Something needs to change here...

Wavesecure · May 30, 2026

Forum is at lowest point in terms of activity...

The primary reason why people come here is to do business but they can't...

If you want people to stick around you need to provide some form of value first > the value used to be that people could get stuff done here + a few of quality guides and journey threads to read.

Nobody wants to stay here when they need to grind 15 posts to access wtb and the threads are mediocre, to say the least. (I am talking from average user perspective)

Please consider to allow all members to post in wtb/haf like it used to be in the past.

I remember 2 years ago this forum was very active and I worked on some great projects with a few freelancers from this forum.

Let me give you a practical example why this rules do more harm than good:

I don't remember my password from my account where I had 15+ posts. Am I supposed to do that all over again? No thanks!

Others simply don't want to.

From my experience forcing people to "contribute" is never a good idea.

Reopen the platform again and then contributions will come naturally.

Peace!

proxygo · May 30, 2026

fogetting your password didnt stop you emailing support
with your email - user name - ip address -
support could likely ahve helped you .

Panther28 · May 30, 2026

I find it hard to believe you worked on any real projects. 15 posts is easy if you actually know stuff, and secure password and account management are both essential every day projects in a digital world, and you can't handle them?

Nobody is forming me to contribute, and I do 15+ posts a week. I do it cause i see others needing help, or confirmation. If you have have knowledge and your not sharing ? Your going the wrong way down a 2 way street! lol

Wavesecure · May 30, 2026

@proxygo @Panther28

You are Elite Members with thousands of posts. Of course this is not affecting you.

Can't you see that the level of activity here has dramatically decreased?

Multiple people have complained about this.
I don’t want to search all the links, but I think I’ve seen at least a dozen threads/posts about this subject. (to which both of you have made similar remarks and I find it strange

)

All I’m saying is: when multiple people say, over and over, that their experience here is bad, maybe try to listen.

As I said one of the primary reasons why people come here is to do business but since this rules were introduced they can't... and we can all see the results now

I am making this thread hoping that the staff team will at least consider to do something

Diamond Damien · May 30, 2026

Wavesecure said:
Forum is at lowest point in terms of activity...

The primary reason why people come here is to do business but they can't...

If you want people to stick around you need to provide some form of value first > the value used to be that people could get stuff done here + a few of quality guides and journey threads to read.

Nobody wants to stay here when they need to grind 15 posts to access wtb and the threads are mediocre, to say the least. (I am talking from average user perspective)

Please consider to allow all members to post in wtb/haf like it used to be in the past.

I remember 2 years ago this forum was very active and I worked on some great projects with a few freelancers from this forum.

Let me give you a practical example why this rules do more harm than good:

I don't remember my password from my account where I had 15+ posts. Am I supposed to do that all over again? No thanks!

Others simply don't want to.

From my experience forcing people to "contribute" is never a good idea.

Reopen the platform again and then contributions will come naturally.

Peace!

In my forum experience, people do business with people. On the forum, your personality and experience are reflected in your post history. 15 posts gives those considering doing business with you a good start to understand your experience, knowledge and the type of person you are and a platform to ask more questions. If it's all "bump bump bump, complain, complain, complain" then it's unlikely you're going to get engagement in a HAF or WTB project. If it's thoughtful and helpful posts about relevant experience, you're more likely to get considered for a role, and members are more likely to engage with you.

The platform remains highly engaged and open with a rolling 12-month average of over a hundred thousand posts a month millions of users and tens of millions of page views in the last 12 months. In our experience, 15 posts isn't a lot to ask for true engagement and it gives those wanting to work with experienced individuals a little insight into those they maybe working with.

It's not a lot to ask - and if you truly have a lost account and you've lost your password and the email address you registered it with then as @proxygo states (with years of forum knowledge) reach out to support.

Salamouna · May 30, 2026

Don't forget about how they made the wtb section as no index
That have affect too as many clients joined the forum just to buy a service they found via Google

Wavesecure · May 30, 2026

Diamond Damien said:
The platform remains highly engaged and open

Then why people stop renewing their memberships?

VikingWannabe said:
Yeah I didn't renew my Jr. VIP given the current situation of the forum

I know that you are a busy but maybe take a look over all the threads were people are complaining about this exact things
I mean you have to consider at least a tiny bit the overall community sentiment

https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/anyone-else-noticed-reduced-traffic-and-sales-from-bhw.1801578/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/tons-of-spammers-recently-just-posting-useless-generic-questions-and-spamming-artificial-garbage-everywhere.1811555/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/this-forum-is-already-dying-and-i-get-this-error.1819756/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/why-i-am-not-able-to-post-on-wtb-now.1805360/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/problem-with-haf.1800426/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/i-am-very-disappointed.1818098/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/is-respectful-criticism-welcome-here.1801869/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/honest-feedback-before-leaving.1787530/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/how-to-buy-on-bh.1786373/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/proposal-for-new-members.1783982/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/unable-to-post-in-hire-a-freelancer.1772787/
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/allowing-new-buyers-to-post-in-wtb-haf.1771635/

I can probably find 100 more threads like this but you get the idea

@Salamouna you are also right from the seller perspective

buyer restrictions = no buyers = no sales = no memberships = this place is dying

All I am saying is people want to be able to access one of the most basic features of this forum without being locked behind a post count restriction.

proxygo · May 30, 2026

Wavesecure said:
@proxygo @Panther28
You are Elite Members with thousands of posts. Of course this is not affecting you.
Can't you see that the level of activity here has dramatically decreased?

i have a simple way of seseing things - there is good/bad in all forums
from rules to people we like or dont like.
i just prefer to do my own thing within the rules rather
than complain about things i cant change.
expend your effort on something constructive.
if you have issues pm a mod - if its serious pm support
if its life or death pm Damien.

GermanCPA · May 30, 2026

And the biggest issue besides flooded by bots to warm up their future Jr Vip scam accounts is - you basically can't buy anything because the chance of getting scammed is ultra high and you have no protection whatsoever.

Diamond Damien · May 30, 2026

GermanCPA said:
And the biggest issue besides flooded by bots to warm up their future Jr Vip scam accounts is - you basically can't buy anything because the chance of getting scammed is ultra high and you have no protection whatsoever.

I'll have to stop you there; that's simply not true. Scam levels are very low and dealt with where reported.
As long as you buy through the marketplace our dispute section will have you covered ref https://www.blackhatworld.com/forums/dispute-resolution.31/ and follow this guide if you're unsure https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/market-safety-guide-staying-safe-avoiding-scams-in-2024.1563167/

Diamond Damien · May 30, 2026

Wavesecure said:
Then why people stop renewing their memberships?

Based on sales data, they haven't. We have addressed @VikingWannabe 's concerns in the following post to the one you quoted. I've added them below for ease.

VikingWannabe said:
Yeah I didn't renew my Jr. VIP given the current situation of the forum with AI slop spam.
It has lost it's usefulness and novelty in my opinion, unless you're a scammer who's duping people with high ticket items.

I rarely find any genuinely helpful user input in the ocean of AI regurgitation on any thread.

Had plans to open multiple sales thread too so tested the waters with one and it wasn't even remotely satisfactory. I doubt if anyone genuinely surfs the forum for anything meaningful these days shoveling aside all the AI shit. So it's natural sales thread will get less genuine human visitors too.

Which @PetraAnn responded to in this post already

PetraAnn said:
We are working on the Executive program. However, it's a big project with a lot of moving parts so the going is much slower than I'd like.

It looks like we will be going over with a tiered Exec program. There will be X tiers available to non-upgraded users, X for upgraded and then the final 2 will be the actual Exec and Jr. Exec program. A few highlights I can leak:

- there will be actual perks for Execs & Jr. Execs that could come in the form of free jr. vip, free sales threads, priority for FRCs, priority support, etc and so on.
- for all tiers there will be posting/activity requirements and NO use of AI in their posting.

Building out the program is just taking time since we need to make sure we can actually offer all of the perks since some rely on other departments help. And, of course we need to make sure we can track participation and whatnot. So it's not just a small thing. But, for Exec and Jr. Exec maintaining Jr. VIP is mandatory so we have been going through and taking those who let it drop out. I just haven't done it for the past month yet.

While this isn't the thread for this discussion, I want to mention all it takes is 15 posts to be able to post there. That's participating in 15 threads that interest you. It's really not a big ask for a little bit of engagement with the forum in exchange for access to the WTB & HAF sections.

We are working on it. We have a little help with our AI detection plugin and then there's the new Executive program that's designed around engagement. We also have some other contests and competitions being planned to bring forth things people want to read and interact with vs. the AI slop.

Trust me, we want it to stop just as much as you do.

Wavesecure said:
All I am saying is people want to be able to access one of the most basic features of this forum without being locked behind a post count restriction.

I get your side, all I am saying is you don't get married on your first date - you need to let people know the sort of member you are ref https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/something-needs-to-change-here.1820416/post-20821175 15 posts so a seller / buyer can understand the sort of potential business relationship and engaged member you are isn't a lot to ask. It helps with the early engagement and to be honest helps this community as well.

Wavesecure said:
I know that you are a busy but maybe take a look over all the threads were people are complaining about this exact things
I mean you have to consider at least a tiny bit the overall community sentiment

Thank you for putting these together, most of the posts have already been addressed, but I'll check and make sure we get to any we've missed.

When it comes to AI generated content we have a solution in place that we're rolling out once we have it nailed down.
When it comes to traffic we're hitting 1.2 million posts a year, 6m+ users and 70m+ page views ref https://www.blackhatworld.com/pages/advertising/ can we do better? Yes and we're working on it. But those figures are still up there with the best of them.

I really do appreciate the feedback and your thoughts. We're continuously working to maintain our position as one of the best digital marketing communities out there.

GermanCPA · May 31, 2026

Diamond Damien said:
I'll have to stop you there; that's simply not true. Scam levels are very low and dealt with where reported.
As long as you buy through the marketplace our dispute section will have you covered ref https://www.blackhatworld.com/forums/dispute-resolution.31/ and follow this guide if you're unsure https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/market-safety-guide-staying-safe-avoiding-scams-in-2024.1563167/

Nah, try to buy a Google/Facebook ads accounts.

I asked 2 random sellers, they never have any credible reviews (or like the guy selling Ads account management for $5000 has like 10-20 reviews from low post accounts, can't find the post now but its very prominent). Or you run into one real review after all the fakes and its buried in 100s "push ai slop".

And then they want like 1000 USD pre-payment and then tell fantasy stories, which I have outlined here already. They will fabricate evidence that they run ads, like here where the guy literally faked users to the customer's page to pretend he is running ads.

You can literally go to any older "Want To Buy Google/FB ads accounts" and you will see that half or more of the ad sellers got banned.

And the dispute system is ineffective, it doesn't really protect you against people who want to scam.

The chance you are getting scammed for certain items (all high price) are real and is extremely high.

Lukmat · May 31, 2026

3/4 of The Lounge is "Yesterday"
Fresh posts in the lounge without replies have <100 views, some <50

Venusaur · May 31, 2026

GermanCPA said:
Nah, try to buy a Google/Facebook ads accounts.

I asked 2 random sellers, they never have any credible reviews (or like the guy selling Ads account management for $5000 has like 10-20 reviews from low post accounts, can't find the post now but its very prominent). Or you run into one real review after all the fakes and its buried in 100s "push ai slop".

And then they want like 1000 USD pre-payment and then tell fantasy stories, which I have outlined here already. They will fabricate evidence that they run ads, like here where the guy literally faked users to the customer's page to pretend he is running ads.

You can literally go to any older "Want To Buy Google/FB ads accounts" and you will see that half or more of the ad sellers got banned.

And the dispute system is ineffective, it doesn't really protect you against people who want to scam.

The chance you are getting scammed for certain items (all high price) are real and is extremely high.

The problem here, as I'm constantly saying is that they wait until the crime already happened to do something
Then, when the obvious happens, they finally ban and they say ''see? we banned him, this is a safe forum''.

If it smells like a pig, looks like a pig, and sounds like a pig, then it’s probably a pig, right?
With a high-risk policy, it wouldn't happen. Just downgrade those sellers. Only ban them after a clear scam with proofs, but even before that, just downgrade them, give their money back and do not allow them to be Jr VIP or premium members. They shouldn't be allowed to sell anything if there are clear reasons to believe they are potential scammers.

Stripe, PayPal and many companies do exactly that, they kick you out before you can think about scamming, just because you look like a scammer and triggered some patterns. Doing that, they became leaders on their niche and avoided millions or billions of dollars in losses, imagine waiting for a scam instead of taking action before that if there are tons of red flags?

There are blatant scams that are still active because they need proofs to take action.

Some scammers spamming garbage all the time, they upgrade their account, what would expect from it? What kind of seller comes from a bot account spamming bullshit? Just the worst ones. Or a total scammer. Nothing good comes from a spammer, so, why allow them to upgrade their accounts and sell anything here? Even worse when they start selling products that cost thousands of dollars.

Inem2 · May 31, 2026

GermanCPA said:
Nah, try to buy a Google/Facebook ads accounts.

This here is a scammers haven on bhw, they just rinse and repeat after account ban. wonder when the marketplace 2.0 will be up, it has been talked about for a long while now,

proxygo · May 31, 2026

Venusaur said:
The problem here, as I'm constantly saying is that they wait until the crime already happened to do something Then, when the obvious happens, they finally ban and they say ''see? we banned
him, this is a safe forum''.

Inem2 said:
This here is a scammers haven on bhw, they just rinse and repeat after account ban. wonder when the marketplace 2.0 will be up, it has been talked about for a long while now,

Lukmat said:
3/4 of The Lounge is "Yesterday"
Fresh posts in the lounge without replies have <100 views, some <50

1 - if you see something off report it
2 - all forums have scammers not just bhw
3 - fake posts - report them.
4 - my contribution @Diamond Damien

Venusaur · May 31, 2026

proxygo said:
1 - if you see something off report it
2 - all forums have scammers not just bhw
3 - fake posts - report them.
4 - my contribution

1 - there is a cycle here

you hit the report button -> they don't take any action because they need proofs -> the obvious scammer scam someone -> someone finally opens a dispute -> wow, you're right, who could imagine? now we will ban him -> the victim does not recover any money and the scammer made hundreds or thousands of dollars in profit -> scammer creates another profile -> repeat all over again

2 - and so what? can't we improve because it's inevitable and there's nothing else to do about it?

90% of the scammers on this forum are super predictable, very obvious, lazy 80 IQ people just repeating the same patterns to steal money creating new accounts multiple times, if mods start to take action before the crime happens, it would be much safer

3 - several times they will just say ''no rule has been broken'' or some shit like that, I've already reported tens of fake profiles on this forum, many of them are still here, farming likes and comments to upgrade their accs and in a few months their names will be in the dispute section (again)

proxygo · May 31, 2026

i report people for spam or non approved sellers and i ALWAYS get an
alert reply from the mods. always usually saying dealt with

Stavro · May 31, 2026

Venusaur said:
3 - several times they will just say ''no rule has been broken'' or some shit like that, I've already reported tens of fake profiles on this forum, many of them are still here, farming likes and comments to upgrade their accs and in a few months their names will be in the dispute section (again)

A vibe-based moderation policy is a recipe for disaster. If you can identify a clear pattern that matches the scammers, drop a note to the mods (privately).

That said, there really should be more robust due diligence. If someone spams 'sample please' 100 times and never contributes anything useful, maybe it's not a good idea to rubber-stamp their marketplace thread approval.

UnusualSubstance · Jun 1, 2026

Salamouna said:
Don't forget about how they made the wtb section as no index
That have affect too as many clients joined the forum just to buy a service they found via Google

You're right.

I wonder what the logic was behind no indexing the wtb section especially since the hire a freelancer section is indexed.

I'd see it as another avenue for searchers to find bhw and potentially join, no?

Something needs to change here...

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