Solved: Re: Experiences with Availability badge

41da6f2c · ‎07-06-2023

Hi guys!

I would like to know your experiences on

How the "Availability badge" has affected you?

For better or for worse!🤔
I know that the algorithm is not affected, but that it varies in the client's filter to search for workers, so I would like you to share your experiences.
Thank you

arsalan-m · ‎07-08-2023

Not much was achieved during the conversation. They seemed to ignore my questions and instead kept suggesting that I focus on bidding and winning jobs to increase visibility. They shared a few official links with tips on writing winning proposals and achieving success, which they have already shared numerous times before.

It seems they are not addressing the real problem. Instead, they are more focused on introducing new features that require unnecessary "investments" from freelancers.

I suspect that the decrease in visibility may have been intentional to encourage freelancers to purchase more connects, or either they themselves have no idea why top freelancers have experienced a loss of visibility and are not receiving many views or invitations this year, especially in recent months, which have been particularly challenging for work.

I cannot say anything for certain, these are just my assumption as many top-plus freelancers have also been complaining the same. Only God & Upwork knows what actually happened or what actions they have taken.

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fe9b8d82 · ‎07-06-2023

I tried having it on for about 30 days. Made zero difference for me.

Your mileage may vary, but I saw no benefit or change in profile views or any other client activity.

arsalan-m · ‎07-06-2023

I don't see any value in spending a single connect on this badge. It should be included as a standard feature in our profile, indicating our availability, and it should be FREE. It has no impact on profile visibility, views, or invites. It's essentially useless.

Despite them repeatedly stating that this badge has no impact on the profile discovery, I recently spoke with support about the recent updates on Upwork and the decreased profile visibility. Surprisingly, in their list of suggestions, they also mentioned using the "Availability Badge" and "Proposal Boosting" I asked them to clarify how the badge would affect our profile discovery and why I should prefer the boost option. I am still waiting for their response.

In short, this badge serves no purpose, Its a total waste of connects.

41da6f2c · ‎07-06-2023

Let us know the news!

arsalan-m · ‎07-08-2023

Not much was achieved during the conversation. They seemed to ignore my questions and instead kept suggesting that I focus on bidding and winning jobs to increase visibility. They shared a few official links with tips on writing winning proposals and achieving success, which they have already shared numerous times before.

It seems they are not addressing the real problem. Instead, they are more focused on introducing new features that require unnecessary "investments" from freelancers.

I suspect that the decrease in visibility may have been intentional to encourage freelancers to purchase more connects, or either they themselves have no idea why top freelancers have experienced a loss of visibility and are not receiving many views or invitations this year, especially in recent months, which have been particularly challenging for work.

I cannot say anything for certain, these are just my assumption as many top-plus freelancers have also been complaining the same. Only God & Upwork knows what actually happened or what actions they have taken.

eleoz · ‎07-07-2023

Arsalan M wrote:
I am still waiting for their response.

That's because it would be not so nice to clearly state "it serves us as a passive and recurring stream of revenue."

hoyle_editing · ‎07-06-2023

I had it on for a while, but turned it off the other day when i rea;lised i was using a connect a day on it.

Not noticed any difference. I was getting lots of invites and profile views prior to all the recent changes, since then its all dropped to pretty much zero. But, i can say that badge did not seem to make a spot of difference.

torino05 · ‎07-06-2023

Honestly, the "Availability badge" hasn't made any noticeable difference for me. While it affects client filters, it hasn't impacted my workload or client interactions. That's just my experience though, and others may have had different results.

ae125c83 · ‎07-06-2023

I never used the availability badge and you can see my profile and no. of jobs in the last 5 months. It's a wastage of connects to use for the Availability badge.

2e1cd022 · ‎07-06-2023

Thanks, guys for your reviews, Now I am going to remove the badge from my profile and save connects😊

41da6f2c · ‎07-06-2023

Thanks to all of you for sharing!

I'll do the same! I started to use it yesterday just to check, and I'll be testing just one more day... but I guess I'll turn it off soon 😂 and save connects too.

tlsanders · ‎07-06-2023

I turned it on 6-8 weeks ago to see whether it had any impact, and it made so little difference that I completely forgot about it until I read this post.

41da6f2c · ‎07-07-2023

You made me laugh!😄

Grateful to have refreshed your memory

41da6f2c · ‎07-15-2023

Just to conclude with this topic... I comment... before activating the "Availability Badge" I had profile views, it didn't make much difference to activate the Badge... what it did... after deactivating it my views dropped to the point of being almost nil.
I comment as a reflection because it has frustrated me a lot.