MyBlogLog Tracks Ad Clicks: Does This Matter?
MyBlogLog has come under fire during recent weeks due to numerous hacks and exploits found with their software, and now another issue is being raised by popular blogger ShoeMoney in regards to MyBlogLog tracking ad clicks.
At first glance this appears to be another black eye for MyBlogLog–or is it? MyBlogLog has a pro service in which you can pay to get real time stats about your site, and one of these stats is user clicks.
This service leads me to why I feel this is an overreaction by the general blogging community: bloggers want their hands on as many statistics as possible, and advertisement clicks are one of these high priority statistics. MyBlogLog is simply serving this need.
Conspiracy theorists, however, argue that MyBlogLog can take the advertisement statistics and use them for their own evil plans. This conspiracy theory is further increased due to the fact that MyBlogLog is owned by Yahoo!, whose YPN service is a direct competitor to Google’s AdSense.
With that said, it seems like now it’s in MyBlogLog’s best interests to give users the option to turn off advertisement tracking if they so please. I’ve got no problem with them tracking my data, but all conspiracy theories can be put to rest with them giving users this option.
For more details about the ad tracking see ShoeMoney’s post: MyBlogLog Tracks Your Visitors Ad Clicks.
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12 Comments so far »
robwatts said
on February 24 2007 @ 8:43 am
I dont think its a black eye at all. In fact smart people like graywolf recognised the value of such a addition.
Im with you on the transparency front too, its all about options really.
The problem they are having at the moment is that there appears to be a little bit of momentum behind a general lets kick mbl in the teeth and say how evil they are type of attitude, driven in the main by friends and supporters of Shoemoney.
MBL could do with a little proactivism and nipping these things in the bud, rather than continually reacting to the latest piece of bad spin.
Ryan J. Parker said
on February 24 2007 @ 9:50 am
Yeah, there seems to be a general hate towards MBL right now (and Yahoo! in general) that’s fueling these type of things to get people to drop MBL.
It’s working to get some people to drop, but I think these people started using MBL based on the suggestion by the people that are now blasting it, so it’s all a wash.
HMTKSteve said
on February 24 2007 @ 12:10 pm
That feature is the only reason I payed for a pro account. MBL is the only tracking service I know of that tracks AdSense clicks. Not only does it tell me how many clicks there were but it also tells me what pages generated them!
That information is pure gold when you are monetizing your blog. Some of the clicks tracked must be fraudulent though as the numbers never match what my AdSense account says.
Ryan J. Parker said
on February 24 2007 @ 3:20 pm
See that’s why I think this is a knee jerk reaction by everyone that sees the ad tracking as a bad thing.
I figure you’re not the only one that pays for the pro service because of the ad tracking.
Nomar said
on February 25 2007 @ 1:57 pm
hmm interesting , I might sing up for a paid account
Ryan J. Parker said
on February 25 2007 @ 2:28 pm
I’ll admit that I’m a stat freak like everyone else, but the clicks MBL tracks haven’t gone through the Google fraud detector yet, so I figure it’s better to wait and see what Google tells me after the fact.
I do, however, think that if you’re looking for real time stats MBL is the way to go. Especially if you’re big.
Stuart said
on February 26 2007 @ 7:59 pm
It could be a great advantage for the webmaster, let’s them know what works out the best.
Wild Bluff Matt said
on February 27 2007 @ 4:27 pm
It comes off as an invasion of privacy which is obviously a touchy subject. I agree that people will get over the knee-jerk and recognize the added value that it brings.
HMTK, what are they charging for the Pro version?
Rekzai said
on February 28 2007 @ 12:26 am
I’m very close to taking the MBL code out of my site …
Wild Bluff Matt said
on March 1 2007 @ 8:23 am
HMTK, I’m seeing a variance between what Google reports and MBL reports. MBL is detailing the exact Adsense link to me, saying X number of clicks to off-site, but then Google says 0. Hmmm…
HMTKSteve said
on August 18 2007 @ 9:44 am
WBM - I notice that too and it annoys the heck out of me!
Does this mean that Google is lying to me or is MBL? Google should be more transparent with AdSense clicks, I’d like to know just how many clicks I’m getting that Google considers to be fraudulent and why.
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