Frequently Asked Questions
Troubleshooting
How do I install an Outbrain widget?
Outbrain integrates directly with Blogger, TypePad (including Advanced Templates and Moveable Type), Wordpress (hosted version only) and Drupal. Please visit our installation page here. If your site is hosted on any other platform or CMS, Outbrain can provide a javascript version of our plug-in. Click here for our javascript plug-in.
Do you support Wordpress.com?
We support Wordpress's hosted version (.org). Unfortunately, Wordpress.com integration requires Wordpress approval - we would love to make it easy for you to add us to Wordpress.com! Tell Wordpress you want Outbrain on your blog, maybe eventually they will listen.
How do I decide if the Thumbnail Widget or Recommendation Widget is best for me?
Both widgets serve up great content recommendations to your readers. If you use images frequently when posting, our Thumbnail Widget is likely your best option. If you usually publish purely textual posts, our Recommendation Widget will probably work best (since we don't have a lot of images to draw on for thumbnails).
How do you choose what to recommend?
We use a variety of approaches to surface the best links for each user on each of your posts. We look at contextual similarities, post popularity and audience patterns when choosing recommendations. We also filter our recommendations for each user visiting your site so that they don't see links to posts they've already read. Our algorithms are all geared to help your readers find interesting content and boost engagement on your blog.
Can I control the recommendations that show on my site?
Yes, through your Outbrain dashboard you can choose from the following settings:
- From My Site Only: we will only present recommendations to your own content
- From Any Site: we will mix recommendations from your own content with links to other sites whose content is related to your post
- No Recommendations: we won't show any recommendations
Do you recommend video content?
Yes, we will recommend posts that embed videos. If you are using the Thumbnail Widget, we will insert a thumbnail of your embedded video above the recommendation (Youtube and Vimeo only, currently).
What kind of traffic lift should I expect from Outbrain recommendations?
Click-through rates on our recommendations vary considerably but you'll likely see a CTR of between 3% - 12%. Pretty nice page view lift for a little widget, right?
Do I have to register?
No. You do not have to register but if you do, you gain access to advanced settings and reporting. If you don't register, you widget will use the default settings. Registration is completely free. You can register here.
After registering, how do I add my blog to my dashboard?
You can add your blog to your dashboard once you have registered by going to the Manage Blogs page and from there, clicking the "Add Blog" button. Feel free to contact us if you experience any problems.
What advanced settings can I control after registering?
When you register, you'll be able to toggle the following settings for your Outbrain widget:
- Language — we support 30+ languages and allow you to customize our standard text
- Switch from image thumbnails to text recommendations and vice versa
- Turn recommendations off, in case you only want to use Outbrain's rating system
- Select whether recommendations should link only to your own content or to other related sites on the web
- Turn sponsored recommendation off
- Select which charity you'd like to receive proceeds from the sponsored recommendations showing on your site
- Enable and disable our "Most Popular" widget
- Use either our star rater, our thumbs up icon or turn ratings off completely (if you want to show only recommendations)
What kind of reporting does Outbrain offer?
Once you register, you will have access to an online dashboard showing you:
- How much traffic is being generated to your blog through our recommendations and our widget's click—through rate on your site
- Which of your recommended posts people are clicking on the most
- How much you have raised for charity through our sponsored link program
- If you deploy our rating system, which pieces of your content people have rated high vs. low
What if I just want the ratings?
We encourage our users to leave the recommendations on, but if you choose to turn them off you can do so by signing into your Outbrain dashboard and clicking on the manage blogs tab. Click "settings" next to the blog you'd like to change. Then change the setting next to Recommendations to "No Recommendations".
How do I prevent people from seeing low ratings on my site?
Our five-star rater always shows actual ratings. If you only want people to see positive ratings, consider our "thumbs up" icon.
What is the "Most Popular" widget?
Our "Most Popular" widget shows links to your most popular posts in your blog's sidebar (unlike our other widgets, which display underneath your posts). If you use Outbrain's rating system, Outbrain combines information about which posts are highly rated with other information in order to determine which links to display.
How do you calculate which post is most popular?
We combine user ratings with information about which posts people are reading the most to determine popularity. In addition, we factor in the age of your posts so that the links update more frequently within our widget. Our popularity score takes into account all of these factors and is not a pure average of user ratings.
How do I add the "Most Popular" widget?
If you are using Blogger or TypePad, go to your blog settings and enable the "Most Popular" widget. If you are on WordPress (hosted version only), please go to your Wordpress dashboard and click Appearance —> Widgets and then click "Add" next to the "Most Popular" widget. If you are on Drupal or another CMS platform, please contact support@outbrain.com for a javascript plug-in.
What are Sponsored Recommendations?
Sponsored recommendations, like all recommendations, are links to high quality stories. Customers pay us to distribute these recommendations on relevant content. Outbrain reviews sponsored recommendations to make sure we only select quality stories that are interesting and well written. Our goal is to provide your readers with links to great content, whether sponsored or not. Sponsored recommendations help keep the Outbrain widget free for all bloggers.
Can I generate revenue through the sponsored recommendations?
Currently you must have over 100,000 monthly US pageviews to qualify for a revenue share from the sponsored recommendations. Please contact us to enroll.
If you do not have over 100,000 monthly US pageviews, you can opt to either turn off sponsored links or donate
a significant percentage of the revenue generated on your blog to charity. You can choose which charity you'd like to support from a set that Outbrain has selected, in your blogger dashboard. If you'd like to suggest another charity for us to include, please send us an email at feedback@outbrain.com
What if I don't want Sponsored Recommendations on my site?
No problem, just change the setting for sponsored Recommendations to "off" in your dashboard.
How can I show my appreciation for your free service?
You can blow us kisses, we love that. Also, please consider keeping on sponsored recommendations — we think your readers will love the articles we recommend, and it helps us continue providing our free service. You can also write about us on your blog, tweet about us and tell other bloggers about our service.
Do you also play at weddings?
No, but we do play Rock Band at work. if you think you've got what it takes to rock out with us, check out our job openings
Troubleshooting
I registered but didn't get any activation mail.
One possibility is that you entered your email address in incorrectly. Try to sign in with your username and password, and you will be given a chance to review the email address you submitted and change it if necessary. If it's correct, then our mail might have been flagged as spam and ended up in your junk mail folder. Check to make sure it's not there. Still nothing? support@outbrain.com
I get an error when I try to add a blog.
There can be several reasons why you might get an error when you try to add your blog to your account. First, make sure that we have the correct blog URL by reviewing it in the "Manage Blogs" section. It's also recommended to actually visit this URL yourself and make sure that it isn't suffering from any connectivity problems at the moment. If you've done all of the above and it still doesn't work, here are more things to try, depending on the blog platform you use:
- Blogger & TypePad : It's possible that if you have more than one blog per account, you added the "outbrain key" to a different blog than the one you registered with us. We recommend you delete the pending blog and start over, and select correct blog when we send you to your dashboard (in Blogger - using the drop-down list, and in TypePad - using the checkboxes).
- Wordpress & Drupal : Make sure that you copy the whole "outbrain key" we gave you in the Add a Blog process. Also, make sure you press "save" after entering the key.
I installed Outbrain but I don't see the widget
Occasionally we don't render immediately on custom Blogger templates or custom site structures. If you don't see any recommendations or ratings after an hour, please contact us at support@outbrain.com and we'll see how to pop you into place.
I turned on thumbnail images but see bubble images - what's that?
When you install, Outbrain crawls your posts to identify images and decide what to recommend. This one-time process may take a few hours after you first install. The bubble images will be replaced with real images once this process is complete. As you publish new posts, we will grab associated images much more quickly.
I'm changing over my blog, will my existing ratings be lost?
Outbrain ratings are stored for each unique URL If you are changing over your blog template, but retaining your URLs as they were before, your ratings will be preserved. If, however, you change your URLs or switch your blog domain, your ratings will be lost.
I don't see my language — what can I do?
Help us translate Outbrain into your language! Contact us at support@outbrain.com and we will send you a document to fill out. Once you've translated our phrases, send it back to us and once it's approved we'll put it in our development queue to be supported soon.
Can I customize the language being used in the widget?
Yes. To customize the language, please go to your blog settings. In the "language" drop-down menu, select the "custom" option. Once selected, you can download our default language file and edit the phrases you wish to change. Then upload your new file to a web accessible address and point to the URL.
How do I change how Outbrain looks on my site?
By default, Outbrain inherits the look and feel of your site. But if you'd like to change it, you can control some UI elements through our blogger dashboard once you've registered and added your blog. If you still need help, please contact us at support@outbrain.com and we'll see what we can do.
What are those red [x]s showing up next to the recommended links?
Only you can see red [x]s next to Outbrain links — your readers do not see them. By clicking one of the red [x]s, you can remove recommendations from your site. They are intended to allow you to have full editorial control over the recommendations that appear on your site. In order to see them, you must be logged into Outbrain and be the user who has successfully added the blog to your account.
There's a recommendation showing on my blog that I want to remove. Can I?
Yes. When you log into Outbrain and revisit your blog, you'll see red [X]s next to every recommendation. Clicking the 'x' will permanently remove that link from being recommended on your site. Only you can see the red [x]s, they are invisible to all outside visitors to your site.
Still running into problems?
If you need further assistance, please check our Support Forum Or contact us by mail at: support@outbrain.com