TLDR: After months of successfully converting my subscribers to my Top 4, ~90% of the “newsletters” referring me have no posts sent and no website. I’ve seen a total of 0 subscribers.
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I’ve had a full Top 4 since the program dropped (2+ months), with absolutely nothing to show for it. What I do have to show makes no sense.

Marketing speak of “32x more likely to be recommended” and “publishers with a complete Top 4 are growing 2.75x times faster than average” now means nothing to me.
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My Top 4 consists of one large newsletter, 2 medium-sized, and 1 smaller. I’ve driven 10% of my subscriber base to these newsletters, with a majority (85%+) going to the large newsletter.

But this is where it gets weird.

According to Beehiiv, I have 26 “newsletters” referring me.

But, none of those newsletters are the 4 I’m referring my subscribers to. Those 26 newsletters have referred me 0 subscribers (0x growth). 

So I dug into the “newsletters.”
  - 23 of those newsletters have 0 posts.
  - 23 of them have a landing page with a subscribe button and nothing more (no Archive, no “Authors” page, not even a byline under the H1)
  - 16 of them are called “[Name]’s Newsletter” (e.g., “Braylin’s Newsletter)
  - Only 2 of them have “1+ post” sent
  - Only 2 have sent a post since March of 2025

I’ve been a big beehiiv fan for as long as I can remember, but this reeks of something bad.

It makes no sense why this high of a % of “newsletters” recommending me would not have a post, slightly tweaked website, or even a niche/name selected.

It very much feels like the largest newsletters reap much of the benefit from smaller newsletters who funnel their audience without receiving anything in return. What’s the point of being “32x more likely to be recommended” when the recommenders are basically fake newsletters?

Am I the only one, or are others seeing the same? Am I being crazy?

Top 4 feels like smoke & mirrors.