Increasing Transparency in Boosted Proposals

[kochubei_valeria]

Our team recently launched a test to increase transparency around bidding in Boosted Proposals to help you make a more informed decision around spending Connects.

Check out the product update about this test here and let us know your thoughts about this update in the comments below.

[8a322fb7]

I would love to know of anything I can do today to gain free connects. I have had my monthly allowance and bought some but I am looking for an Upwork course or something like that which will earn me connects. 

[fe4161df]

Like many other freelancers, I consider this system to be totally unfair. People are investing up to 20 connects or more to get a $40 job.
The whole connect system is unfair, who decides that some publications require 6 connects and others only one to apply?
This should be fixed and equal for everyone (like on Freelancer and other sites) so that we can all apply for jobs and the clients can decide according to our capacity, experience, previous work, etc. With this system, those of us who can't "invest" so many connects but are far superior to other colleagues in terms of experience, are totally invisible.
There are many things to improve in Upwork and, as I usually say, freelancers need (and deserve) to be more protected and work in a fair environment.
90% of the improvements you make are in favor of the clients and not the freelancers who are the ones who support this platform (with commissions and buying connects). There are more and more fraudulent client accounts. We are increasingly harmed when we deliver jobs and see how they take our money. There are even people selling Upwork accounts in Facebook groups. You should pay attention to all this, rather than trying a system that only makes less experienced freelancers gouge each other's eyes out for underpaid work.

[paigesullivan]

I've been watching this mess happen from the sidelines and finally, FINALLY, felt compelled to speak on it. 

I'd like to start off by saying that I am fortunate enough to not feel pressed about this, I am booked out. I also feel terrible for not speaking on this earlier, on behalf of those who are not as fortunate. 

I understand the business aspect of making more money from this, for Upwork, as well as the outrageous fees already charged on any income from the platform. I get it. But I don't think Upwork understands how much of a joke the platform has become in 2022 because of it. Freelancers came here looking for thr "luxury" platform that Upwork has made themselves out to be, the marble mansion of the freelance world, and instead found a rundown house. 

Not only are Freelancers disgusted by the rates and the costs/fees lately - but the clients are too! Each and every one of my clients and most potential clients have asked me if I would make more money by moving them off the platform, because they know how outrageous the fees are. Potential clients that I have boosted proposals for have told me that they do not like the boosted proposals, that it seems fishy and that folks who don't seem to know how to do the job are the first they're seeing, just because they have the money to spare. 

I highly suggest not using this feature in the future. I highly suggest cracking down on spam job listings AND inactive or spam Freelancer accounts. 

While we, the Freelancers, obviously don't want to compete with a hoard of other Freelancers, we have made it clear over the course of this beta that we'd rather be on an equal playing field. 

[pariszsun]

this new rabid bidding game is crazy and one more bad thing for the freelancers. like we already pay a monthly fee, buy credits, and a percentage of all earnings. geeszzz come on upwork what are you going to do now that the market has declared a recession in UK and possibly USA??? Its not transparent, its crazy betting on client horses.

[2de2c483]

I am generally very happy with the platform and don't tend to look for things to complain about. But this, here, is bad.

I think Boosts are bad news for everyone. Based on what I am seeing, they aren't testament of interest but of desperation. 

As others have mentioned, going through the platform with a fine-tooth comb to eliminate scam & spam is probably a priority. More valid clients will increase employment rate leading to more fees collected by Upwork.

Monetization can also be improved by better promoting paid plans. Retargetting? I have so far barely been nudged towards paid membership. 

Incentive to bring external clients onto the platform? 

Other. Anything but this. Boosts, which I have used as a test, aren't exactly showing the results you seem to wish freelancers to believe they are. 

I like this platform. Would hate to see all this work go to waste on a gamble that Boosts really are. I don't gamble. I came to Upwork to work. If I wanted to try my chances in impossible situations I'd be in a casino not on Upwork. Don't lose sight of the fact that you are representing professionals, offering hard work and services, many of whom entirely depend on Upwork for their income. 

All the best. 

[donny20]

I can't even see this in mine,

It's just shows this. Upwork why is mine different

 

[759e32fa]

Hi Emeka,

Thank you for reaching out to us. As Valeria mentioned, we are currently just running a test so not all accounts will see this feature.

[sherenelogan]

I am a content writer and SEO specialist. Whenever I am performing research, I always ignore paid ads. 

Why? Because I knew their SEO game didn't win them the top spot, they pay their ways up. I think most experienced clients will feel the same way about Upwork boosted proposals.

On the other hand, new clients don't have deep knowledge of how they platform works yet and will possibly go with proposals that appear at the top and matches their needs.

There is nothing wrong in boosting proposals, the only thing is knowing how the client will feel about it.

[jamesmyers70]

I honestly think that this feature is very bad. It is money-wasting. Proposals should be organic like they used to be. Boosting proposals is not fair. Only Upwork benefits from this.

[a1b13802]

{Many of the Connects spent on Boosted Proposals are from Connects earned for free} I read this in the product update and I really don't understand what it means, Is this true??

1) If you think boosted proposal looks desperate and the client will not hire a boosted proposal because it appear desperate, I can assure you that you're completely wrong!

The reason you're boosting your proposal is to get noticed and if you think it's not working for those using it, you're still wrong.

Upwork already tested this feature and it's working fine for those who are able to boost their way to top 3.

If you think those who spent huge number of connects on boosting are desperate freelancers, unqualified freelancers, newbies etc, you're still very wrong. I can assure you, there's no newbie that can afford to spend huge numbers of connects on proposals.

People who can afford it are successful freelancers & agencies.

The effect of this boosting Strategy is that their will be no room for new freelancers to grow, if you're not rich and can not afford to spend many connects on your proposal, getting job will be very difficult.

All we ask upwork management is an equal chance, don't make things harder for us, don't direct all the traffic to big spenders.

How can a freelancer survive if you don't have top rated badge, not a raising talent etc.

Please leave job post for all freelancers to bid and showcase their talent to the client, there's definitely no need to interfere with the client decision because {Boosting proposal doesn't in any anyway showcase quality to the client, it only showcase the BIG CONNECT SPENDERS}

[avishekbhardwaj4]

So the upwork introduces a new feature of bidding proposal and it is very pathetic to see the freelances spending so much amount of connect for small jobs .. i mean what rubbish 24 connect for first place bid of 50 dollar job .. huh..  Nobody is liking it and please request to team please don't impose such kind of features .. availabity badge still good but the boosting feature is pathetic .. i getting a worst nighmare nowdays how do i get project in such kind of situation .. my expense is rely on upwork projects .. please some raise a voice or write to upwork team this is runing among the freelancers and wining a projects in a future 

[yofazza]

I believe a business must innovate. They chose this "innovation" through some processes which means it's nearly impossible for us, a small group of freelancers (compare forum posters to the entire Upwork FLs), to change their mind. Only time will tell if this will bring more profits to them in the long run, or not.

Even if everyone here vote in **Edited for Community Guidelines**, they will not change it if the rest of the freelancers joins their "game". We can only hope there are really no qualified freelancers succumb into this because they want to work, not gamble, which will only left unqualified freelancers in the game, which will eventually annoys the clients.

> my expense is rely on upwork projects

You shouldn't do that. There are **Edited for Community Guidelines** of businesses to go down becuase they rely too much to another party. I experienced that in a smaller level when I rely too much to a single marketplace, where many daily sales turned into 0 after a little algo change.

[khayyam-zaheer]

The update is just getting worst!

Freelancer are just wasting money. Kindly stop this update.

I think the boosted update is good but showing the bids is unjustify!

I have seen spending of 100+ connects on a single job its getting worse🙄

[261a6e47]

Hi Valeria, with new bosted updated i noticed the client has been confused to hire a freelancer why? For example 5 minutes after the proposal they saw one seller then after some time at the top they saw another freelancer and constantly updating this position and Client is actually got confused about what to do as every time my top freelancer is disappearing from the slot.

Hope that make sense and last thing is Boosted Proposal is just a game for seller but much better clients get poor freelancer and upwork site will lose their stats down day to day if this feature is not changed

[261a6e47]

Simply this is an unplanned feature. Kindly remove this soon so that we can properly start working and write the best proposal not just . Please Hire me I spend 20 connect. No NO Please hire me I spent 25 connect. No No Please Hire me I spent 30 Connect. No NO NO NO Please Please Hire me I spend my whole connects!!!!!

[ezzatmostafa]

I just wonder about one thing for example I made the bid at 1st, 2nd or 3rd already will someone else could make the bid on 1st as well and his proposal will be ahead of mine? 

[barhoom00]

I understand that a lot of freelancers applying to jobs that don't fit their qualifications and skills, but this is far away from a reasonable solution, we should have the same chance, I am a top rated freelancer and I am upset, how about the beginners? Please keep Upwork good and fair environment for all freelancers.

[pariszsun]

Because of this lovely update I spent much of my weekend signing up to other lead platforms, reconnecting with past friends and clients in my business and kicking myself up as hard as I can because this update is a real downer, one bid was at 60+connects. I hated playing the bidding game, I won't do it anymore. So do clients care, well I am a client too in upwork and yes I look at the top few bidders due to timing. If the talent is in the first few I am happy to quickly hire. Upwork should be asking some of the massive collective base of talent in its platform what it thinks first before rolling out pay gamble work themes. I'm not even sure this scheme is legal, once it crosses over to a gambling site this is a whole different ball game. I am a freelancer, have an upwork agency and a client on upwork with top talent status out looking for a job.

[renata101]

I can't see how this is helpful.


It seems like Upwork is trying to further gameify the proposal process, and by providing the graphic, it looks like you're trying to entice freelancers to bid even higher than they might if they didn't kow what the top bid was. 

This isn't transparency. It's Upwork trying to nickel and dime freelancers at an economically sensitive time, and it's very manipulative. Upwork isn't a gambling site. I can see this really encouraging bidding wars. I don't see how this is going to be good for clients at all.

[haasjon23]

Upwork Top Rated Plus- 100% Job satisfaction freelancer with almost 3 years of experience working for Upwork chiming in here.

This is boosting is nothing short of a ridiculous cash grab for Upwork. 

Instead of rewarding freelancers who write the best proposals, you're rewarding who is essentially the highest bidder. This seems like a pretty poor way to build this platoform. 

This nonsense, along with the excessive amounts of scam posts are why I have largely stopped trying to find work on Upwork. I will now only submit proposals for clients who send me invitations to interview. I'm not going to get into boost bidding wars with less qualified people. 

You've dropped the ball here big time. 

[47c973e7]

The new Bidding system is the very policy for new freelancers. We can not afford to buy connect again and again. This is a bad decision for Upwork. For fair workplace, all freelancer should take fair and equal opportunity

[elisa_b]

Don't boost your proposals. Such a waste of money.

[460d344a]

You should remove this. Why? because when i started i just turned 18 and back then i did not have money, i hoped that upwork will help me do the same and it did. Upwork did not have this feature back then, if it did i would not have been able to buy connects and send proposals to potential clients. So it is really difficult for a new freelancer to get jobs and believe me or not it will not be profitable for upwork in a long run. Upwork has given me oppurtunities which i'm grateful of and i have made money for upwork too talking about the commission which upwork takes. but if i am not getting a job, i cannot pay you back for your(upwork) help(in commission). So this is bad for both upwork and freelancers. I love upwork because it helped me a lot thru the years, but money making features like this are not which i expect from upwork. Do look into it. Thank you!

Mayank Bhama 

 **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[rakibulhasan007]

This is ridiculous!

This is too bad for entry-level freelancers
That is not fair from UpWork

[shayankhan23]

No freelancer should buy these connects so that they can automatically remove this. 

[sourendro_ws]

Hi Upwork Team
Boosting of Proposal through connects seems to be very unethical and purely non-sense to be visible to the customer.  Earlier the customer used to select through 

a) Similar Work Experience

b) Understanding of the Work by Freelancer

c) Timeline 

d) Price.

It will be helpful, if you remove the feature of boosting proposal.

Thanks

sourendro

[razaadeel8]

This is not a feature, it's a trap by Upwork to make people loose their connects. 

[elisa_b]

It seems like the community has spoken.

Apparently, the bidding transparency feature only stoked the disappointment towards the boosting system in the first place. I have yet to hear a single freelancer fully praising it. And if I missed them, the vast majority still seems to be against it, so... Oh, and let's not forget clients' complaints. 

[logozona]

I am working here for 10 years.

Upwork should follow the same ELANCE policies.

Elance was the best.

Upwork wants to earn more than a freelancer.

[joynul33]

It's not fair at all! I haven't had a single contract in the last two or three months!

[bibitahi]

This is very disappointing for new freelancers and making it hard to land in a project to earn online. 

Please think about the whole UpWork community. It is not fair. 

[rirazamir]

I dont like this feature . It doesnt represent the real tatent and ability to do the work.

[s_m_huzaifa_ali]

I have around more than 4-5 years of experience working on Upwork platform , have worked various types of accounts and I would like to point out some things.

1. Boosted porposal does help in getting noticed but just for very few seconds only because I have seen stats and many people crazily use more than 50-150 connects on a single proposal to boost their bids and if they have a mature profile then no matter how skilled, experienced or the best solution a freelancer place on their proposal , if they don't have a top rated, top rated plus profile etc they won't get noticed , one more thing, I also monitored stats for whole month, have wasted a lot of connects on for boosted proposal , Let me tell truth , I wasted more money on connects daily and only to increase views on my proposal and the ratio of interview opened on that profile organically was like 10:1 as compared to boosted proposal.

2.  If Upwork truly believes they are helping each type of freelancer and giving equal opportunity, then should give to outboosted connects back after 2-3 days bare minimum, so that people get incouraged to use more connects but don't be afriad to lose a lot of money without any result.

But right now, All I see is Upwork clearly increasing their revenue multiple times just from connects purchase and only top rated mature or rich freelancer are taking the maximum benefits out of it.

3. One more thing, I would like to point it out is that Upwork should integrate a Ai/automated system which checks for templated proposal or checks whether a proposal freelancer is pitching is genuine or not since I have seen people placing more than 50 bids within 10 sec like how it is humanly possible to complete and provide a complete or short solution this fast , Upwork should also have option to automatically highlight a proper custom best proposal which will in terms of Upwork policy and also showcase the amount of time it took to place that proposal so that client can know if the freelancer took time to review the project description and that freelancer who have responded well based on client requirements.

I know this feature may come after 3-5 decades later since Upwork are quite slow in implementing best features for their freelancers , and I think if it takes that amount of time, I rather built or move on other freelancer platform based on Web3 with all these best features since I am losing my patience and trust on Upwork daily.

4. The other most important issue which Upwork have still not addressed, why there are so many fake clients and job listing nowadays , it is becoming exactly like Freelancer platform where fake Client spam / list multiple jobs from different locations and ask us to go outside and work together. First of All, Upwork should not allow clients to list jobs on Upwork untill they have verified their identity and payment method and completed verification process.

So No matter what kind of ideal or great reason Upwork support gives to me like we have included this feature after a lot of research and based on freelancer feedback and testing, in the end its utter bull.... and misscommitment with all of kinds of User(freelancer community)

Lastly, if you want my suggestion on how to improve it, here is a small tip:

Limit each freelancer to boost 4-6 or just 8 proposal daily so that each freelancer gets equal opportunity on other jobs , otherwise this boosted feature is causing havoc and imbalance within the Upwork platform.

[a281e937]

I can see people are spending 15-30 connects to get a 50$ job! What!? You just made a Genshin Impact Gacha system for Freelancers. Of course, the whales are gonna win. And the people saying I got a good job because I have spent an absurd amount of magic coins, are the same as Twitch streamers promoting gambling websites.

There are clients who are blatantly asking for an absurd amount of jobs done for only 5$ saying, "This is your chance to earn a 5-star review." And the funniest thing is people are spending an absurd amount of connects on that crap. Did you hire people from MMO games? I lost 40 connects on 8 proposals which I am 100% sure were outbid by others and my proposal is rotting under the bottom. What am I supposed to do? Wait till everyone spends their connect then start bidding? Well, that ain't gonna work cause there are whales whose ready to smash your 20 connect bid with 200 just to rub it on your face and remind you your place. Spend money to get money. Buy membership. Now buy connects. Got a job? Woo! 20% Got scammed? I dunno man. Should have been more careful. Great system! Why am I even trying?

[hamzamughal78]

Hello Upwork, 
This boost feature is no good. See the attached image and calculate how much people are spending on boosting the proposals, now imagine the client doesn't want to hire someone from Upwork or he is a scam. What happens then?

On the other hand, new Freelancers or Freelancers like myself, who are struggling to get projects even reached cannot afford these many connects, how can we compete? just look at it 

[renata101]

That's $196.65 for the top spot. And here we are running around telling newbie freelancers that they should never pay clients fees to work for them. Here Upwork is getting a $200 bump so that the client will look at their proposal first. 

This is the type of thing I was worried might start happening.


There's something really wrong with this.

Edited to add: Apparently, that's a retouched image. I'd be curious to know what the highest bid has really been so far.

[9fe872eb]

What do you mean it was "retouched"?

[researchediting]

---

Amit S wrote:

What do you mean it was "retouched"?

---

Altered. Falsified.

[9fe872eb]

Thanks, Doug but I was trying to know the basis for that conclusion (and the manner/extent of the retouching) rather than the literal meaning.

[researchediting]

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a literalist by nature.

Doubts about the figures in the image have appeared elsewhere. Valeria has said the team is looking into it.