Earlier tonite I wrote a response in the comments to this post on Entrecard.I'm sure I'll be put through the shredder for the hard stance I advocate. but my honesty should not be a suprise to any of my regular visitors.
I am totally against Paid Posts Blogs being in Entrecard; as well as Clickfarmers - who only live to hit the magic 300 on each of their many accounts daily, without any regard for the bouncerate or content of the bloggers they rob daily. Please take a moment and read grahams post by clicking the link below inorder to get clarity on my response below. I know it may suprise many of you that I am taking this tone,
But I Am a Blogger and I Love BLOGS.
Taking action against the bounce rate
(Written on June 30th, 2009 by Graham)
Graham: just a few thoughts after giving this a few days to digest more fully:
IMHO, the real problem is that EC's are being treated like Money; and they're NOT.
if people could learn that; we'd have Less "300 click a day" Clickfarmers; and a whole lot less splogs in the categories. Quite Simply, paying people to cash out in cash; instead of recycling the ec's back into the system is what really feeds the problem..
The Remedy is Simple
1. Return To a Non Cash for ec buyout ; and stop selling EC's.
2. reduce the maximum amount of clicks per day to a more managable maximum for the system; closer to 50 per account.
3. hire some behind the scenes techs to clean up the splogs and eradicate the dead blogs in the categories -
get it back to what it should be if you really want to count your Active population, Accurately.
4. Remove any duplicate or paid post blogs immediately, since they are not blogs inessence; and are the biggest pay-out items.
This is especially a conflict of interest with bloggers who blog for the love of writing; and they see the problem clearly, since these splogs are ADS, and that is a direct violation of the existent tos.
A Paid Post IS An ADThen Graham, you can put entrecard on the auction block as a clean and lean social networking machine. that's what makes a sale, not consistent policy changes that do nothing to stabilize the economy or political structure of the unit itself.Remember to Listen to the People; As They Support Themselves. To Put the Spark back in - Make it once again about the members, instead of CASH OUTS.
there is no way around it
End the payouts and you will be making the first step toward strengthening the whole.
then stop approving multiple blogs which are clearly splogs, that dilute the pool of quality blogs. those splogs drop the value as quickly as the clickfarmers.
IMHO, then - entrecard can recover and rebound as a member driven and fed unit.
14 comments:
Hmmm. I have never understood how people could drop 300 cards a day and do it for more than 1 blog, do they just drop all day? I drop around 300 but I'm dropping for 3 blogs and try to hit between 50-100 for each. That being said, I also do paid posts. I'll admit I did a LOT when I first became aware of the opps and now usually just take ones that are relevant. It's nice to post about something I would anyway and get a little extra money. I figure it pays for my yearly blogging fees. The bounce rate was a problem before the payout but I'm sure has gotten worse, I've been fortunate to see a decrease in my bounce rate so I really can't comment. The problem I have with the payouts is that they just aren't happening. You put credits into the system and just sit and wait to see when and how much EC will actually pay...it just doesn't seem right. I also have to wonder who is taking all the "opps for credits". That's the crap I immediately delete from my e-mail so I suppose it's the same people trying to make money with multiple (similar) blogs.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would hate to see ALL blogs with paid posts go away. Maybe just the ones who do a quick "went to the hair salon today"...here's another barely readible paid post.
I'll also be interested to see what formula Graham decided to use to decide if a credit gets applied or not. Just another interesting chapter in the EC story.
excellent written....altough I clicked on Entrecard logo...read Graham his article...read all the comments...found in the end your (so I read 59 comments) and yours makes the most sense.)
I never click 300 blogs a day...and still 40% of the traffic on Internations comes there trhough Google, Yahoo, CNN and other links...
When people need traffic they need to first create killer comment, good lay out and make it interesting.)! The traffic Internations gains is to get smart people like you comment on our blog..))!
I dont care about bounce rate etc. The only weird thing which bothers me is that we have more than 3000 unigue visitors from the Philiphines and never one who commented....I think I am going to start writing provoking things about Philipana's.)))))
kindest
hans
@shelly - Wow A Comment from you, after months of drops. that in itself is a major victory.
I love your Wine at Five Blog and comment as much as I can on things that interest me.
Thanks for your comment
i commented on that blog post, and it is still under moderation. this is what i posted:
"this is my thoughts on this matter. i started my blog just because i wanted to write my thoughts down. i heard of entrecard and figured it would be a good idea to join so i could possibly meet some new people, find some interesting blogs to read, learn new things, and maybe something that i have to say could be of interest to someone else. i don’t care about the credits. i’m not going to get rich off these credits. i just like the fact that there are thousands of blogs here in all kinds of categories and i have the opportunity to check them out.
i have made lots of friends here and have actually learned lots of interesting things. i drop on my blog roll first, then i go to my inbox from the previous day and drop on all that have dropped on me. now i know that they don’t all read my blog, and that is fine with me. i don’t read many of theirs. everyone has different interests. i don’t care about any bounce rate. i just appreciate the fact that this place is here.
if you think that everybody out there should be interested in what you write about, then i feel for you. if you are just dropping cards thinking that you are going to get rich, i feel for you. the ones that are interested are going to read, the ones that aren’t interested aren’t. simple. i don’t think this should even be an issue, seems pretty petty to me.
so, because of all the complaining about bounce rate things are going to change. are the ones complaining about this doing the same thing they’re complaining about? probably. so now you are going to be penalized by this decision too. hmmm…
if the blog i drop on gets the credit for me dropping and my card still shows in their inbox, but i don’t stay long enough for it to count for me, so be it. why have all this drama. the bottom line is that this is graham’s site and he’s going to do with it as he pleases."
that's how i feel.
@International Musings - Hans you are such a great blogger that it's hard to not comment on your blog. you are brave enough to site who you see the clicks coming from; and I have done it before. so I guess that puts us in the same Blog Desperado's Class.
be careful with what you write Hans, it just may be a true revelation to your Philipines Bloggers if they decide to actually READ Your BLOG.
apparently the only reason they read my previous post was because I added Pictures of Their Blogs. ;) that's a surefire way to get their attention - Make it a Picture Blog, about them - that they can't deny.
I did it with great success, and got called everything from a Racist to a Devil.
wow and to think I never realized how much power I actually had over them. ;)
I'm laughing with you Hans, My Friend.
Thanks for the Comments, as Always.
Well said.
The whole reason I love EntreCard it that it is a terrific way to visit and learn from other sites. I don't know about the politics, and I really don't care, but it seems that the simplicity of the system is being compromised. The "I drop, You drop" was magic. Some don't reciprocate, that's their choice. I visit sites that I LIKE whether they drop back or not. Bring it back to basics.
Back again. I swear we traded comments on the whole Rolly fiasco but now I see my comment isn't listed. Just wanted to point out that it hadn't been months...but I must have errored:) Just didn't have much to say on all the MJ stuff. I'll be back!
Some common sense solutions there. I like the idea they have though with regards to remedying the bounce rate thing. I haven't really been on board with any of those other changes they've made.
I almost never make it to 300. I like blogging and I like commenting on blogs where I see a topic that interests me. That's what I really like about EC is that it gives me an opportunity to find other bloggers I otherwise would not have known about. It's a great concept.
But, you are right - they need to make some good changes. I think the maximum can be increased a little higher than 50 - but - 300 is just way too many. That actually encourages the drop and run phenomenon. If they drop the max - they should increase the credit amount per drop or change the blog ad pricing structure to accommodate for the lower maximum we can get in a day. At just 50 a day it would be almost impossible to pay for the drop ads on other EC blogs.
Other than that, I thing you're on to something there.
I would just like to point out that it is possible to drop 300 cards and comment on quite a few of the blogs one visits...takes all of a couple hours, give or take a few
Just saying.
@Michael - now think of those hours you spend daily by the week. say 3 hrs a day, times seven days equals 21 hours.
now isn't that a part time job hon ?
@Bobo - you bob think alot like me.
this is not a job, this is supposed to be enjoyable. if it becomes a job, then I'll need somebody to cough up my normal hourly fee of $250.
and yes before you ask - I am worth it.
I have no unsatisfied customers, nor complaints ;)
I also leave no witnesses. :0
seriously doh, graham is milking them as much as they are milking him. cheap hoes belong together I was told; by Mr X.
remember Hoe means High on the Exchange.
these folks must get high on one ec. damn.
@Better Spines - I love your flexibility. ;)
thanks for the comment
@Shelly - I would have loved to hear your comments on the whole rolly and vhing stink.
you can still leave them you know ;)
Damn! I've checked all your blogs and swear I left a comment saying that the Rolly blogs came out of no where and questioning how they dropped back-to back.
The good news...Your bounce rate should have dropped as I spent almost 30 minutes on each trying to find the darn thing, lol.
As for your guest post...you are always welcome to write for me:) I'll look forward to reading and posting it!
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