Urgent Call for Time-Sensitive Help
Please support us!
Hi everyone, we are facing setbacks today - please help and support us.
TL;DR:
Despite months of preparation, a bug in the new algorithm of Product Hunt caused our project to be buried for the first four hours of our launch, resulting in a significant setback. However, we were able to make it onto the front page by votes from our community alone and are determined to continue climbing up the ranks. We need urgent help from our community to turn this situation around and gain the exposure our project deserves. Please upvote and share our project:
Yesterday night was brutal. Hua and I had been working hard on our product launch for months, and we were excited to showcase it on Product Hunt. However, things didn't go as planned. We got buried on Product Hunt and didn't get any PH front page exposure for the first four hours due to no faults of our own but a bug in the algorithm.
Product Hunt has recently implemented a new random algorithm for the first four hours of a product launch. This algorithm is designed to give every product an equal chance to be seen by the community, regardless of the maker's network. During the first four hours, the products are displayed in random order, which means in the first four hours, everyone could be ranked first and get equalized attention and opportunities to capture upvotes. Well, that is almost everyone except us. Instead of getting our fair share of top ranking on the front page, we didn't show up on the front page at all.
This was a significant setback for us, as the first four hours are crucial for gaining momentum and visibility on the platform. Despite this setback, we didn't give up. We continued to promote our product and engage with the community, and thanks to you all, we got enough votes purely through our own network while being buried on the platform, and once the randomized ranking lifted a couple of hours ago, we showed up on the front page as position #12. This is nothing short of a miracle! Our neighbors on the current ranking all had 4 hours head start compared to us; but because of your support, we still ranked among them, and we are not quitting.
We showed up on the front page at 11 AM UTC, and we see an immediate change in the speed at which we are capturing votes:
Upvote graph — immediate uptick in upvote growth at 4 AM PDT / 11 AM UTC
We prepared for this launch for months aiming the top #1 position. Our teaser page is the most subscribed among the contenders, and our community is strong and ready to support us. I believe if we were to get the randomized ranking in the first four hours instead of being buried, we would be at least position #3 now, if not the #1.
Now it is an uphill battle. With the ranking now sorted by votes, the traffic and exposure correspond to your ranking positions. The top ranker gets more traffic and more opportunities to capture votes, while projects that are trailing behind get proportionally less and less traffic and upvotes. The gap is only going to be widened by default, and ranking will be more and more stabilized throughout the day. It is difficult to climb up without the randomized ranking. But we ought to do it!
Please upvote for us, and spread the word for us in your network. Together, we can turn this unfair situation around:
Thank you!
Wenting & Hua