Comments on: 10,000+ Blogs Being Removed From BlogRush http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/ Income.com Blog Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:15:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: 1001 noisy cameras http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16927 1001 noisy cameras Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:48:49 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16927 To add to what TET just said, another possibility could be an RSS feed version of the BlogRush network. I'm not familiar with all blogging platforms, but on Blogger an RSS feed embedded through Blogger takes the look and feel of the blog, making it look exactly like the rest of the blog. This also has the benefit of being automatically adjusted in terms of width and height to fit the available space. Very easy installation too. I think the value of Blog Rush goes beyond just traffic. There's also the benefit of content where you can find blogs of interest and networking where you can get to know other bloggers in the same segment. If nothing else, Blog Rush serves as an ice-breaker. I am going to try a "Found on BlogRush" subsegment next week to spotlight the blogs/posts of interest I found through BR. However, both traffic and content are important factors in where the widget is placed on someone's blog as real estate is at a premium one way or the other. I had my widget all the way up in the right column, however, the ratio of posts of interest to 10K-to-be-removed-posts was low, so I dropped it down. Incoming traffic is about 1 per day. As traffic or the quality of posts improve, the widget's position will also improve. I see it as a fair market-driven way to decide this :) To add to what TET just said, another possibility could be an RSS feed version of the BlogRush network. I’m not familiar with all blogging platforms, but on Blogger an RSS feed embedded through Blogger takes the look and feel of the blog, making it look exactly like the rest of the blog. This also has the benefit of being automatically adjusted in terms of width and height to fit the available space. Very easy installation too.

I think the value of Blog Rush goes beyond just traffic. There’s also the benefit of content where you can find blogs of interest and networking where you can get to know other bloggers in the same segment. If nothing else, Blog Rush serves as an ice-breaker. I am going to try a “Found on BlogRush” subsegment next week to spotlight the blogs/posts of interest I found through BR.

However, both traffic and content are important factors in where the widget is placed on someone’s blog as real estate is at a premium one way or the other. I had my widget all the way up in the right column, however, the ratio of posts of interest to 10K-to-be-removed-posts was low, so I dropped it down. Incoming traffic is about 1 per day. As traffic or the quality of posts improve, the widget’s position will also improve. I see it as a fair market-driven way to decide this :)

]]> By: TET http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16922 TET Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:37:02 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16922 I've been watching all this discussion with interest and have made a note about higher placement of the widget. Currently the widget has about mid-page placement on my blog because I only had one sidebar that would fit it that also contain a lot of other things that I want to give priority placement to. Sadly not everything can be at the top. The 120 pixel widget will help dramatically for my layout as I have a secondary sidebar specifically to accommodate a 120 pixel width google ad block and not a lot else. So your widget will, almost certainly move up and over on my template. With that said, something that you may like to consider for a future revision is designing a version of the widget that is customizable like a google text ad block. Google themselves, suggest that their ads get more click throughs when the ads look more like content rather than ads. Logically the same could be true for a blogrush widget - which looks more like an ad with the surrounding box rather than content. It's just a thought - maybe it's not necessary to do this since the widget does clearly state that it is displaying other blogs, not ads. Something to experiment with for the future though. I’ve been watching all this discussion with interest and have made a note about higher placement of the widget. Currently the widget has about mid-page placement on my blog because I only had one sidebar that would fit it that also contain a lot of other things that I want to give priority placement to. Sadly not everything can be at the top.

The 120 pixel widget will help dramatically for my layout as I have a secondary sidebar specifically to accommodate a 120 pixel width google ad block and not a lot else. So your widget will, almost certainly move up and over on my template.

With that said, something that you may like to consider for a future revision is designing a version of the widget that is customizable like a google text ad block.

Google themselves, suggest that their ads get more click throughs when the ads look more like content rather than ads. Logically the same could be true for a blogrush widget - which looks more like an ad with the surrounding box rather than content.

It’s just a thought - maybe it’s not necessary to do this since the widget does clearly state that it is displaying other blogs, not ads. Something to experiment with for the future though.

]]> By: Theresa http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16921 Theresa Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:26:18 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16921 John - Thanks for the updates. It's nice to know whats going on. I am looking forward to all these wonderful changes. I have received 7 hits from Blogrush so far and on my 2 month old blog that is a significant percentage. Thanks for all your hard work. BTW, I have just been going through the archives here. Terrific information! John - Thanks for the updates. It’s nice to know whats going on. I am looking forward to all these wonderful changes. I have received 7 hits from Blogrush so far and on my 2 month old blog that is a significant percentage. Thanks for all your hard work.

BTW, I have just been going through the archives here. Terrific information!

]]> By: John Reese http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16896 John Reese Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:59:04 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16896 DAVID - as has already been stated, we're working hard to improve everything so it will produce more traffic. BUT... I'd like to address some of your points... first of all, the widget doesn't replace traffic you get from other sources, such as Google. i.e. it's not like running the widget makes you give up your Google traffic. Running the widget provides traffic IN ADDITION to everything else. The other thing that needs to be pointed out is that the value of any visitors you get from BlogRush is 100X more valuable than traffic you will most likely get from anywhere else. So it's not just about "quantity" it's about QUALITY. Because BlogRush is sending your blog *BLOG READERS* from other related blogs. These people are most likely to become regular readers of your blog and continue to come back on a regular basis -- growing your traffic over time. As for our delay issue, we ran into some unexpected issues that made us miss our expected date, it happens. DAVID - as has already been stated, we’re working hard to improve everything so it will produce more traffic. BUT… I’d like to address some of your points… first of all, the widget doesn’t replace traffic you get from other sources, such as Google. i.e. it’s not like running the widget makes you give up your Google traffic. Running the widget provides traffic IN ADDITION to everything else. The other thing that needs to be pointed out is that the value of any visitors you get from BlogRush is 100X more valuable than traffic you will most likely get from anywhere else. So it’s not just about “quantity” it’s about QUALITY. Because BlogRush is sending your blog *BLOG READERS* from other related blogs. These people are most likely to become regular readers of your blog and continue to come back on a regular basis — growing your traffic over time.

As for our delay issue, we ran into some unexpected issues that made us miss our expected date, it happens.

]]> By: David http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16856 David Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:15:13 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16856 That was part of my point, John. If you are unsure about how long it will take to roll out something, don't announce a date. I have taken the widget off of my site. For Pete's sake, I have a niche that is so small it's not even funny and Google sends me 10 times more visitors to my site in one day than your widget did all week! How do you justify demanding top billing for your widget when the system is only pulling in 3-7 visitors per day? It is all about the numbers. Over a thirty day period, I average 2,349 visitors per day. On average, BR sends me 5.674 of those. That means you send me 0.0024155% of all my traffic. My adsense CTR is currently at 3.37%. Crunch the numbers; which thing do YOU think will get the coveted real estate on the blog??? I had higher hopes for this system. The intro video placed those hopes there. Why did I get the widget? Cause free traffic is free traffic. But, when you start to restict where I can place it, no. Sorry John, the numbers do not justify the demands for placement. That was part of my point, John. If you are unsure about how long it will take to roll out something, don’t announce a date. I have taken the widget off of my site. For Pete’s sake, I have a niche that is so small it’s not even funny and Google sends me 10 times more visitors to my site in one day than your widget did all week! How do you justify demanding top billing for your widget when the system is only pulling in 3-7 visitors per day? It is all about the numbers. Over a thirty day period, I average 2,349 visitors per day. On average, BR sends me 5.674 of those. That means you send me 0.0024155% of all my traffic. My adsense CTR is currently at 3.37%. Crunch the numbers; which thing do YOU think will get the coveted real estate on the blog???

I had higher hopes for this system. The intro video placed those hopes there. Why did I get the widget? Cause free traffic is free traffic. But, when you start to restict where I can place it, no. Sorry John, the numbers do not justify the demands for placement.

]]> By: John Reese http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16842 John Reese Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:07:22 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16842 PLEASE BE PATIENT. :) We're working on all of these changes. If you aren't happy with the service, TAKE THE WIDGET OFF YOUR BLOG! It's just that simple. We're busting our butts for YOU to help you drive more traffic to your site. We're rolling out Phase 2 and it's taking a bit longer than we expected; but it will all be deployed very soon. (Thank You.) PLEASE BE PATIENT. :) We’re working on all of these changes. If you aren’t happy with the service, TAKE THE WIDGET OFF YOUR BLOG! It’s just that simple. We’re busting our butts for YOU to help you drive more traffic to your site. We’re rolling out Phase 2 and it’s taking a bit longer than we expected; but it will all be deployed very soon. (Thank You.)

]]> By: David http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16813 David Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:37:50 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16813 <strong>From Yesterday</strong> Have fun you guys. With 56 people in my network and only 3 visitors per day through BR, I cannot justify taking up potentially income earning real estate with a widget that gives people a new way to leave the site. If I were getting a few hundred visitors per day from other BR widgets, sure! But 3? Great idea (possibly), poor planning and even worse execution. When you have promised people a certain level of expectation (ie, visitor flow, revamped dashboard by a certain time, page for page impressions…) you have to live up to it. When you don’t, that’s fine, but a once a week update does not suffice. As other people have noted here, it seems as though John Reese is the only person working on this, rather than a team of crack coders who could have had all the kinks worked out by now. Good luck, John. Just remember, nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan. It looks as though you have fallen into this trapping. Credits keep piling up in my account, which makes me think that I am not getting the “page for page” impressions promised. Cheating seems to be rampant throughout everyone’s concerns. Then you tell us we have to place the widget in an area that I am sure everyone would rather reserve for income potential. Why should we give up prime real estate on our sites for your unproven, horribly flawed widget system? PROVE that your widget system works FIRST, then demand the placement in accordance with the results. Good luck to all of you. But, if you are using this for the traffic, just remember that the social networks are where it’s at. And, you don’t have to send people away from your site in the mean time! <strong>The Follow-up Today:</strong> Just to give the “loyal” an example of what the “complainers” are talking about, I took my widget off my site yesterday afternoon. (see 10 comments up) I log on to BR today just to see if the “Beta 2″ was up and running and guess what?!? It says that I am still getting traffic to earn credits! Credits Earned Today: 586 Credits Earned Last 7 Days: 10,132.25 Your Traffic Today: 217 Your Traffic Last 7 Days 4,550 Total Referrals In Your Network: 57 Referral Traffic Today: 369 Referral Traffic Last 7 Days: 5,582.25 on top of that, the “Your Traffic Last 7 Days” is way off. If it is going by impressions, my pageviews for the past 7 days have been as follows: 604, 1463, 2265, 3690, 3311, 2943 and 1140. Now, I am no mathematician, but I believe that those seven numbers equal more than 4,550. Maybe they are going off of visitors? Nope, I had an even 8,000 the past 7 days. Hmmm, anyone else smell the stench? From Yesterday
Have fun you guys. With 56 people in my network and only 3 visitors per day through BR, I cannot justify taking up potentially income earning real estate with a widget that gives people a new way to leave the site. If I were getting a few hundred visitors per day from other BR widgets, sure! But 3?

Great idea (possibly), poor planning and even worse execution. When you have promised people a certain level of expectation (ie, visitor flow, revamped dashboard by a certain time, page for page impressions…) you have to live up to it. When you don’t, that’s fine, but a once a week update does not suffice. As other people have noted here, it seems as though John Reese is the only person working on this, rather than a team of crack coders who could have had all the kinks worked out by now.

Good luck, John. Just remember, nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan. It looks as though you have fallen into this trapping. Credits keep piling up in my account, which makes me think that I am not getting the “page for page” impressions promised. Cheating seems to be rampant throughout everyone’s concerns. Then you tell us we have to place the widget in an area that I am sure everyone would rather reserve for income potential. Why should we give up prime real estate on our sites for your unproven, horribly flawed widget system? PROVE that your widget system works FIRST, then demand the placement in accordance with the results.

Good luck to all of you. But, if you are using this for the traffic, just remember that the social networks are where it’s at. And, you don’t have to send people away from your site in the mean time!

The Follow-up Today:
Just to give the “loyal” an example of what the “complainers” are talking about, I took my widget off my site yesterday afternoon. (see 10 comments up) I log on to BR today just to see if the “Beta 2″ was up and running and guess what?!? It says that I am still getting traffic to earn credits!

Credits Earned Today: 586
Credits Earned Last 7 Days: 10,132.25

Your Traffic Today: 217
Your Traffic Last 7 Days 4,550

Total Referrals In Your Network: 57
Referral Traffic Today: 369
Referral Traffic Last 7 Days: 5,582.25

on top of that, the “Your Traffic Last 7 Days” is way off. If it is going by impressions, my pageviews for the past 7 days have been as follows: 604, 1463, 2265, 3690, 3311, 2943 and 1140. Now, I am no mathematician, but I believe that those seven numbers equal more than 4,550. Maybe they are going off of visitors? Nope, I had an even 8,000 the past 7 days. Hmmm, anyone else smell the stench?

]]> By: Chuck Anthony http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16781 Chuck Anthony Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:14:17 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16781 Adding to the widget placement conversation, I think that quality widgets deserve higher placement. Enhancing BlogRush with quality control measures should improve results. Kudos to John and the BlogRush team for their efforts. How about this: In the spirit of cooperation, I propose that all of us enthusiastic BlogRush users bump up our widget to a higher position. Let's give John a chance to prove his point about placement. I'm thinking if you get two hits for every one you give away, that's good business. Maybe that's an over-simplification and perhaps John can reiterate the potential benefits of higher placement for new BlogRush users coming on board. Adding to the widget placement conversation, I think that quality widgets deserve higher placement. Enhancing BlogRush with quality control measures should improve results. Kudos to John and the BlogRush team for their efforts.

How about this: In the spirit of cooperation, I propose that all of us enthusiastic BlogRush users bump up our widget to a higher position. Let’s give John a chance to prove his point about placement.

I’m thinking if you get two hits for every one you give away, that’s good business. Maybe that’s an over-simplification and perhaps John can reiterate the potential benefits of higher placement for new BlogRush users coming on board.

]]> By: Xacur http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16768 Xacur Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:12:29 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16768 When I entered my sites I made a Mistake 'cause I didn't understand how it worked, and one of my blogs appears 5 times in my GetCode page. Could this be bad? I thought they were going to be removed too. When I entered my sites I made a Mistake ’cause I didn’t understand how it worked, and one of my blogs appears 5 times in my GetCode page.
Could this be bad?
I thought they were going to be removed too.

]]> By: Joel Osborne http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16763 Joel Osborne Sun, 21 Oct 2007 05:14:21 +0000 http://www.income.com/blog/2007/10/19/10000-blogs-being-removed-from-blogrush/#comment-16763 Just amazing John! You just keep re-proving that you are one of the greats. You keep showing and reminding us that Internet marketing isn't all about making money quick and easy... it's about treating your customers, visitors, partners, and everything with respect and giving as much value as you can. Thanks for going way beyond the call to make your products the best they can! Joel Osborne btw.. Thanks for the upcoming "Delete" feature :) Just amazing John!

You just keep re-proving that you are one of the greats. You keep showing and reminding us that Internet marketing isn’t all about making money quick and easy… it’s about treating your customers, visitors, partners, and everything with respect and giving as much value as you can.

Thanks for going way beyond the call to make your products the best they can!

Joel Osborne

btw.. Thanks for the upcoming “Delete” feature :)

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