tomevault-io Product Hunt Ban Prevention
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]
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