This skill helps you understand and avoid behaviors that could get your product unfeatured, votes removed, or your account banned on Product Hunt.
When to Use This Skill
- Planning your launch strategy
- Training team and supporters
- Reviewing outreach materials
- Checking compliance before launch
- Responding to flagged activity
Types of Penalties
1. Vote Removal
- Individual votes discounted or removed
- Happens automatically via algorithm
- May not be immediately visible
2. Product Unfeatured
- Product removed from homepage
- Still exists but not visible
- Can happen mid-launch
3. Shadow Ban
- Account actions don't count
- Not notified you're banned
- Activity appears normal to you
4. Account Suspension
- Complete account ban
- Public or private
- May affect all associated products
Prohibited Behaviors
Category 1: Vote Manipulation 🚫
Absolutely Forbidden:
- ❌ Buying upvotes
- ❌ Using upvote services (Fiverr, etc.)
- ❌ Creating fake accounts to vote
- ❌ Vote exchange schemes
- ❌ Paying for votes (even indirectly)
What Happens:
- Votes removed
- Product unfeatured
- Account banned
- Reputation destroyed
Category 2: Incentivized Voting 🚫
Forbidden:
- ❌ "Upvote for discount"
- ❌ "Vote to enter giveaway"
- ❌ "First 100 upvoters get X"
- ❌ Any reward tied to voting
What's Allowed:
- ✓ General launch discounts (not tied to voting)
- ✓ "PH community gets X" (regardless of vote)
- ✓ Offers for anyone who visits
Category 3: Explicit Vote Requests 🚫
Forbidden in Any Communication:
- ❌ "Please upvote"
- ❌ "Every vote counts"
- ❌ "Help us reach #1"
- ❌ "Your upvote means everything"
- ❌ "Vote for us"
What's Allowed:
- ✓ "Check it out and share your feedback"
- ✓ "Would love your support"
- ✓ "Let us know what you think"
- ✓ "We launched — take a look!"
Category 4: Coordinated Activity 🚫
Suspicious Patterns:
- ❌ All votes from same IP/location
- ❌ All votes in same 10-minute window
- ❌ Votes from brand new accounts
- ❌ Identical comment text
- ❌ Voting rings/groups
What's Allowed:
- ✓ Staggered supporter outreach
- ✓ Genuine community members voting
- ✓ Natural geographic spread
- ✓ Varied comment styles
Category 5: Self-Promotion Abuse 🚫
Forbidden:
- ❌ Commenting self-promotion on other products
- ❌ Spamming discussions with your product
- ❌ Creating fake discussions about your product
What's Allowed:
- ✓ Genuinely helpful comments
- ✓ Mentioning your product when relevant
- ✓ Participating in related discussions
Category 6: Spam Behavior 🚫
Forbidden:
- ❌ Mass messaging users
- ❌ Automated outreach
- ❌ Repeated submissions
- ❌ Misleading product information
How Detection Works
Algorithm Signals
Product Hunt's algorithm looks for:
Account Quality:
- Account age
- Activity history
- Engagement patterns
- Social connections
Vote Patterns:
- Vote timing distribution
- Geographic clustering
- Account similarity
- Velocity anomalies
Engagement Authenticity:
- Comment depth
- Response quality
- Discussion naturalness
Human Review
Moderators also check for:
- Reported violations
- Unusual patterns
- Community complaints
- Obvious manipulation
Risk Assessment Checklist
Before Launch
High Risk (Don't Do):
- Are you using any vote service?
- Are you offering rewards for votes?
- Are you asking directly for upvotes?
- Are new accounts being created to vote?
Medium Risk (Be Careful):
- Are you sending mass emails at once?
- Are all supporters voting same time?
- Do all comments look similar?
- Are you messaging PH users directly?
Low Risk (But Stay Alert):
- Is your product clearly explained?
- Are your claims accurate?
- Is your offer clearly communicated?
During Launch
Watch For:
- Sudden drops in vote count
- Product disappearing from homepage
- Comments being removed
- Unusual metric patterns
Safe Practices Guide
Safe Outreach
Email Best Practices:
✓ DO: Send to segmented lists in waves
✓ DO: Personalize messages
✓ DO: Ask for "support" or "feedback"
✓ DO: Respect unsubscribes
✗ DON'T: Send to purchased lists
✗ DON'T: Use same message for everyone
✗ DON'T: Ask for "upvotes"
✗ DON'T: Spam non-subscribers
Social Media Best Practices:
✓ DO: Share authentically
✓ DO: Spread posts throughout day
✓ DO: Engage with responses
✓ DO: Thank supporters
✗ DON'T: Post same link repeatedly
✗ DON'T: Use engagement pods
✗ DON'T: Ask for votes publicly
✗ DON'T: Spam hashtags
Safe Supporter Activation
Do:
- Activate in waves (not all at once)
- Use different time zones
- Encourage genuine comments
- Let people vote if they want
Don't:
- Coordinate exact voting times
- Script identical comments
- Pressure reluctant people
- Force anyone to participate
Safe Messaging Templates
Instead of: "Please upvote our product!" Say: "We just launched — would love your feedback!"
Instead of: "Every vote counts!" Say: "Your support means a lot to us."
Instead of: "Help us reach #1!" Say: "Check it out and let us know what you think."
Instead of: "Vote to win a prize" Say: "PH community gets 20% off (no vote required)"
If Something Goes Wrong
If Votes Are Removed
Don't:
- Panic
- Spam more outreach
- Create new accounts
- Complain publicly
Do:
- Review your practices
- Continue quality engagement
- Focus on genuine community
- Accept the result
If Product Is Unfeatured
Steps:
- Stop all outreach immediately
- Review potential violations
- Contact PH support (calmly, factually)
- Prepare explanation if asked
- Learn for next time
If Account Is Flagged
Steps:
- Do not create new accounts
- Contact support@producthunt.com
- Be honest about practices
- Accept the decision
- Rebuild reputation over time
Compliance Checklist
Pre-Launch Audit
Outreach Materials:
- No explicit vote requests
- No vote-for-reward offers
- Genuine, helpful language
- Personalized content
Supporter Briefing:
- Instructed not to script comments
- Explained staggered timing
- Emphasized genuine engagement
- No pressure to participate
Technical:
- Not using vote services
- Not using bots
- Real user accounts only
- Natural geographic distribution
Launch Day Monitoring
- Watching for unusual patterns
- Not over-activating if behind
- Responding genuinely to comments
- Not panicking about ranking
Documentation (Just in Case)
Keep records of:
- Your outreach list (legitimate contacts)
- Your supporter communication
- Your email/social templates
- Timeline of activities
Output Format
COMPLIANCE CHECK FOR: [Product Name]
RISK ASSESSMENT:
High-Risk Behaviors:
☐ [Behavior] - [Status: Clear/At Risk/Violation]
Medium-Risk Behaviors:
☐ [Behavior] - [Status]
OUTREACH REVIEW:
Email template: [Compliant/Needs revision]
Social posts: [Compliant/Needs revision]
Supporter briefing: [Complete/Incomplete]
RECOMMENDED CHANGES:
1. [Specific change needed]
2. [Specific change needed]
OVERALL STATUS: [Ready / Needs Work / High Risk]