After a disastrous February Product Release that saw millionaires departing the platform in disgust, Fiverr has dropped its summer product release. But is it any good for sellers?
I’ve been looking at every facet of this Product Release since it dropped a few hours ago. As a Pro-Verified, Top-Rated Seller who has been on the platform since 2013, I know the platform inside out. My verdict is a simple one. This isn’t the worst thing that Fiverr’s ever done, but it’s also far from the best, either.
Why? It’s very simple: Fiverr is determined, like so many big companies today, to shoehorn AI into every nook and cranny of its platform, whether users want it or not. Many of the introductions this year are tinged with AI, whether directly as an AI tool or an AI-enhanced tool, or simply as a feature that is designed in such a way that it will benefit Fiverr’s young AI systems. This was one of the big criticisms of Fiverr’s February Product Release, and it seems that Fiverr simply doesn’t want the community to discuss it this time around.
Despite my reservations about Fiverr’s AI drive, there are still some things to like about this update – but like most sellers (and possibly many buyers), I would prefer Fiverr to dial back on its passion for AI. It is, after all, intended to be a platform where people work with other people.
My Opinion: It’s a Mixed Bag
- Enhanced AI-Driven Reviews: Fiverr’s new AI-supported review system offers more detailed and contextual feedback. While I appreciate the additional context, the visibility of earnings can be intrusive. Upwork’s approach of hiding earnings could be a better model.
- Fiverr Neo Upgrade: Neo has been upgraded to better understand client needs and offer improved recommendations. However, its slow response time in the past has been frustrating. I hope this upgrade also addresses its speed issues.
- Hourly Pay Introduction: Fiverr has introduced hourly pay, which is great for long-term projects. However, the lack of a satisfaction guarantee on hourly orders is a notable drawback for buyers compared to fixed-price gigs.
- Professions Catalog: This new feature highlights freelancers’ skills and qualifications, which may help Neo make better matches. The process is reminiscent of Upwork’s specialized profiles, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
- Fiverr Answers: This new Q&A space might serve as a training database for Neo, enhancing its knowledge and recommendation accuracy. However, the controlled environment raises questions about its effectiveness.
- AI-Generated Briefs: AI-generated briefs sound useful in theory, but in practice, they often fall short. Buyers need to ensure these briefs accurately reflect their requirements, which can be a hindrance rather than a help.
- Pay Later Option: The PayPal PayLater option is a welcome addition for US buyers, offering flexible payment plans. It’s a good move in challenging economic times, but its limited availability is a downside.
- Pro Business Rewards Program: The new rewards program for Pro buyers has some interesting benefits, especially for high spenders. However, the benefits for the lowest tier seems negligible.
- Community Reaction: The lack of community engagement and quick shutdown of forum discussions suggest underlying community dissatisfaction. Fiverr needs to address these concerns to rebuild trust.
Watch the Fiverr Product Release Summer 2024 Video
One interesting thing to note here the opening: “the Fiverr community presents” – as if the Fiverr community had a say in it at all!
Memo to Fiverr: if you’re going to suggest the community built something, why not let the community discuss it on your own official forum?
On a more positive note, this time around Fiverr sellers who appeared in the video were namechecked with their handles. This was not the case in previous videos, leaving Fiverr open to accusations of misleading people.
Fiverr’s Messing With Reviews Again
I know, I know – we’ve hardly even recovered from the magnificently disastrous introduction of emoji reviews (since quietly removed) and yet the company is tinkering again.
Now the review system is getting enhanced support with AI. Not only will buyers be able to use AI to write more descriptive reviews, Fiverr is also providing additional contextual information to assist buyers into making more informed reviews.
This change is already visible on some parts of the platform. Personally, I like the extra context provided and think this is a good use of AI. However, many sellers dislike this change, since they would rather keep their income private.
I do believe these sellers have a point; after all, on Upwork, you can hide your earnings. Fiverr can easily follow Upwork’s example here, adding it into the Seller Plus program to encourage more signups on what is currently an overpriced and underwhelming catalog of features.
Fiverr Neo Takes Center Stage
The biggest announcement from Fiverr is Neo, whose performance has been a disappointment for many users so far. Neo appears to have been upgraded from an AI search assistant to an AI agent, capable of understanding Fiverr client needs much better.
Fiverr highlighted Neo’s ability to adapt and update its recommendations based on user input. This remains to be seen. Personally, I hope Neo can get a little faster; every time I have used Neo in the past, its 10-second response time has been laborious, to say the least.
Hourly Pay Lands on Fiverr
It has taken Fiverr 14 long years to implement hourly pay, but it’s finally coming. Hourly pay opens the gates to longer-term collaboration outside the rigid confines of gigs and, together with Professions, is likely to change the dynamic of the marketplace in the coming months and years.
However, buyers who like Fiverr’s satisfaction guaranteed policy on Pro orders should be warned that this policy does not cover hourly orders. This might not be a concern if Fiverr tracks hours worked like Upwork does, but to date, everything points at an “honor” system. It’s very much a case of caveat emptor.
The Professions Catalog Is Coming
Professions marks another bit of feature cross-pollination between Fiverr and Upwork. This catalog focuses on freelancers’ skills, expertise, and qualifications, rather than their individual gigs.
As someone who was invited to create “Professions” (see image above), I was struck by how similar the process was to Upwork’s specialized profiles. I opted to create the two professions that best match my skills, copywriter and content writer, ignoring the others that the company created for me, since these professions were plainly picked out by an AI that misinterpreted some of my gigs. For example, I don’t ghostwrite books on Fiverr, but I do ghostwrite lead magnets. I am not a scriptwriter, but I do write video sales letter scripts.
Approval was instant, suggesting that AI is also responsible for the approval process.
Are There Ulterior Motives Behind Professions?
Personally, I believe that Professions was introduced for two more behind-the-scenes reasons. The first is as a vehicle to get sellers’ personal data as required by the EU’s Digital Services Act. Although I’ve been on Fiverr since 2013, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I had to provide my passport details and a selfie to prove my identity. Other sellers had to do the same, even though they had already completed the process in the past:
Unfortunately, some sellers found their profiles disabled due to the awful software and confusing process. While most got their profiles back eventually, the whole event was telling.
Side-note: The process kicks of with a QR code, something that many Fiverr scammers have been taking advantage of lately in the inbox.
This email was sent out to combat a large and sophisticated spam ring that has been present on the site since the beginning of the year, masquerading as support staff.
However, Fiverr does contact people via inbox (with an official badge, and it is sending QR codes to sellers as well. Be cautious!
The second reason is somewhat more benign: Fiverr Professions was launched partially to help Neo find better sellers by bringing their skills to the forefront and giving Neo a little more meat to grab on top of the bare bones of individual gigs from sellers.
But why would I think that? Well, let’s take a look at Fiverr Answers…
Fiverr Answers: An Interesting New Venture
Fiverr Answers was announced today, and there’s really not a lot of information about it. What we do know is that it will be a Q&A-style space on Fiverr where AI-generated questions on trending topics can be answered by invited freelancers.
Fiverr goes on to suggest that taking part in Fiverr Answers will help build credibility and attract more clients.
This it may well do – but with Fiverr Neo’s rebirth this summer it would be remiss of me not to question whether Fiverr Answers will act as a training database for the AI Agent.
What does that mean?
Well, AI tools need to be trained to do their job efficiently. So far, Fiverr Neo’s training appears to focus on select sellers and some information from the Terms of Service and Help Center. With Fiverr Answers, Neo gets a rich database of knowledge answered by topic experts, which gives it a much broader spectrum of knowledge and, hopefully, more refined answers.
This is just speculation, but the current design does ensure that Fiverr has complete control over the questions – as well as who is able to answer them. This does mitigate a common issue with other Q&A forums – namely the terrible quality of answers from unqualified people – but a quick look at Quora’s AI questions reveals that AI questions can also be terrible.
It will be interesting to see how this develops – and how this plays into Neo. Will Fiverr be rewarding sellers who can answer urgent questions from an AI who needs answers now?
Or is this just a fun little Quora-style forum for a small group of Fiverr sellers to drop little nuggets of wisdom every so often as a part of their marketing?
Given that this took time, money, and resources to develop and a Q&A forum isn’t exactly the bread and butter of a freelance platform, it seems obvious to me that Fiverr Answers is a Neo knowledge training database.
Buyers Are Getting AI Briefs
Fiverr is also introducing AI briefs for buyers who choose to work with Fiverr Agencies and Pro Freelancers. Now, personally, I’m not a fan of this – AI briefs is one of those things that sounds like they should work, but they rarely do.
The problem isn’t so much the AI as the buyers who use the AI; too many times, buyers simply use AI to write a brief without checking that it actually mirrors their requirements. While a quick check at the beginning of a project can quickly resolve any issues from this, this is one of those AI developments that can hinder more than help.
Buyers in the US Can Buy Now, Pay Later
This new introduction to Fiverr comes courtesy of PayPal’s PayLater. Buyers who choose to pay this way have plenty of options, including:
- Pay in 4 installments
- Pay monthly
- Pay using existing (Fiverr) credit
This is certainly a good move in these economically challenging times and should increase sales thanks to flexibility.
The downside? PayLater is only available to buyers in the US marketplace and to Fiverr Pro admins and financial managers. Still, it’s free to join Fiverr Pro, so buyers outside the United States can easily start using PayLater by taking this route.
There’s A New Fiverr Pro Rewards Program
In another move mindful of the current economy, and, perhaps, losing 100,000 buyers in Q1 2024, Fiverr has launched a rewards program for Pro buyers.
Enrollment is required to start taking advantage of this program. The Silver tier’s benefits are negligible, but Gold and Platinum certainly have interesting benefits.
| Fiverr Business Rewards Tier | Annual Spend | Rewards Available |
| Silver | Less than $1,000 | 5% back in Fiverr credits for an order over $350 (one time only) |
| Gold | $1,000 to $4,999 | 5% back in Fiverr credits for every order from a Pro freelancer |
| Platinum | Over $5,000 | 5% back in Fiverr credits for every order Personalized advice from a dedicated Business Success Manager 5% back in Fiverr credits for deposits over $10,000, 10% for deposits over $30,000 Free project planning service once a year |
But Wait, There’s More!
Oh no, that’s not everything. There are a few more items of interest, including…
- A new portfolio for freelancers, designed to highlight skills over gigs
- “Kickstart”, a paid program which promises to help new-to-Fiverr sellers to get their first order sooner (unfortunately, this is a “coming soon”, so no further information)
- Guided project suggestions for buyers on the their Fiverr homepage
Of all of these, Fiverr Kickstart is easily the most interesting (and revenue-generating). The new portfolio is simply a hangover benefit from the new Professions catalog, while the guided project suggestions may be more hindrance than help, depending on how the AI handles suggestions.
Community Reaction
I’d love to give you an insight into the community reaction on the Fiverr Forum, but I can’t. While Fiverr staff made two announcement, both the buyer thread and the seller thread were quickly shut down.
I found no further posts from the community about this.
This lack of interest may suggest that this release is relatively uncontroversial, but many sellers have either quit or been permanently banned from the forum. One of those people is me:
My crime? I simply asked Fiverr for more information about how it was handling its obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which I personally believe was the real reason for the introduction of the Success Score – and also a motivator behind the introduction of the Professions catalog, as discussed above.
A third explanation for the lack of posts on this topic on the Fiverr Forum is that moderators are simply removing them. After all, they are working to “promote a more positive and collaborative environment on the forum.” Silencing dissent and critical feedback is certainly one way to go about achieving that goal.
Fiverr has also made an official announcement about the Product Release on Reddit. At the time of writing, the comments are sparse, but mostly negative.
Overall, The New Product Release Is a Mixed Bag
Fiverr’s love affair with AI is still very much in its honeymoon stage, with the platform showing no signs of slowing down in implementing the tech across the site.
On one hand, features like AI-driven reviews, the introduction of hourly pay, and the new Professions catalog show commitment from Fiverr to improving the platform and making it more versatile for its users. If Fiverr Neo lives up to its promise, it could turn out to be a very useful tool indeed.
However, other changes may not sit so well with users. The visibility of earnings could be interpreted as intrusive, and the use of AI in so many areas remains questionable at best. It also doesn’t help that Fiverr has stifled discussion of this on the forum for no obvious reason, other than wanting to avoid the storms they endured during February and March as sellers revolted against the success score and emoji reviews.
As always, it remains to be seen how well these changes are received and if they enhance the platform experience. With Fiverr’s Q3 report set to release on July 31, we may get some more answers for what has motivated Fiverr to introduce some of these changes. If, as I suspect, the platform is continuing to hemorrhage active buyers, the new features of Fiverr’s Product Release Summer 2024 may not be enough.
