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versailles
Community Member

How to waste your invites!

When you search for freelancers, accounts that have no earnings and no jobs and no activity at all, created years ago (and thus maybe abandoned), still show up, making you waste your free invites.

 

Why the frak does Upwork show these abandoned accounts in search? I mean with Basic, we have only three invites to spend!

 

 

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless
ACCEPTED SOLUTION
VladimirG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Rene/All,

 

As an update regarding the profiles Rene flagged, we identified some minor inconsistencies in the way a segment of new freelancers is being displayed in search and will implement an update to ensure we're consistent with our policy with highlighting consistent earners. Thanks again Rene for reporting this inconsistency.

 

~ Vladimir
Upwork

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21 REPLIES 21
reinierb
Community Member


Rene K wrote:

When you search for freelancers, accounts that have no earnings and no jobs and no activity at all, created years ago (and thus maybe abandoned), still show up, making you waste your free invites.

 

Why the frak does Upwork show these abandoned accounts in search? I mean with Basic, we have only three invites to spend!

 

To bully you into buying a paid client plan, perhaps? 


 

VladimirG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Rene,

 

Thanks for the report, could you please pm me a screenshot of the inactive profiles appearing in search results as well as a few of the profile links, so I could take a look?

~ Vladimir
Upwork

PMed to Vlad.

 

 

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


Vladimir G wrote:

Hi Rene,

 

Thanks for the report, could you please pm me a screenshot of the inactive profiles appearing in search results as well as a few of the profile links, so I could take a look?



Vlad, how is it possible that there are so many accounts with 0$ earned and inactive that are still visible when UW is so quick to "hide" the accounts when you don't make money in a month?

Vladimir G wrote:

Hi Rene,

 

Thanks for the report, could you please pm me a screenshot of the inactive profiles appearing in search results as well as a few of the profile links, so I could take a look?



Vlad, how is it possible that there are so many accounts with 0$ earned and inactive that are still visible when UW is so quick to "hide" the accounts when you don't make money in a month?


That's a very good question

This is not a "follow up on freelancer reports" question.

 

This is a database query question.

 

There is a difference between:

"Find freelancers where earnings = 0 and date_created > 2 years ago"

 

...compared to:

 

"Detect incidents where a freelancer padded his resume by suggesting he has a Master's degree from a university where actually he only completed 1 years of a Masters program."

 

[What is the difference? One is quite doable, and not compex. The other is complicated and probably not doable given available resources and infrastructure.]

tlsanders
Community Member


Rene K wrote:

When you search for freelancers, accounts that have no earnings and no jobs and no activity at all, created years ago (and thus maybe abandoned), still show up, making you waste your free invites.

 

 

 


That's pretty weird considering that Upwork is routinely hiding active freelancers who have gone a few weeks without earning. How is it that freelancers who have never earned and are > 60 days on the site are still showing up at all? Mods?

I agree. It's silly...

 


Rene K wrote:

When you search for freelancers, accounts that have no earnings and no jobs and no activity at all, created years ago (and thus maybe abandoned), still show up, making you waste your free invites.


By the way, can you guys tell me how do you know an account was created years ago? where exactly does that appear in the search results or in the profile page?

I want to let everyone know thad Vlad is currently investigating this and communicating with me.

 

If the freelancers I have spotted are active on Upwork in the way that they are actively looking for a job (which only upwork knows), then Upwork may be right in showing them.

 

If not and if it's a bug, then I guess this will be escalated to IT.

 

 

 

 

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

 

 


Rene K wrote:

I want to let everyone know thad Vlad is currently investigating this and communicating with me.

 

If the freelancers I have spotted are active on Upwork in the way that they are actively looking for a job (which only upwork knows), then Upwork may be right in showing them.

 

If not and if it's a bug, then I guess this will be escalated to IT.

 


No, Upwork's actually not right in showing them, at least not for longer than 30 days. Since that is the reprieve Upwork grants freelancers that haven't had earnings in as many days before setting their profiles to private (=cannot be found in search). People that made them money at some point prior to that dry spell. Because they are presumably also actively looking for work.

I agree with these comments, and I appreciate Rene's report that Upwork is actively looking into this.

 

I definitely don't want the freelancers' profiles hidden if they're actively looking for work.

 

But if freelancers abandoned Upwork long ago, then it is a disservice to clients if Upwork presents them as potential candidates for their jobs.


Ela K wrote:

 

 


Rene K wrote:

I want to let everyone know thad Vlad is currently investigating this and communicating with me.

 

If the freelancers I have spotted are active on Upwork in the way that they are actively looking for a job (which only upwork knows), then Upwork may be right in showing them.

 

If not and if it's a bug, then I guess this will be escalated to IT.

 


No, Upwork's actually not right in showing them, at least not for longer than 30 days. Since that is the reprieve Upwork grants freelancers that haven't had earnings in as many days before setting their profiles to private (=cannot be found in search). People that made them money at some point prior to that dry spell. Because they are presumably also actively looking for work.


Absolutely. My profile was switched to 'private' recently on the 30th day without earnings, even though I had a $1k milestone sitting in review, several other open (but idle) contracts, and had been more active in submitting proposals in the previous 2-3 weeks than I have been at any other time this year. "Looking for work" should either count or not count.


Sergio S wrote:

I agree. It's silly...

 


Rene K wrote:

When you search for freelancers, accounts that have no earnings and no jobs and no activity at all, created years ago (and thus maybe abandoned), still show up, making you waste your free invites.


By the way, can you guys tell me how do you know an account was created years ago? where exactly does that appear in the search results or in the profile page?


 View Source 

You will also see there if a profile has been "Automatically Accepted", such as the controversial "Aussie Voice" profiles.

VladimirG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Rene/All,

 

As an update regarding the profiles Rene flagged, we identified some minor inconsistencies in the way a segment of new freelancers is being displayed in search and will implement an update to ensure we're consistent with our policy with highlighting consistent earners. Thanks again Rene for reporting this inconsistency.

 

~ Vladimir
Upwork


Vladimir G wrote:

Hi Rene/All,

 

As an update regarding the profiles Rene flagged, we identified some minor inconsistencies in the way a segment of new freelancers is being displayed in search and will implement an update to ensure we're consistent with our policy with highlighting consistent earners. Thanks again Rene for reporting this inconsistency.

 


Now I'm more confused, so what am I missing?

- Rene's question was why OLD profiles with no earnings/activity show up in searches, not new FLs. 

- What is the policy re. "highlighting consistent earners"?

 

Thanks in advance!


Phyllis G wrote:

Vladimir G wrote:

Hi Rene/All,

 

As an update regarding the profiles Rene flagged, we identified some minor inconsistencies in the way a segment of new freelancers is being displayed in search and will implement an update to ensure we're consistent with our policy with highlighting consistent earners. Thanks again Rene for reporting this inconsistency.

 


Now I'm more confused, so what am I missing?

- Rene's question was why OLD profiles with no earnings/activity show up in searches, not new FLs. 

- What is the policy re. "highlighting consistent earners"?

 

Thanks in advance!


Me too.

I don't quite understand what Vladimir means.

Based on Rene's comment, what I was asking about is about $0 earnings accounts and with years of being open unused (almost all without data, in addition)
I've done a search and found 6 pages (I've stopped checking there) of accounts with $0 and up to 6 years! (some since 2012)
What do these accounts do there?
Are they just so that UW can say that it has lots and lots of freelancers?

 

And then we have to see that any of the freelancers who are generally earning (sometimes a lot) can find that their account has been hidden because they did not "earn money" for a month.
What joke is this?

If anyone, mods ?, is interested in the information...


Vladimir G wrote:

Hi Rene/All,

 

As an update regarding the profiles Rene flagged, we identified some minor inconsistencies in the way a segment of new freelancers is being displayed in search and will implement an update to ensure we're consistent with our policy with highlighting consistent earners. Thanks again Rene for reporting this inconsistency.


Hey, Vlad, this is really incredible. Today I wrote my first name in the search. I appeared on page 57. That's fine, I don't expect to appear on first page, I understand Upwork results rotation and all, but 99.9% of freelancers who appear from pages 1 to 56 have "$0 earned" page after page. There are 10 results per page. Am I supposed to believe there are 560 new freelancers with the same first name as me who started this month or who have been switched to private and then asked to be turned public again?

So that this topic does not stop and only remain in the memory, I have returned to do some searches and my depression has increased considerably.
- From a location, $0 earnings and with profiles from up to 2013, all visible, I have stopped on page 34.
- On another, 18 pages and I have stopped.

 

99.9% of the profiles have neither description nor photograph, and some of the photos that appear are false.

 

How long will all these profiles be visible?
UW, are you surprised that the people who are winning get pissed off when you hide their profile?

If someone wants to check the searches, PM. Perhaps my search engine has gone crazy and everything is a lie 🙂

Your search engine hasn't gone crazy, Maria. I just spent a little time looking at - "some of Upwork’s top Graphic Designers" in (the place shall remain nameless, but every single one of them is from the same town).

 

24 profiles on the first page - three of them seem to be the same guy, and not one single one of them are "top graphic designers". How can they be? They have some of the worst profiles I've ever seen, and none of them have been hired.  Oh wait, there was one who had jobs, but he also has a 67% JSS.

 

We are trying to understand these search results that come up on the first page. Why are these empty (and mostly stolen) profiles front and center and being called "top anything"?

 

And it's high time Upwork stops with the 30-day no earnings nonsense, especially against your good freelancers. That this happens to your earning freelancers, while page upon page of non-earning crappy profiles come up as the best Upwork has to offer makes absolutely no sense.

 

ETA: Oh yeah ... forgot to add: one of those empty profiles had a "rising talent" badge on it. I wonder how Upwork (or it's bots) determines how one who has done no work has any talent?


Virginia F wrote:

Your search engine hasn't gone crazy, Maria. I just spent a little time looking at - "some of Upwork’s top Graphic Designers" in (the place shall remain nameless, but every single one of them is from the same town).

 

24 profiles on the first page - three of them seem to be the same guy, and not one single one of them are "top graphic designers". How can they be? They have some of the worst profiles I've ever seen, and none of them have been hired.  Oh wait, there was one who had jobs, but he also has a 67% JSS.

 

We are trying to understand these search results that come up on the first page. Why are these empty (and mostly stolen) profiles front and center and being called "top anything"?

 


This is insane. If I were a client and those were the "top" freelancers that came up in my search results for a graphic designer, I wouldn't even consider posting my project on Upwork - I'd leave and never return.

I just searched myself and found that I am showing $0 for one of my specialized profiles. 

 

I'm on the fence here. I am considering ditching the specialized profiles and going back to one. 

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