What Happened to the HubPages Niche Sites?

What’s one of the most convoluted things you’ve ever experienced? For me, it has to do with a writing and publishing scheme that turned into a multi-year saga of grievances, pitfalls, and absurdities. I feel now is the time to dig deeper and figure out what’s the truth behind HubPages’ former niche sites. Let’s dig in the dirt together, shall we?

Background Context: More than a year ago, The Arena Group shuttered HubPages’ last remaining niches and spun a handful into TAG’s list of publications. Translation: the transition to standalone endeavors was a strategy to shut out longtime writers from earning off their articles. Earlier this year, earnings were cut not just for niches but for the HubPages platform.

Important: Even though earnings were cut for writers, the articles still have ads on them and allow TAG to earn from them. Kind of sketchy, right?

In 2024, TAG announced it would operate DenGarden and PetHelpful as standalone sites. It explained that it would run them the way it did its other publications, which it claimed those strategies had proven successful. Here is a quote from editor Lisa Winter’s announcement, which was posted to HubPages’ forums:

“We have decided to focus more efforts on the Home & Garden and Pets sections under The Arena Group Lifestyle vertical. On October 31st, 2024, we will start to operate Dengarden and PetHelpful as standalone sites within The Arena Group. Because we are endeavoring to grow the Dengarden and PetHelpful brands alongside our Parade brand, we have made the strategic decision to pivot away from the user-generated content model used by our HubPages system.

Moving forward, the content on Dengarden and PetHelpful will be managed on a separate content management system. Content will be scheduled/pitched, written, edited, and updated using editorial practices shown to provide growth for the other successful properties owned by The Arena Group.”

I’m not entirely sure why these niches needed to grow alongside Parade, a huge singular publication covering entertainment, wellness, astrology, shopping, and food. Literally, everything. The truth is TAG has a multitude of publications, so why there was a need to mention PetHelpful and DenGarden alongside Parade is dubious. All three have the same vertical layout, but honestly so do many of TAG’s publications including TheStreet, Men’s Journal, and Powder.

What was the intention here? Whatever the intention was — and this is the important part here — I don’t think it landed, at least not according to SEMrush’s data. Parade has had a dip in traffic recently, but not a single, former HubPages niche has ever done as well as this brand:

In 2024, the year PetHelpful and DenGarden were transitioned, Parade was rocking and rolling when it came to traffic. Sure, it had dipped from its giant high in 2022, but 20 million monthly views is fantastic. No HubPages niche ever reached that height. But the current Parade numbers of around 4.9 million… that’s somewhat close to what was PetHelpful’s peak in 2021 of about 3 million. Here’s a snapshot of the pet site’s numbers:

Honestly, I think the intention in the forum announcement was spin. They had to say something to make it sound like they had some idea on how to salvage HubPages for success. But they were never going to put the right resources into making the niches flourish. It was always going to be the bare minimum and simply copying something else that was more successful. Nothing was done to be innovative.

Whatever TAG or its third party affiliates have done has caused PetHelpful’s viewership to draw in less than 100,000 views a month. Could AI and algorithm changes be what’s costing PetHelpful’s readership to fall or is it management? Hard to say.

Personally, I think this was the plan TAG was aiming to execute all along: end the ad-share revenue earnings system, kick out the writers, and earn off their old work. Rinse and repeat.

A Look At Discontinued and Active Niche Sites

For the next few months, I will be looking at the remaining HP niches. I will determine whether the niches are performing better after the legacy writers were kicked out of the sites or if the sites have decayed.

The following sites were discontinued:

• TatRing

• Bellatory

• FeltMagnet

• Exemplore

• LevelSkip

• Patient’sLounge

• ReelRundown

• ToughNickel

• Spinditty

• TurboFuture

• WeHaveKids

• YouMeMindBody

• CalorieBee

• LetterPile

• HealthProAdvice

• RemedyGrove

• PairedLife

• Holidappy

• HowTheyPlay

• SoapBoxie

• SkyAboveUs

• TheCrimeWire

Many, if not all, of the discontinued sites reroute to HubPages. All you have to do is place a “dot com” behind the name.

Curious development: WeHaveKids has a section on HubPages, but none of the stories listed under that heading pertain to parenting. I think it’s a story section that hasn’t been cleared out of the system. This is also the case for LetterPile and Patient’sLounge, which both feature the same stories that are under WeHaveParents. I want you to see how silly this looks, so I’ve included screenshots of the mess on HubPages:

If you click on a section title name, it will take you to relevant topical stories. Those stories will be under the HubPages banner, and there will be no mention of the niche site name.

Eight sites still exist:

• Pethelpful

• Delishably

• Owlcation

• DenGarden

• WanderWisdom

• HobbyLark

• AxleAddict

• Discover.HubPages (I’m not 100% certain, but it may have reverted to the more simplistic HubPages.)

The first site I’ll take a hard look into is PetHelpful. I’ll examine stats from SEMrush, as well as consider the unusual author strategies employed, and assess whether the loosely revamped site is more successful under TAG’s full control or not.

I’ll write and publish my review of each niche site as a separate article. Some of these articles might be short and sweet while others will likely be a bit long in the tooth.

Looking For Interesting Tidbits

With all that out in the air, if you have anything you would like to share about the eight remaining sites, please reach out to me! If you notice anything unusual about the discontinued sites, I would also like to know about that. My email is [email protected]. It might be best to comment on this post as my inbox gets swamped.

I’m looking for unusual things, juicy nuggets, concerning developments with your own past articles, or something peculiar hiding in the data.

Uncertainty Around Letterpile and WeHaveKids

Originally, TAG announced it was going to do something with Letterpile and WeHaveKids, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore based on what’s online. I have mixed feelings about this. I would hate to see WeHaveParents or LetterPile, a niche dedicated to creative writing and religion, get the same treatment as Owlcation, whose staff has been uploading content in very questionable ways. It’s not a better fate for writers if their articles on WeHaveKids or LetterPile were simply dumped to HubPages. You’re not getting paid either way.

Thank you for reading. I wish you the best. Soon I’ll have an update about one of the most popular niche sites from HubPages’ strongest days. Hold onto your pets. This should get interesting.

P.S. I’ve also just come across a draft in my HP articles labeled “Rosesarered”, it’s dated December 31, 1969. Earlier this year, I deleted all of my articles from the site. It feels like an ominous message as the site drags to its grave.

This error occurs when databases default to a zero timestamp. It’s often caused by site migrations, connection issues, or missing metadata. It’s a computer glitch marking the start of Unix Time (January 1, 1970).