moot point to go on and on about it but I do get where you are coming from. Your objection is understandable.
Needless to say, I hope you will move forward. I wish you the best with that platform. Be grateful you're not banned. Many other WA got banned from WA platforms for accidentally use an affiliate link (gets us writing ban)and other social media platform such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, IG, and Tik Tok. For putting a form of a link that looks like spam or affiliate links. Appealing that seems tough. Some had to wait months before they could log back in. Facebook especially, it has to be done right otherwise if looks like an ad then they will ban you. One WAer some time ago got the YouTube ban for placing affiliate links in the video itself, instead of placing the website in the description (your own domain name preferably than the affiliate links). Lesson learned for us all. Thanks for sharing with us your experience.
It solely depends on the question though. Sometimes a question can be answered in short and to the point. If someone asks you however different ways they can make money online then of course a short answer is not going to be helpful as there are loads of different ways to make money online and to provide an appropriate answer of value is obviously not going to be possible to answer in one paragraph, as this will be considered a low quality answer.
Sometimes people are asked e.g. on Quora "What is the most embarrassing memory that happened to you during your school years" and some people may end up writing a whole essay to tell their story. So it all depends on the question.
WA I believe to be a lot more clear about what is allowed and what not and the rules are a lot less open to interpretation. The rules here state very very clearly that no self-promotion is allowed at all besides these three places (or similar) where it is a give and take situation and everyone benefits from it mutually. Need website comments? the give and take comment thread Please Give Me Feedback on My Website Need YouTube comments? The give and take comment thread If someone for example asks in the WA live chat where they can find Virtual Assistants or hire article writers WA will have no problem with it if you was to provide a direct link to someone in the live chat pointing them to Upwork or to Fiverr or whatever because it is very clear that you are helping out a member and there is absolutely no self-promotion in it and other members will recognise that too, that it is purely providing help/value to a fellow member (if it is a direct link and of course not an affiliate link that is) and I can guarantee that you will not get banned for doing so on WA. The issue is when there is a promotional intention behind it from which you benefit, then it becomes a problem and not allowed.
That is the issue I had with Quora here, that they have not considered the context and the intention of the links provided like would be the case with WA.
I do agree with you however that of course things are not always just black or white and there are some social media platforms where the areas are a bit more grey and as a result we have all surely had our moments where we had good intentions trying to do the right thing and got flagged, as is the case with me here now.
The bottom line though: As mentioned, I will simply not provide links in Quora anymore, despite that I do see many others do so pointing to helpful articles, YouTube videos etc. just to ensure that my intention is not misinterpreted and this happens to me once again.
And once again thank you for helping me to come to this conclusion that it is better to rather just not post any links in Quora, regardless of their TOS that seems to allow this, should the links you provide be of benefit to the reader and in direct answer to their question.
Maybe, just maybe, there are too many external links for Quora's liking. Some platforms don't like to publish content that takes people away from their own platform.
Many thanks for your input! It is much appreciated and I consider all possible viewpoints and try learn from it.
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Great article, S. Thnx for sharing.
The only thing that stands out in my mind is the use of 'COVID-19'. It is a VERY sensitive issue right now and so sensitive that even Amazon, Google, Microsoft(Bing) have withdrawn ALL advertising/allusion to the current event.
I KNOW this might seem crazy, but I think this is the 'real' reason for being 'slapped on the wrist'.
Your article is EXTREMELY relevant and the way you used the the links to illustrate your points, in my opinion. Other than that, I don't see that you 'did anything wrong'...but here is the thing...get up, dust yourself off, and try again.
All the best,
M
Many thanks, much appreciated! Will certainly do so. Wishing you the very best of success!