Helium's egalitarian article evaluation process is being undermined by the deletion of relevant articles despite high user ratings.
Helium.com has been actively removing questions and answers that address valid issues pertaining to the website or are otherwise relevant to Helium.com content or contributors, all without warning or explanation. This systematic deletion has taken place despite the fact that Helium is a user-driven site for writers that claims to celebrate multiple viewpoints. The site supposedly defers to its users except in cases of plagiarism or offensive material, and largely relies on its writers to rate its content. Helium.com also claims that all articles are of value to the site and can earn people money indefinitely. Apparently, these claims do not always apply to articles that point out negative or problematic aspects of Helium.com. This article provides key examples of censored questions and answers to illustrate this remarkable phenomenon as well as speculation as to the motives of Helium.com administrators who have made a practice of censoring writers on their site. A list of censored questions is followed by a list of censored answers below, with a fully quoted question and answer pair (written by this article's author) and further references and sources (provided at the conclusion of this article).…
Article comments
26 - Barbara Whitlock
Take a second look at Helium. Recently we began upfront payments for informative, non-exclusive articles plus improved ad revenue share.
If you have a problem with a deleted article, write to me and I can help sort this: bwhitlock at helium.com.
Helium also has 100s of magazine, newspaper and web publishers outsourcing content needs to our writers, and paying $35-$100 plus per article in our Freelance Marketplace.
Writers are flocking to Helium with our new payment system, and making a killing. Take a second look and share your questions or concerns with me. I'm happy to help!
Barbara Whitlock
Community Development Manager
Helium
27 - Mr. B.
Pardon me, Barb... But I did articles for over a year. I never got to $25.00, and the changes to payment policy will never allow me to get my earnings. I had well written articles fall to the bottom while "articles" with horrendous blunders (such as commas where they shouldn't be, obvious spelling errors, and wrong words (such as "of" rather than "have") became "top" articles!
Why weren't the members notified of the payout policy changes BEFORE they occurred, and why weren't they permitted their payouts if they disagreed with the changes?
After a year, I formed the opinion that Helium was nothing but another SCAM.
The amount I earned but will never receive would have allowed me to fill my gas tank and buy some typing paper. Instead, I get nothing except a lesson. That lesson is simple: The scammers are everywhere.
You say "Writers are flocking to Helium with our new payment system, and making a killing."
Now THAT is a real chuckle!
28 - fluffythewondercat
Someone's making a killing on Helium, it's true.
All you have to do is look around at the profiles of some people whose first language obviously isn't English. The stock of top-rated articles in their portfolio will astonish you -- who in their right might would rate poor spelling and incoherency over snappy articles with great opening sentences, correct spelling and relevant content? Yet it is obvious there are people who do. Might I suggest they do it in return for having their own articles rated highly?
The CEO claimed the rating engine is "ungameable." That's pretty funny. But what I don't get is why why even allow rating fraud? The typical obviously fraudulent article isn't keyword-rich, so it won't get Helium great SEO. And when the reader sees "This article was ranked #1..." anyone in their right minds is going to form a poor opinion of Helium.
29 - Sage
People who have not been paid, or believe that Helium is a scam, can and should complain to the state attorney generals office of consumer complaint in the state where Helium does business. I believe this is Massachusetts.
Also, complain to the fair trade commission and various scam alert sites or the US governments scam alert divisions.
If enough people complain Helium will be investigated, and may have to compensate unpaid charges or face disciplinary action.
Even if the site is not doing something totally illegal but just skimming by it can still be disciplined, particularly if enough people complain.
These agencies need to be alerted to scams before they can investigate.
30 - Uma Venkataraman
Barbara Whitlock
Why have Indian writers been banned from writing at Helium?
31 - David Arthur Walters
I am digging up as many facts I can in response to claims that many of the bloggers who claim to be receiving considerable sums of money from Helium.com are actually Helium cointelpros. If you believe you are fairly paid at Helium.com, please provide your full Helium identity and state how much you were paid in the months of January, February, and March. Thanks!
32 - Marisa Wright
I'm a long-standing member of Helium and while I think some of the criticisms levelled here are now inaccurate, I agree that there are many downsides to the site.
I still maintain my stars on the site so I can claim payout on the 270+ articles I have on Helium, and which I can never remove from the site. The pay rate has improved recently, since they stopped paying inactive writers, but it is still not as good as some other sites (e.g. HubPages, where I now write).
I always make sure I cash out my Helium earnings as soon as I reach $25, owing to the danger of getting banned. I know several people who have been banned for no apparent reason (Helium won't tell you the reason if they ban you). I don't intend to do anything to justify such action, however I suspect one of my friends was the victim of click fraud (not perpetrated by her) and another posted on a traffic exchange site, thinking it was a harmless directory. There are no second chances with Helium if you make such a mistake, and they keep your articles if they do ban you.
33 - David Arthur Walters
Sounds like the previous administration's failed strategy.
34 - Raul
My main problems with Helium are the rating system, whereby raters are given more stars for more ratings. Many people, it seems judging by the articles in top spots, don't even bother reading the articles they're rating. They just know they have to rate a certain number each month to earn more money on Helium. The other problem I have is that they don't tell you the real name of the publishers who purchase your articles. They just disappear, never to be seen again; so if you're planning to pad your resume with your published articles...don't. You won't be able to show where they've been published or who bought them.
35 - Jay Cuvez
Definitely agree on the rating system at Helium being flawed. I don't know how many times I've seen my articles being buried under a pile of submissions with little or no relevance whatsoever to the title! You'd think the raters would see that but then that'd involve actually reading it and there's no time to do that when you're gunning for your rating stars...
36 - bugsey
Helium likes to talk big but it is a scam. More so, it's a fraud. I've lost 330 articles I've written on Helium. Also, please be advised that Helium has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the REAL Pulitzer.Helium and some of its stewards "talk big" but it really is all air!
www.heliumasia.com
37 - sandj
I have just experienced a lock out at Helium and now my articles are being posted under a different name - I asked a question about how I could delete some of my own articles and was unhappy with the response so I followed this up with a query to take down all the content I have written - this hasn't been done - I reckon Helium are seriously floating copyright laws and I would be interested if others who have had a similar experience would come together to demand our content and property be respected and maybe organise a class action against Helium - I am sickened by what seems like a very unprofessional outfit posing as something it isn't, profiting on my articles and not even crediting me - well that just takes the biscuit, surely under DCMA laws they should take down content if the author requests it? It is shameful - if you are reading this and wondering about signing up to helium, I have some advice - Helium is just vanity press that does not stick to its TOS, it is shambolic!
38 - Lisa B.
Writers, beware! Some people have apparently been scammed out of money or had their work wrongfully deleted or basically stolen by Helium.com. Find other places to publish! While I have seen pieces on this site that are almost clones, Helium.com removed my last article and unjustly accused me of plagiarism, without any evidence, in a small piece I wrote solely out of my head and my decades of experience with the health field. I have demanded that they show me evidence of plagiarism, which they cannot, demanded that my article be re-posted, and demanded an apology. I'm not self-publishing online to make piles of money--there aren't any to be had, by Western standards--but only to get my pieces read. I'm frankly inclined to start sending everything I plan to post to the Library of Congress Copyright Office before I give away any more gems of wisdom to the public. There isn't much we can do about these idiots other than to either just boycott them, or else hire a lawyer and a detective, pull all their records, and file a class action suit. Which would you choose?
39 - Jeanne Browne
Interesting post, interesting comments, genuine dilemma. All I can add is that while researching the history of broadcast journalism over the weekend, Helium came up, and what I found was an article on Edward P. Murrow! In case it's possible that someone doesn't know: this pioneer's name was Edward R. Murrow. This mistake was made repeatedly throughout the piece, so it wasn't a 1-time typo. And the fact that the site's editors didn't catch or change it made me conclude immediately that the site was unreliable. Hasty? Unfair? I don't care. Ensuring that one is getting accurate info is one of the most necessary and time-consuming part of Internet research. My motto: fool me once, fugghedaboudit!
40 - Lisa Bxx
Constant-Content.com has just started doing the same thing as Helium.com. I have been receiving helpful little notices from them recently such as, "Your article has been rejected," or "Your content has been deleted," without explanatory qualifiers. Both these sites clearly are deleting any content that might be considered to be negative about aspects of their advertisers or their own site. The quality and originality of the writing and veracity of the information are irrelevant. It seems obvious to me that anyone without complaints about either of these sites is a either complicit insider, or someone being used as a stooge and as bait for advertisers and other writers. Particularly with Helium.com, poor-to-average, dry-as-dust articles with nothing new to offer abound.
41 - Lisa Russell
I agree- it's really sad to see people wasting their time there, when there are so many other sites to write for that ACTUALLY PAY.
42 - Writin' Cowboy
Count me in as one of the writers that will no longer submit to Helium, nor its similar site Associated Content. Not only is the earning potential not worth the time it takes to write an article, but on Helium in particular the chances of you getting to the $25 payout goal would make it more worthwhile to flip burgers at Mickey D's. Also, any good writer wants feedback from the people they are writing for - fat chance of getting anything like that from Helium or AC. They are both notorious for not responding. As for that agreement they said governed your writing - does anyone remember any of that? It's more likely a trap set by their company lawyers to prevent writers from exercising any rights whatsoever. Lastly, their editors - if there really are any - don't seem to know what they are doing. I've received comments that make no sense whatsoever - not to mention the quick (and slanderous) accusations they make about content being plagiarized (hint: if you've cited sources up the whazoo and attributed comments and quotes meticulously, it IS NOT plagiarism).
Write for these guys only if you have nothing better to do - like you have no more toenails to trim.
I think we'd all do a great service to writers worldwide if we just boycotted Helium and AC. Anyone interested?
43 - CYS
Look, I lost 333 articles at Helium and if that's NOT called a scam, then I don't know what it is.
Helium is a cult. They have people like Rex Trulab (not his real name); Barbara Hitchcock (not her real name); Alenadra Grace (terribly weird) and an assortment of rather crazy characters who have no idea how to do legit business.
44 - Keith Adams
I echo most of the comments. Please see link about this. Not only did they lock me out, refuse to take down my article, but they censored an article critical of Helium, and then threatened to report me to the FBI for writing the article!
45 - Keith Adams
By the way, I'd also support a class-action suit.
46 - Selene
Helium is the most unfriendly and bigoted "community" I have ever had the misfortune to join. The content it publishes is bland, uninformative rubbish, and the ratings are manipulated by the site stewards. Stay well away!
47 - Jane
Yes. It is extremely difficult to make money writing for Helium.
A penny for you thoughts should be their slogan because pennies will be what most people earn at Helium.
Also, all that you wrote about censorship is accurate.
It seems that Helium only wants to keep Helium associated articles or message board posts that portray Helium in a positive light, even though many people are having a very negative experience with Helium.