Fiverr admits it hides gigs it doesn't like

[steverm]

This is both unprofessional and unfair of Fiverr IMO - what do you think?

Back story: I launched a gig offering YouTube video embeds and it went live instantly. Not very controversial I would have thought, but over the space of a couple of weeks didn’t see any traffic, despite trying to optimize it. So I contacted Fiverr support and this is what came back (I’ve edited out the irrelevant bits)

"Rena (Fiverr Customer Support)

Apr 8, 11:43 AM

Hi Steve,

The service you have offered on Fiverr is not in our editorial focus and guidelines. Due to this your Gig will not appear in our search results. You’re more than welcomed to submit new Gigs via your Fiverr account and continue to offer new and unique services for future evaluations by our editorial team.

We do understand that there are pre-existing Gigs searchable on Fiverr and we are working to gradually remove similar Gigs. Unfortunately, we can’t restore it to our search results. Thanks for understanding."

Well, no, I don’t understand. If you don’t want the gig on Fiverr just don’t accept it - that’s fine, it’s your site. Then we’ll all know. But for pity’s sake, don’t accept it then effectively hide it, and not tell anyone. What a waste of time and utterly unprofessional

And BTW: not sure what the problem is with backlinks: I’ve seen thousands of gigs offering this, and lots of new ones as well, so I actually don’t really believe you.

C’mon Fiverr - either give the real reason or grow a pair and just reject gigs you don’t like.

[fonthaunt]

Gigs are not hidden when dropped from search. No gig is guaranteed to show up in search. If users insist on putting up gigs related to 3rd party sites (social media, Google, Amazon) it is at your own risk.

[cyaxrex]

The problem here is that you are not really offering a service in the form of delivering a product like a piece of writing or music to someone. You are offering a service which one person orders and benefits from, while a third party entity like youtube or facebook suffers from your actions affecting their search algorithms.

Fiverr is simply deciding that it does not want to be associated with this kind of behaviour. Moreover, since Fiverr isn’t owned by you or any other member of its community, Fiverr has every right to refuse decide what is sold on it’s platform.

My advice would be to simply think of something else you can sell or use a different platform to sell your backlinks.

[steveeyes]

When I first came on board at Fiverr, your type of gig was dominate but once the complaints started to roll in, things changed. Complaints were coming in from Google, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, etc. There was also a lot of buyer complaints from having their sites banned from goolge or youtube for using these type of gigs to increase their traffic.

History is not on your side. Maybe if the complaints would of not been so many and so often, it may of never changed but it was and it did.

[steverm]

Thank you for taking time to reply - I appreciate it.
@fonthaunt: “Gigs are not hidden when dropped from search” - really? How are people meant to buy your gig then if your gig cannot be found? In a real-world analogy, would you sell something in a public market if your market stall was completely hidden from view? It would be pointless. (I completely understand that if give a potential buyer the URL then they can find it, but then there’s no point in sticking your gig on Fiverr. The whole point of Fiverr is that it comes with buyers that you don’t already know!)
@cyaxrex: I think you have a point - of course if Fiverr doesn’t agree with my gig, it’s within its rights not to host it. I get that. But you’ve missed my point: why then does it allow new gigs similar to mine to come onto the platform, and why does it continue to support the established gigs that are just like mine? And why didn’t it just tell me that it doesn’t like my gig there and then? (Which it could have done: it could just have unapproved the gig). My issue is the underhanded way this was handled. Is it cynical to think that gigs similar to mine that are earning Fiverr good money are too lucrative to de-approve? And I’ll just shrug my shoulders and move on?

I just want the people at Fiverr to be straightforward - is that too much to ask?

[misscrystal]

It allows all gigs to come onto the platform at first and does not have enough staff to check each one as it appears. They catch as many as they can. It’s not perfect.
Other gigs like yours might have different methods or never have had a complaint or are under the radar in some way.

[thevideostore]

I agree , some of us are falling within the lines of legality and work hard to produce the videos required for our gigs here. To have even some of ours just not show up at all is quite a shame and unprofessional of fiverr to not be up front about some issues.
If I put up a gig titled "I’ll take a crap in my front yard for $5"
I’m going to make a fantastic video about it before I post the gig.
Several of my gigs seems to be completely hidden , why? I don’t know but I dont care to contact CS to get the same canned response… It’s literally the exact same one I’ve seen 2 or 3 times before…

Lets stop being sheeple? thanks

[successoutcomes]

Yes similar experience with me as well. I actually had ALL of my Gigs hidden by Fiverr and I only found out when things were quiet and I investigated. Completely gutless of them not to send a message when they have done this.

Then I got several auto explanations as to why they did it, and none made sense.

Then they completely removed a Gig of mine, and there was no issue with it AT ALL, but they insisted on ridiculous things be cha he’d and eventually they pulled the Gig.

I am completely flabbergasted as to why they do this, and how they think they will keep their business going. Next time they try it I will be writing an open letter on LinkedIn and other platforms as to why I left Fiverr completely.