I haven't gotten much, if any, IS or outside hits on my beauty reviews since the "shake up" of the search engine. I think one or two reviews have a few outside hits but still, no IS.

Yet, I haven't stopped or slowed down writing in the category. Has anyone here decided it isn't worth writing if no one sees your reviews and you don't get much or any IS in the Beauty category?

I am a TR in Sports and Outdoors too and the exact same thing happened there. They merged two categories and I end up not being read, no outside hits, and no IS, no rankings. But I still write there.

I just can't bring myself to move too far away from my three top categories (Beauty, Sports, Online). I have been writing movie reviews but they are of exercise workouts so I am still really writing about "sports".

I guess, with Beauty, I write because I have the stuff, I know the stuff well, and I want to share my opinion even if no one at the moment can find it.

What have you guys done in the wake of the no hits/no IS/no MPR or MPA in the category? Still trucking along or moving to another more visible category?

PT

I haven't been writing lately, but it doesn't have much to do with the Beauty category problems. My lack of participation is mostly due to being busy with work and being in the process of moving into a new house. Most days I feel too spent to write a review. Plus the weather is finally nice now, so I'm trying to get outside as much as I can before it all goes away!

I find the issues with the category frustrating, but I haven't been around long enough to be very far on the MPA/MPR lists. If I were at the top, I'd probably be a lot more irritated. I am interested in writing in other categories here and there, but I really love the beauty community here and I want to write more... it's just a matter of motivation!

I just write where ever- if I have used it, I want to write about it. But, I do have some beauty items that were doing really well before the blowout- for example the Infallible lipstick I wrote about made just over $8 and hasn't made anything since the glitch. But, I have done some online reviews and they have done ok, and I have since done some magazines that do well as well.

One main reason I haven't done a whole lot in Beauty is that I haven't really bought all that much- I know we've discussed before that there's really not much out there that I just have to have right now. I've done a few here and there- but here lately it's been just run of the mill stuff like shampoo- no new lotions and such because I still have a closet full at home.

I feel sort of like Epinions has abandoned the Beauty category. I know they probably haven't due to other issues on the site, but those of us that do write in it deem this category important. I mean, a lot of these creams I use are in the $15 and up range, and if they're no count, I think people ought to be able to see the review so they don't waste their money on it.

I have not been writing or here on the site much these last few months because work is absolutely killing me and the last thing I want to do when I'm not working is to be on the computer. So that's the #1 reason I'm not doing much here.

I am still fairly miffed about the lack of hits and how difficult it is to find the things I want to review so that is fairly unmotivating as well. I love Beauty and Online and try to make an effort to write there and because I have hats there, but it has been very unmotivating and upsetting to me for the reasons I noted above so it's definitely not as much fun for me as it once was. I'm hoping that changes. I'm hoping work will get better and I'll want to be on the computer more, but it seems like I just have a bad attitude all around. :)

Now that that rant is over, I guess I should answer the original question. No, I have not gone to other categories at all. I'm just trying to keep my head above water in the two categories I love.

I try not to think about it. It's disheartening because I used to be a LOT higher in the rankings than I am now, plus I used to have plenty of outside hits. Now I have pretty much none or next to none. It's hard to think about.

I just keep writing, hoping I can meet 20 or 30 reviews this month in order to get the $$. We're still saving for home improvements (siding, kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel) so I'm putting away as much $$ as I can.

I wrote a computer game review last night. I don't get excited about too much outside of the Beauty category, but once in a while I do write about something different. If Epinions ever does away with the Beauty category, I'll probably be out of here. They'd be crazy to do that, though, because there seems to be a lot of interest right now in high-end beauty products and anti-aging regimens.

Yeah, I have been trying to get at least 20 in a month since the 10-4-10, and that's really all that's been helping my IS over the past few months. Even if it is a few hundred dollars when I cash out, I can always use it- towards something- I know it paid for my Dyson Vacuum last year, something I probably would have never bought on my own. Every little bit helps, and I won't complain at the amount I get because I could be getting nothing at all.

I keep writing in Beauty because, well, I can. I am a freak about trying new things, especially absurdly expensive and hit-or-miss products like LUSH.

I've never made much IS in the category, so the lack of pennies isn't upsetting me. The absence of outside hits is more disturbing.

It's funny that you asked these questions because that's exactly how I've been feeling.

There are many factors that add up to my overall frustration and dissatisfaction:

1) the lack of outside hits,
2) the difficulty finding reviews,
3) the screwed-up rankings,
4) the near zero IS for Beauty reviews.

Sure, Beauty reviews were never the high IS getters, but they paid more than the current $0.00 I see for most of my Beauty reviews.

I'm not pleased and haven't been for a while. I know they are working on it, but in the meantime, there's little to boost my low morale. Even the 10-4-10/20 isn't much of a draw any more.

I have written in other categories to try to boost my monthly IS, though not even that helps much. The $20 - $40 from the promotion is nice, but I'm lacking a drive to write nowadays.

The thing that upsets me as time wears on is that I used to be something like #2 or #3 in Beauty. And there's not even a Beauty ranking, unless I'm missing it? And I was something like #150 or #155 overall and now I'm nothing. Things like that bug me, because I've worked hard over the past almost 6 years to get all of that. Not that it's the reason I'm here, because it isn't. But it was sorta nice to know that I had a MPA ranking that wasn't #794 or something like that.

Well I imagine that that kind of thing is very motivating and helps to set goals and things. I know before all of this mess I had broken into the Top 1000 and it was great because I was starting to lose interest but watching myself move up from like 999 to almost the 700s was really cool. But then one day BAM it all went away. I'd be really miffed if I was high up there like you and it all just poof went away.

I guess I just realized tonight when looking at the MPA/MPR listings that the Beauty category is history in the rankings. I may have "known" this but I think I really *realized* it tonight. And am I not looking at the listings right, or are there no Wellness rankings either? This is a huge disappointment because it makes me wonder if the category (Beauty/Wellness) will be done away with altogether or what. I really miss my ranking in Beauty.

Outdoors and sports are in the same boat. I wonder what's up?

I, for one, can't get motivated in beauty since I learned that virtually all my reviews are either unviewable or not having hits recorded. ARGGGGGG. If any of you have been following the thread on the main board about reviews with /review/ in the hyperlink, that's pretty much all my recent beauty ones.

I have the idea that while they may soon be able to fix the problem for future reviews, it will be hard to correct the ones that have already been sent to la la land. I'm so bummed about the whole concept I think I may take some time from writing in beauty until things get straightened out - but that makes me sad, too, because I love all you beauty gals!

Michelle

I deleted the post I wrote last night because I shouldn't have written it. Not that it was that bad, but because I was frustrated and was b!tchy, LOL! Anyway, I'm not as b!tchy today. I'm going with the flow like everyone else and will just continue to try to hang in there. :)