They run 'contests' to pit writers against each other, while HP owners rake in dough from advertisers. The more people who sign up for a site,the more owners of said sites can entice ads.
Google hates HP and the love loss isn't getting any better. So HP, when it took a big hit from Google Panda just does business as usual, not learning one thing. Sounds like politicians. So they continue to run those bogus contests and with everyone writing about essentially the same thing, Google doesn't see any need to raise HP's status on the search engine.
The latest 'contest' was suggested by their 'resident poet'?So out of curiosity I read that poet's stuff. Most are too short, and that is something most other writers would get flagged for. But not this guy, hell they'll likely make him another of their HP Elite. Another who can't write either, yet he's gonna be a judge. Hell, sure,why not! He also has a picture, on one of his crappy poems, of a scantily clad woman,something others would also either get flagged,or have their hub pulled by the idiots running HP. Believe me, I had a hub pulled for a much less racier pic. Guess I should have sucked up to the owner,like him, or added a crappy poem,like him. Ho Hum HP gets the crap site award, neck and neck to another site I cannot stand, but that's another blog entirely.
