International writers: Are you deleting articles from AC?

Hi Mommaj, Associated Content seems to make every kind of stupid decision. How are you surviving in Helium? Hope your writing stars are shining throughout the month. I just hope that Helium does not start to do stupid things. I think Helium has more international writers than US writers. I am certain that many excellent writers come from UK, with a few of us from all over the world. The writing score system is brutal enough for all new writers. Those who can survive and reach the 4th writing star definitely have more than three hundred articles.

LOL. I don't think I have made it to three hundred articles. I'm not even sure if I am at 200. LOL I really must check. Anyway, I only have three stars. So far they have not faded. I am not doing that great in Helium, but I do make a little money and that's good. I just can't believe all the stupidity at AC. That really sucks for international writers. The $100 is pretty bad too.

I really have to call BS on that one. I do not believe it is because of tax changes or changes to a law. I think they are cutting back again! I wonder how many other writers they are going to try to force off of their site. If they are saying if you become a featured writer you can stay, than there is more to it than just payment.

Hi Scheng: From what I read, they are not withholding $100, they are saying (from the message above) that they will not pay out UNTIL YOU REACH $100 in page views. Thus if you are only earning $20 per month, you will not receive payment for 5 months until you attain that level. And yes, you need to be a Featured Contributor. As a Featured Contributor, you get 3 $10/article per month or guaranteed $30 per month as a featured writer, plus whatever else you earn. I think you should apply for the business section, personally.

Hi Canellita, I am not interested in whatever program in AC due to the fact that there is a $100 withholding for tax purpose. $100 is equivalent to ten months of earning from the page view impressions. I do not see the logic of having a hundred dollars withhold for tax purpose. We are not US citizens nor residents, and we are not required to pay tax. And Associated Content is the only writing site with this stupid tax withholding requirement.

$30 per month sounds pretty good to me considering how little I currently earn throuh AC. I am lucky if I snag a C4C every now and then paying more than $5. Scheng I am surprised you are not earning more than $10 per month in performance pay with all the articles you have. I hope your Helium earnings are better.

Hi Tinkerick, many international writers are leaving Associated Content due to this issue. At first, they say due to tax problem or whatever, international writers cannot earn upfront. Now they change the tune and say that International writers can earn upfront provided they are featured writers. I think I have enough of this nonsense.

Hi Mommaj, I dont see why they need to give us a chance to take off the content, unless they want us to get out of AC faster. Since we are only eligible for page views, our contents are on display only. We can take off the articles without bothering them.

haha Mommaj, I dont even understand all these nonsense. Last time, Associated Content said International writers can earn performance bonus only. Now International writers can earn upfront if accept as Featured Contributor, and agree to let Associated Content withhold the first one hundred dollars. I still cannot understand the logic. This is the entire email, maybe you can bring to the zoo, and show to the animals, see what animal is smart enough to understand: "Siew Cheng Hoe, Associated Content has sent you the following message: Important Announcement: As of May 1, 2010, Associated Content will be making changes to our payment system that significantly impact Contributors who are not United States taxpayers. After evaluating our payment policies in regard to international Contributors, our legal team has determined that Associated Content must immediately start withholding a portion of all international Performance Payments pursuant to U.S. tax laws. Due to the cost involved in this process, we can only offer continued Performance Payments to international Contributors enrolled in Associated Content’s Featured Contributors program. Contributors who are not enrolled as a Featured Contributor, or are not accepted into this program, will no longer be able to earn Performance Payments from Associated Content as of May 1, 2010. If this applies to you, you will receive a final Performance Payment on May 12, 2010 for your page views through April 30, 2010 (if your balance exceeds the current $1.50 payment threshold). If you are not currently enrolled as a Featured Contributor, we encourage you to apply now. Please note that the program requires you to have top-notch writing skills, and a strong body of work in one of our featured topic areas. You can read all the details and apply to one of the programs here. Note: There is no deadline for applying to the program, but you will not be able to earn further payment until/unless you are accepted. If you are accepted into the program, you will be asked to submit a United States W-8BEN tax form, enabling Associated Content to withhold earnings on Performance Payments pursuant to U.S. tax laws. In addition, your earning threshold will increase from $1.50 to $100, meaning Associated Content will only process Performance Payments when the total payment balance passes $100. The good news: As a Featured Contributor, you will receive high value assignme nts every month, and will continue earning Performance Payments on all content published. Apply Now: http://www.associatedcontent.com/featured_contributors.html _____________________________________ Unfortunately, those who are not accepted as Featured Contributors will be unable to earn additional Performance Payments until further notice. We sincerely apologize to all international Contributors who are affected by this. These changes are occurring for legal reasons outside of our control. We strongly value your contributions to Associated Content, and hope to expand our new Performance Payment system to additional international Contributors in the future. You will be notified again if this occurs. If you would like to remove your content from AssociatedContent.com, please send your request to community@associatedcontent.com. _____________________________________ If you have any questions about how this change impacts you, please email community@associatedcontent.com. Sincerely, Associated Content PS: If you are a United States legal citizen or resident, these changes will not impact you. However, you will need to submit your taxpayer identification information to us as proof of your identity."

Okay, wow! That just looks bad. At least they gave everyone the option to take their content off of the site. I hate to see that this happened.

Hi Downwindz, at least you do not have so many articles in Associdated Content, and you are not a member of Associated Content for a year. I have more than three hundred articles in Associated Content, and been there for more than a year. Actually the performance rate in Bukisa is not as good as Associated Content. Associated Content splits a longer article into many pages, so you earn more page views per article. Bukisa does not split the article. Even if you write longer than 400 words, the article still shows as one page. Whereas in Associated Content, it will show as two pages.

Im aware that Bukisa doesnt split the articles into several pages, but it also depends on how long it is how many pages AC will split the articles into... 600 words is still just 2 pages - and in that case Bukisa has the better revenue.

Hi UmiNoor, Associated Content sent out an email to all international writers yesterday. That email informs us that Associated Content will not pay us unless we are featured contributors. I do not like the idea of my articles in Associated Content, generating cash for them, and I do not get a single cent out of it. My earlier articles were not written with seo techniques, so these did not gather page views. However, the later articles were doing pretty well. The top article, even though it is a duplicate, gathers about 5,000 page views in less than six months.

Oh I see. I didn't receive any notification from AC as I'm not active on that site. This is very sad. If that is the case, you should delete your articles. I wonder if Helium too will do the same. I've come across some discussions here in myLot that Helium is also blocking users from some geographical regions namely the Philippines. Do you know anything about this? I hope Helium will not block international writers as I'm earning quite well with Helium. Do you know anything about this?

Hi UmiNoor, Helium had some bad experience with writers from certain countries, and they are blocking certain IP addresses. At one time, we thought that Helium was using blanket ban. However, it seemed that as long as the writers are good, Helium still allows them to post the articles. One writer from India has a funny experience. He can post articles from his home computer. However, he has problem accessing Helium from other parts of India.

See my response above. The short answer is yes.

See my response above. The short answer is yes.

Do you know if it is possible to be a featured contributor in more than one section?

Hi Katkat, I joined Hubpages a year ago. Those articles in Associated Content were written with seo in mind. The top article had about 5,000 page views within 6 months. The surprisingly thing is that the article is an exact duplicate, since I posted in Helium before I posted it in Associated Content. The writing strategy for Hubpages is different from Associated Content or Helium. The value of keyword is not as important for those articles in Associated Content or Helium. As for Hubpages, the value of keyword determines the income.

Hi Oscar, even when Associated Content paid international writers, it paid just for page views according to the Clout Index. We never could earn from the upfront payment. For those who benefited from upfront and page views, I guess the earning is very substantial. But for us international writers, the first few months were really miserable. It took so long to earn the first $1.50. Even in my best month, the page view bonus never exceeded fifteen dollars.