Monday, November 15, 2010

Come Monday...Eyeballin' Entrecard

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about,  websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time.  Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.”  This is subject to change, however.  In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while.  For rants promote change, and change can be good—right?  Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).


If you are not familiar with the term, to eyeball something is to take a good look at it.  Quite often, the inference is to take a very close look, and this is what I have attempted to do at [Entrecard].

Since this will undoubtedly be considered to be rather critical (to say the least) by many, I would like to first explain some things.  For I was a very enthusiastic member of the Entrecard community, and I would still like to be if some changes were made.

Much of my prior enthusiasm was due to the amount of traffic I started getting here on this site after signing-up with Entrecard.  For it was only averaging around 100 unique visitors a month beforehand, and in not really very long at all, over three times that many were coming by a day!  If I remember right, around 450 was the highest total of drops in a day here, and around 10, 000 unique visitors were stopping by each and every month for well over a year and a half.

Oh yeah, I was starting to feel like I was really somebody, and when I saw my fish hawk perched on top of the Religion and Spirituality Category for the first time, I wanted to believe that Entrecard would be a vehicle to finally get what I had been given to say by our Heavenly Father out into this world.  Alas, what a fool I can be.

No, this is not to say that it has not done any good.  For I have met (so to speak) some very good people through Entrecard, but over 90% of the traffic through the service will invariably be on a drop-and-run mission, which rarely results in anything catching their eye but the Entrecard widget.

Okay, those who are also [Adgitizers] will be looking for that widget, as well, but that still doesn’t get them anymore interested in the content that has been posted.  For there is usually just not enough hours in a day for most to get all of their drops in and pay any real attention to what the author of each particular site may have to say about something.

Yeah, I have been as hypocritical as anyone about this.  For I would deny being a drop-and-runner while doing exactly that much of the time.

Ah, but I have gotten ahead of myself a little bit.  For it has only been lately that I have become concerned about exorbitant [bounce rates].

In fact, I became an even more enthusiastic supporter of Entrecard when the announcement was made about plans for a revenue-sharing program back in March of 2009—especially when it was speculated that a 1,000 credits would be worth $15.00.  For I immediately got out my trusty old solar-powered Casio calculator, and it soon became clear that I could start making some money for a change!

Well, so much for that.  For that $15.00 per thousand turned out to be a dollar a thousand, and by the time it was all over, I had pocketed a whole $10.00.

Ah, but I still have hope for something like that to be successful.  For unlike most other advertising opportunities, Entrecard can guarantee that an ad placed with them will get noticed.  For their members will be looking right at it when they go to make a drop, and wouldn’t you be intrigued by an ad that said something about Coca-Cola coupons or Dell Computer discounts?

So, why didn’t it work before?  Well, that’s a good question, and I think I have found an answer or two, with plain old-fashioned stupidity being at the top of the list.

No, I do not believe that is being too harsh.  For they have had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by the way Entecard has been run over the past year and a half or so.

If you wouldn’t mind, please go back and look at the image at the beginning of this presentation.  Do you see where it says, FREE traffic on over 40,000 websites, in the green part?  (Click-on the image, if you don't have super-human sight).  Well, there are actually 49,286 sites on Entrecard if you add-up how many are listed in the various categories, but in reality, there are actually only 11,182.



If you don’t already know, you can see this page for yourself by clicking on the Campaign button in the middle up at the top of the opening page if you are a member and signed-in.  If you are not a member, just click on the Browse button in the same place.

  CATEGORY                    LISTED         ACTUAL        N/A
   Art                                         2370                  335              +3
   Automotive                           454                   103               N/C
   Blogging Resources            2412                   346              +2
   Books                                     400                    78                +1
   Business                                1747                   508              +1
   Career Jobs                           384                    68               N/C
   Celebrity                                500                   82               N/C
   Computers and Internet    2924                  491               N/C
   Cooking and Dining               759                   239              +3
   Education                                856                  185               N/C
   Entertainment                     2188                  442              +1
   EntreKids                              214                     46                N/C
   Environment                         311                     70                N/C
   Expat                                      115                     34                N/C
   Fashion                                  928                   279               +4
   Finance and Investing        1217                   294              +1
   Gaming                                 1115                   202              +1
   Graphic Design                      337                     41                N/C
   Health and Medicine          1592                   529              +2
   History                                   123                     19                N/C
   Hobbies                                 894                   220              +3
   Home and Garden               528                   345              +1
   Humor                                   913                    153               +5
   Internet Marketing            1235                   147               N/C
   Law and Legal                      104                     25                N/C
   Lifestyle                               1325                   318               N/C
   Make Money Online           2255                  341               +1
   Marketing                             373                     38               +1
   Men’s Interests                    213                    40               N/C
   Mixed Bag                            2446                  767               +6
   Movies                                   364                    78                N/C
   Music                                     869                   128               N/C
   News and Media                   713                    156               +2
   Parenting and Family         1982                  605              +4
   Personal Diary                     3713                 1025             +2
   Pets                                        468                   124               +1
   Philosophy                            159                     30               N/C
   Photography                         638                   171               +1
   Politics                                   502                   106               +2
   Real Estate                            315                     61                N/C
   Religion and Spirituality      585                   114               +2
   Romance                                307                    54                +1
   Science                                   202                    33                +1
   Self Improvement                722                    124               +3
   Sports                                     786                   154               +1
   Technology                           1888                  435              +1
   Travel                                    1282                  430              +1
   Trends                                    166                    36               N/C
   Web Comics                           115                    28                N/C
   Web Development                624                    71                N/C
   Women’s Interests               866                   284              N/C
   Writing and Literature        788                    150               +2
   Totals                                49,286            11,182           +62

If you would like to do some checking on your own, just click on the title of a category.  A page with 15 sites will then come up, and if you would like to see just how many sites are really in that category, keep clicking next and keep track of how many times you will do so until you get to the end.  Since Home and Garden is the first one listed in the image I have included of the Categories Page, I will use it as an example of what I am trying to convey.  For it says that there are 526 sites in this category, but 24 x 15, plus 6, only adds up to 366!

Ironically, the Home and Garden category is one of the closest to having an honest count.  If you would like to check out a real shocker, go take a gander at the Art category.  For according to my calculations, 21 x 15, + 15, adds up to 326—not 2,367.

Okay, you might not experience the same reaction, but it really did come as quite a shock to me to find only four sites on the second page of the History category when there was supposed to be another full page of fifteen, along with enough to total 123.  Hey, I even went looking for the possibility of there being a lot of hidden sites somewhere else, and I thought I may have found them when it was pointed out to me that only the sites that were accepting advertising were being shown at the settings I was using.  So, I checked the box to show even the sites that did not accept advertising., and this did make a difference, which is what the N/A column is all about.  No, it was not a big difference, as you can plainly see.

Yes, the numbers I compiled in October are different than the ones I am giving you now, which were compiled around 18 hours before this piece was actually published.  They change a lot, and they will probably be even more different when you get around to checking things out for yourself.

No, I do not see where there is anything to gain by misrepresenting the true amount of sites.  For anyone doing their due diligence could plainly see that their ad is not going to get nearly as much exposure as they are being told that it would.

It gets worse.  For out of the 11,182 site that were actually on Entrecard and accepting advertising in October, at least 5,382 sites were in a state of non-compliance with the official [Blog Quality Standards], and I wasn’t even getting real picky about it!

                            Inaccessible                          223
                            No Widget                             394
                            Non-English                            28
                            No Content                                4
                            Pop-Up Ad                              29
                            Porn                                            2
                            Redirect                                    14
                            Virus                                         30
                            Past 90 Days                        1339
                            Way Past 90 Days                 684
                            Way Way Past 90 Days            2
                            Not Above The Fold            2633

No, I cannot say that I really did visit each and every one of the 11,182 sites.  For the way I went about it was to click on each icon as they were listed in the various categories, and they moved around somewhat.  Therefore, I am quite sure that I did miss some, which means that the non-compliance total may be even worse.  For I only listed what I actually found.

Just in case you may not be quite sure what I have listed, Inaccessible covers the sites that had suspended accounts, lost domains and could not be found.  The rest are pretty straight-forward, except for maybe Way Past 90 Days and Way Way Past 90 Days.  For Way Past 90 Days covered the sites that had not been posted to since January 1, 2010, and Way Way Past 90 Days was reserved for one site that had not been posted to since 2005 and another since 2001.

No, none of this may mean a thing to you, but I am quite sure that it does to prospective advertisers, which is where the money for a revenue-sharing program would come from.  For who is going to see an ad on a site that no longer exists or has other problems that discourages people from wanting to visit it?

Besides, a lot of quality sites have dropped out of Entrecard because of much of the “stuff” going on there, and this should be of at least some concern to you.  That is, unless you do not mind hanging out with a bunch of morons like I used to be.

Okay, it is hard to argue with the fact that I am still pretty much a moron.  For even after all of my efforts to get in touch with the Support Department to report my findings have been ignored, I still hold onto some hope that the powers that be over at Entrecard will sober up enough to get their act together.

Yes, I am going to start holding my breath now.  So, if it takes me a while to reply to your comments, it probably means that my hopes are being dashed (again).

Please Also Visit: [FishHawk Droppings]

41 comments:

  1. I actually posted on the EC blog a few days ago about the number of dead sites and how often I reported them and no action taken. Some I reported for 3 weeks in a row and nada, zip, no action, no communication. The TOS is apparently not to be taken seriously, or adhered to.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Just Plain Tired!!! Yeah, I have heard of that many times before, and after not hearing anything back from them the first time I emailed some preliminary results, I even got into contact with one of the administrators, who passed the information on to someone who could do something about it. Again, not a peep has been heard. Alas, what could be such a good thing has become a joke.

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  3. Yeah, I am not surprised at this. I haven't taken time to count things up like you did. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

    Nevertheless, I'm staying with it just for visibility. I don't worry about those 300 drops a day. I do some, buy some ads, get on with life.

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  4. You worked really hard on all those stats to do the review FH. I wouldn't want to bother with all that, so thanks from me too. But you know I'm not too happy about EC just now.

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  5. Excellent fact finding! I would have to add that I am so tired of all the widgets of overly large breasted women! Entrecard seems to have once again lost control.

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  6. I dropped EC some time ago. You don't actually get any "real" readers, just drop and go. I don't need to clog up my page with ugly EC widgets. Of course my being a tad OCD I got compulsive about doing 300 drops and all I got for that was a bum wrist. Since I blog for my own amusement, I don't give a flying flip about my stats or anything similar. (I can't believe you spent the time to compile all those numbers!)(Oh, and PPS - the hooters show was amazing - how beautiful those owls are.)

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  7. Excellent, balanced, objective and above-all, well reasearched article!! I often wonder why I bother with EC and took the widget off two of my blogs but I continue to meet talented, brilliant bloggers through Entrecard so I stay.

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  8. It's really a shame the admins won't do anything for this. The admins that *can*. I haven't heard a word back about any of this, but when I would run into problems, before becoming an admin, I would use the feedback form in my profile. Just a short note, such as "domain is no longer registered [link]" or "no widget: [link]". The admins tend to pay more attention to that form because it's feedback on the site. With actually sending to the support email address, the spam filter could catch it.

    I tried to post that information along on the actual EC blog, but my comment was never approved.

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  9. You did an amazing job here. This article is very well written and wow your research is incredible.

    I, like everyone else here, know the same to be true and have left EC more than once.

    But, you know, I found your site through EC and JPT'S site.

    Also, Sharkbyte's and Grace. Now I visit all of you and many many others each day.

    But, I gave up on my OCD and need to drop 300 a day. First of all, I am on satellite and can't do 300 a day or I will get my service cut back...due to 'The Fair Use Policy.'

    I will admit there are some sites that I drop and run. Then there are sites that I read but don't leave a comment, for one reason or another.

    So for now, I too am staying with them. At least for now. I also hope they get their act together but I am not holding my breath either for that one.

    Now, to reply to your comment this morning. My husband and I enjoyed what little time we had. But he didn't get here until almost noon.

    We had Sunday dinner, he watched football and I watched it with him and then around 4pm he had to go to bed. He left at 11pm last night.

    So not much time but precious time still. Now today I am dragging because I couldn't go back to sleep after he left. I finally dozed off around 3am and ws up at 7am.

    I may be typing this in my sleep. I am not sure.

    Happy day,
    Jackie:-)

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  10. The numbers don't surprise me. I notice since the take over most folks have left. Some sites have not be taken off the EC list. As well as some have the widget at the bottom. I can understand the blog that are set up with no space on the sides. However most of them are not set up that way. I still use this Service and will still visit those who drop on me and my favorites. I think these site change as much as the bloggers come and go.

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  11. I hope you haven't passed out from lack of oxygen yet.
    I can't say that those numbers surprise me one bit. Back when I was doing the 300 drops a day I went to way too many sites that never updated. I finally got tired of all of it and just go to sites that I enjoy reading.
    I've thought about getting rid o the widget altogether but keep it there on the off chance that someone new will find me.

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  12. Excellent post FishHawk, as you know I gave up using Entrecard a while back. I just felt that for the time and effort I was putting into it, the returns were not worth it.

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  13. I remember when I started to join EC, they were pretty strict with the TOS. I remember I got my account terminated. Honestly, I haven't really done that 300 drops a day. I can't get myself to do it because it's very time consuming. I just drop when I can.

    You're really serious about getting the attention of EC making this very long researched post.

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  14. Hey You ! You really know how to get some comments huh (wink*wink). Your Math may be too real for the Entrecrooks.

    First Off let me start by saying I'm glad YOU are the one who exposed the Real Figures because probably they won't smash and burn your account for doing it; as they did mine.

    Secondly - everyone knows that Entrecrime is a self running congame. it's totally a shell game. it needs no handlers so how could you expect a response ?

    and finally congratulations on coming to the reality that those of us who stopped playing blogging games and got serious, got to a while ago.

    Let me tell you something sir - in one month (oct 2010) I got 1000 New subscribers on just one of my blogs.

    so do you see those figures from your entreguests ? and as well My 1.5 million hits a month come at a bounce rate of 26%. Simply because most of my traffic is coming from one of my widgets, tweets, reposts or links. they come to read and enjoy the content. everyday - just like your droppers. The only difference is, they're coming because they know I'm a quality blog and I don't give out cheap tricks; only nice blog treats.

    Please Spread the Truth Far and Wide because the gospel of entrecrime is a waste of time.

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  15. I love being Number Thirteen. it's so Me.

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  16. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Sharkbytes!!! I am going to stay with them for at least a little while longer just in case they wake up, but I will not be very active until then.

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  17. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Jakill!!! To those who are only interested in gaining some more traffic of any sort, Entrecard is still a fairly good thing, but it could be so much more.

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  18. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lynne!!! Yeah, I've seen them, and most of them make me question my manly manliness. For I don't find them all that attractive.

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  19. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Grace!!! Well, I have received a few regular readers from Entrecard, and I do believe that it was through it that I found you. Nonetheless, those are most definitely exceptions to the rule.

    Be assured that I know what you mean by being a little OCD about dropping. For I actually got really upset a couple of times when their servers decided to take a break before I got my 300 drops completed and didn't come back until after it was too late.

    It is arguable that it was also my undiagnosed OCD tendencies that drove me to compile all of these statistics. For it took over a month.

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  20. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Emm!!! As I just told the lovely and talent Ms Grace of Hugz Before You Go fame and fortune, I have also met some wonderful people through Entrecard, and I would like to stick around for at least a little while longer to see what happens. To tell you the truth, I am shocked that I have not been banned yet, but that might help prove just how asleep at the wheel they are.

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  21. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Jackie!!! Your new Entecard strategy sounds like a wise move, and if enough cut way back on their dropping on account of all of the nonsense, maybe the powers that be over at Entrecard will start listening to the sound of reason for a change.

    Alas, such is the life of an over-the-road truck driver's family. I must admit that I really do miss driving at times--not the part about having to leave your loved ones behind, of course.

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  22. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Auntie E!!! I got to noticing how many relatively new sites on Entrecard had their widgets all the way at the bottom, and it made me wonder if actually paying a visit to a site is part of the approval process.

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  23. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Ann!!! Well, I've got a splitting headache, and my wife won't tell me how my pant-legs got to be soaking wet. The puppies all have huge grins on their faces, though.

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  24. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Ryan!!! Yeah, I noticed that you had removed your Entrecard widget a couple of weeks ago, but your profile is still up and running as of a few seconds ago, which is when I checked just now. So, it would be good if you would delete your account, but it might be interesting to see how long it takes for them to do it for you--if ever.

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  25. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Chin Chin!!! Well, so much for all of my efforts. For I haven't heard an official peep out of any of the powers that be at Entrecard. I wonder if they may have ran off and hid somewhere?

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  26. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear BadGal!!! Alas, when I go to check my stats on Google Analytics, all I get is a message that says, "You Don't Want To Know."

    Hey, if I was to mention that you have been very helpful to me, do you think that might get their attention? As I said before, I am shocked that I haven't been banned yet--regardless of the company I have been keeping.

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  27. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Jaimie!!! I am sorry that your comment got marked as spam by the new Blogger filter. I noticed it in my email notifications, and I just now got it restored as a legitimate comment.

    To be quite honest about it, you have really surprised me by being so helpful. For there are times when you can come off as being rather hateful, but you have been very supportive of my efforts here. Thank you so very much, and please forgive me for thinking that you were part of the problem with Entrecard.

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  28. I think your time is better spent visiting other blogs and finding new ones to follow. I've done very well leaving EC. I hated all those drops and phantom clicks on my widget. There is something really fishy going on there as I STILL get upwards of 20 clicks on my non-existent EC widget even though I have been gone since March.

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  29. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lin!!! Yeah, you are so right about that, and I am only going to stick with them in the hope that it will turn out to be a money-maker someday soon.

    As in regards to your current clicks, this has me puzzled. For I don't recall running across your site in the categories. Oh well, it must be one of the ones I missed.

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  30. Let me just say this is the most detailed and thorough breakdown of EC I've read yet. And no, I'm not kidding either. Bravo, sir!

    I've been a member on there for almost two years, and at one time dropped many cards. Because of availability and being better just reading and commenting on those blogs that use EC, I don't any longer. I've read about almost all the issues, and it's sad that many months later that they still linger on.

    Yesterday, one of my very good blogging buddies(who does still drop alot) was basically put on a 24-hour cool-off from dropping. She said on about 20 blogs in a row, she got the message "no such user" like most of have seen before. She was very upset about spending that kind of time and having that happen. She pretty much knows that contacting them is a waste of time.

    I still am with EC, but I'm more or less there. Plus, I've got many credits to use, and need to use them anyway.

    I commented on your blog and responded on there to yours on my blog. Thanks for the comment and visit to my site.

    Best wishes!

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  31. Thanks for stopping by, my dear David!!! It sounds like we joined Entrecard about the same time, and I am really sorry that I have not paid more attention to your actual posts before. For I have been by your site many times, but that was mostly just to click-on your Adgitze widget. Be assured that I will be paying more attention from now now. For your article about The Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum on the northeast side of Oklahoma City was most enjoyable.
    http://www.basicbloganomics.com/2010/11/national-cowboy-and-western-heritage.html

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  32. No apologies necessary, FishHawk. I've been by here before through Adgitize and EC, but never commented, too.

    I'm going to add your blogs to my site.

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  33. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear David!!! Thank you also for adding my sites to your blog roll. I just added Basic Bloganomics to my "Places of Interest" over there on the sidebar.

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  34. Excellent bit of research and documentation about EC's system. I long since gave up on Entrecard, back when they essentially took away full control of who could post ads on your site (I used to respect the control they would give users.) That, and so much of the hit-n-run visitation didn't really seem to make any difference to me.

    But I will say this about EC - were it not providentially for this system, I never would have found this blog or your other fascinating "Fishhawk Droppings" site. Your positive nature and glowing Christian testimony to all who visit (even naysayers) is very refreshing.

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  35. That's my whole point, Fish! How can anyone "visit" my blog through them when I'm not listed there nor do I have an EC box in which to click on my site???! Day after day there are the same "blogs" who are "visiting" me through a nonexistent EC channel. Tell me this isn't rigged??

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  36. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Rob!!! Yes, I am quite sure that it was through Entrecard that we first "met," and this has certainly been a great blessing to me. My whole point here is about how much more Entrecard could be if it was being run as an advertising platform with revenue-sharing instead of just as a traffic generator. Oh yeah, don't forget to delete your cooking/nutrition site.

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  37. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lin!!! Okay, I think I've got it now. You are getting your statistics from an independent tracker--right? If you are, you may be getting those visits on account of still being on an Entrecard drop list, which might show up as being through Entrecard. On the other hand, the Illuminati are infamous for having some really nasty tricks up their sleeves...

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  38. Great post!

    I've only been on EC for a couple of weeks. There's a lot that doesn't interest me but then again, there's some that does. I drop and run, but I also drop and stay - as I did in this case!

    I suppose it's a bit like the princess and the frogs; sometimes you have to kiss an awful lot of them before you find a prince!

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  39. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Francis!!! Be assured that you will see a significant increase in traffic if you make your presence known by dropping a lot, advertising and have your widget in an easily found spot up near the top of your site, and if you do not hold any expectations, you should be fairly happy with Entrecard. That is, until they decide to take some more of your advertising time and devalue your credits.

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  40. Just dropped EC! I'm really not sure that it hurts all that much. It does indeed bring visitors!

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  41. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Twitterer!!! Yes, you will see a lot of traffic through Entrecard, and as long as you do not care what kind of traffic it is, you should be well pleased.

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Since the Blogger spam filter has been found sorely lacking lately, I will start moderating comments. Be assured that I am only interested in deleting spam. So, if you feel a need to take me to task over something—even anonymously, go ahead and let 'er rip, and I will publish it as soon as I can.