Surfing Around the Traffic Exchanges

Yes, I know the title sounds very academic, but my subject is that of traffic exchanges. I am a relative newbie with traffic exchanges, although I did join Wolf Surfer quite a few years ago. My interest in traffic exchanges has increased because I am no longer in the work force. However, as a result of a forum discussion, I felt it was time to delve into some of the things that I learned at university whilst studying the very dry subject of economics – that is competition and monopoly in a free market economy.

What has prompted me to address this subject happens to be the comment of a TE owner who seems to think that the alleged big boys and girls in the industry have some kind of duty to squash the small TE owners. As it happens I am a member of the TE of that particular person. I like the exchange even though I do not surf it as much as I would like to surf. What this particular owner does not understand is that it is better to have competition in a free market economy than to have a monopoly situation.

First of all I do not believe that there is an infinite number of new members entering into the TE industry. Many of the members use a variety of traffic exchanges. Some people swear by such exchanges as Traffic Swarm (I am a member but I do not like that particular exchange) but newbies find that this form of exchange is hard to understand.

Second, when people first look to the internet to try and make a little bit of money they are not at all clear on what it is that they want. They might not be savvy when it comes to the number of offers from the likes of GDI to other forms of MLM marketing schemes, including Dubai MLM (I am not a member of GDI, OBA or Dubai or similar schemes as I am very wary about such schemes). There are some opportunities available other than joining Giblink or Freebie Force or similar kinds of organizations. This is where the Traffic Exchange comes into being. It is a way for new entrants into the market place to check out what is on offer. Some people will join a scheme without considering the consequences but others take their time to consider all of the options.

Third, one of the roles of traffic exchanges is to offer to new members the opportunity to make commissions form paid sign ups to those exchanges. For example, and exchange such as Gladiator Hits  will pay a commission to a member who has referred someone who then makes a purchase for membership or a credit package. This will only be profitable where the downline goes pro because a downline that consists of free members will bring no income to the person who has done the referring. For someone who wants to make serious money on the internet through traffic exchanges he or she needs to look at all of the factors when it comes to choosing and staying with the ever increasing number of TEs that exist today.

It is not easy for  free members to make any income from Traffic Exchanges. The free member either has to consider going pro within an exchange or at least using the exchange as leverage for signups to a program that will produce income in the future.

What is important here though is the fact that the Internet is a free market economy. It is not based upon a monopoly. In a free market economy there will be many entrants and the number will continue to increase because of the high demand for traffic exchanges. Or is that really the case? There is no such thing as a perfectly competitive market place. The smaller entrants into the traffic exchange market need to be able to provide something of a niche market if they are going to succeed.

A niche market has been created with the introduction of hover technology. This started off with a trickle – Lords-of-Traffic was the first exchange to launch hover followed by Generalen, NewWay2Surf and Hover-Traffic, but since then the Walker script for hover has become available and the number of pre-existing exchanges making the change is increasing by the day. It is a niche market because it is an appeal to those who already have problems with their hands and fingers – and as such these exchanges are fulfilling the needs of members. What has to be kept in mind, though, is that many of these exchanges have the same members.

The success or failure of a traffic exchange is not predicated upon the size of the exchange. An exchange can have thousands of members on the books but if only a small percentage is surfing then that big exchange is really not all that successful after all. The success or failure of an exchange depends a lot upon the style of the administration of that exchange. If the admin does nothing about a particular problem – like the problem that I struck at Curios Cat, then inevitably the exchange will fail. On the other hand, a new exchange with a responsive admin, as well as lots of opportunity to earn credits will encourage the membership base to seek those new referrals. A large exchange can become saturated with members but the smaller exchanges have an unique opportunity to become attuned to the desires and needs of the membership base.

Within the last 24 hours I have discovered a whole range of the smaller Traffic Exchanges that have gone moved to embrace the hover technology. Most of these exchanges are based upon the Walker script with the exception of Billy Mac’s Lone Star Hits.

I will be writing in greater depth about this particular topic, and will outline the growing list of exchanges that are now offering their users the no click hover technology.

Despite the posturing and protests of the big boys in the traffic exchange industry, it seems that the hover technology is catching on fast, especially amongst the small exchange owners. Now I happen to think that this is a good thing, not a bad thing. There are many exchanges that are using the Walker script and it seems that hover technology is now being offered by Walker as a modification or upgrade.

For the first time yesterday I noticed that Buck King’s HitWars has been converted to the hover technology. Now I was a member of the exchange and was probably deleted because of inactivity. However, I joined again to take a look at what Buck was presenting. On the first day it was just the usual start button with the words, “hover your mouse here”, but today when I took a look, I noticed that Buck has a very nice new gunship helicopter icon in place. I must say that the new button looks great. I found to my delight that the exchange is very easy to surf as a result of this change. This is really helpful for my fingers.

Today, I discovered two more exchanges have converted to the hover technology. They are TipTopTraffic and Show’n'find owned and run by Thom Pearson. I have been surfing them for most of the day on and off. As a free member of Tip Top Traffic I see the coloured buttons, which is not unusual in the Walker script for free members. I find that it is very easy to hover over the correct button and it has been a real delight to surf the exchange today. At the other exchange I am a founder-pro member and there is just the one start button. It could not be easier to hover over the button.

There is one more exchange that is experimenting with the hover technology and it is one of my favourite exchanges. That exchange is GreyWolverine. I have been a member since the exchange began in November and I find that I get lots of sign up referrals through this particular exchange. I do hope that the Hubbards will go with the hover technology because I really enjoyed surfing 100 pages this morning.

The hover technology is the way of the future in traffic exchanges because it really takes off the pressure on the fingers from clicking the mouse when surfing. Anyone who has arthritic fingers or other hand, upper back and shoulder problems can appreciate the difference from using the hover or no-click technology. This is still manual surfing and the only difference is that you hover the mouse over the button rather than clicking.

There is evidence of resistance amongst some exchange owners. It is up to each owner whether or not he or she will embrace this particular technology. There will be surfers like myself who will continue to benefit as exchanges introduce the technology. If the big boys do not want to introduce it, and they do bellyache about the number of exchanges in existence, then they can be certain that members who are getting nothing from their exchanges (I get nothing from some of these particular exchanges) who will vote with their feet and they will find memberships being deleted in the future.  This new technology will help those small exchanges to thrive and grow.

From the start I want to say that I have a form of arthritis that affects my fingers. Sometimes using a mouse can cause a lot of problems for my hands. As a result I have fully embraced the idea of this hover technology. The technology itself is not new as some have claimed, rather it has been used in programs such as Object Dock and has been quite successful over a period of years. With object dock you can hover your mouse over an icon to start a new program.  Therefore when one new exchange owner gets her nose out of joint over not being the first to launch with this new technology for traffic exchanges it can be seen by a surfer such as myself as getting one’s nose out of joint. There is room for many more exchanges to provide the same option to the surfers, if it is wanted.

The first exchange that I used that incorporated the hover technology was NewWay2Surf. I was using it in the pre-launch stage. What did I think? Well at that early stage there were quite a few problems that needed to be fixed before launch. Also, it uses the rather old idea of having to determine which icon to hover over. I have used it on and off since the launch but have not surfed enough in that exchange to be able to give a complete write-up. In other words I am still rather cool about that particular exchange. This might change when I spend more time surfing there.

The first exchange that launched using the hover technology was Lords-Of-Traffic and I really do like this particular exchange. It is still growing and there is much of interest to make the exchange fun. The surf bar will be changing again in the near future, but at present it uses an arrow – hover over the arrow and away it goes onto the next page. There is a dynamic surf ratio, such that after surfing 100 pages the ratio starts to go up. This is a feature in a traffic exchange that I like. It is far better than an exchange that only offers “surf 30 pages and you go into a draw” because more often than not you can surf in such an exchange and never win that draw (that has been my experience to date with a particular exchange which makes me less than enthusiastic with regards to promotion). Lords-of-Traffic also has two letter hunt games. The new one has just started and the first to collect all of the letters is the winner of the extra credits. The helmet game is also new and will run over the period of a week. These games add incentive to surf the site.

Kenneth Krakstaad was the next to offer hover technology by converting Generalen to use that feature. He has the one button (a tank) and this is also very cool. Today we saw the launch of another Krakstaad exchange called Hover Traffic, and this has been launched in partnership with Alan Karltsen. It is very similar to the set up at Generalen. It also has a dynamic surf ratio and it is fast.

Now there are other TE owners who apparently have their noses out of joint or at least they are taking sides with Jennifer Herrald who is claiming to have invented hover technology. Whether she did or not does not matter at all to the users of these exchanges since there is room for all of them. Ultimately it is the users who will make the decision upon which exchange best suits their needs, and not the TE owners. Some owners have already declared “I would rather stay with clicking” and they can do that if that is what they want. However, a surfer with finger, neck and shoulder problems is less likely to continue to use their exchanges into the future.

I am not finished evaluating these exchanges. It would be unfair for me to come to any conclusions or to make any recommendations regarding which form of exchange is better. Users have their own sets of criteria with regard to what is and what is not a successful exchange. Not all of us can afford to upgrade in these exchanges and that means that the number of urls that we can advertise is limited. In some exchanges we can only advertise between 1-3 urls, whereas in others we can advertise between 5-20 urls at the free level. On top of that in some exchanges the surf ratio is in my opinion extremely poor, and when there is only a promise of a bonus reward for surfing so many pages, then you have to start thinking, why am I wasting my time here when I get so little in return? Eventually the users are going to leave these exchanges when they realize that they are getting very little for their surfing efforts. It is no use being snotty to the new kids on the block because in the end the users are going to have a good hard look at those exchanges and they will leave to seek other pastures.

What needs to be kept in mind as far as this issue is concerned is:

1. It is possible that the idea for using hover technology in traffic exchanges was developed independently; thus those who are committing the act of sour grapes do look rather foolish to the surfer.

2. If surfers want a way of relieving pain in their fingers because of excessive mouse clicking then they will seek that particular way.

3. Exchanges with 20 and 30 second timers are not going to keep surfers who do not want to see ads for beach bums or lawn chair millionaires. They will go elsewhere, seeking an exchange that has a timer that is set at a lower rate. If a surfer wants to read the ad then a 5 second timer will do the same job as a 30 second timer, the difference is how the surfer responds.

4. If the exchange provides nothing of interest then it will become and remain unpopular.

5. The TE needs to be newbie friendly and some exchanges are not all that friendly.

There is a strong whisper that a new traffic exchange using Hover technology is about to be launched. Watch this space for more details… Coming Soon

Hi all,

As some of you may know already.. Frank Shaffer owner of OneDollarTraffic.net lost his home to a house fire yesterday afternoon, and although he has not asked for any help.. it has been offered! And one way of helping him is by taking up a donation for him and his family!

Frank is a great guy and could use all the help and support that he can get right now.. so please have a heart and show Frank and his family there are people out there that care.. I believe this will help him to stay strong as he works to find a new place as he is literally homeless right now!

All I ask is you give a little something.. no matter how big or small.. anything is better than what he has right now.. which is nothing! So please try and find it in your heart and give to Frank and his family as he needs the help NOW more than ever!

Please visit the http://aahits.com home page News Section to Give Frank YOUR support!

Thank You ALL!
Jeremy Lemon

Gladiator Hits is a very new traffic exchange and already the member base is more than 2000. I joined the exchange as soon as it was launched, and alas, I ended up with ID666. Now a lot of people identify this number with Satan, but historically the person identified as 666 by the writer of the Book of Revelation is the Emperor Nero, who had the reputation of having “fiddled while Rome burned” and then he blamed the fire on the Christians and had them fed to the lions. The Christians were sometimes joined by the gladiators who had converted to Christianity (though not necessarily baptized with water) as they watched over the prisoners.

Since the exchange opened I have surfed a lot of pages and have been enjoying every minute of my surfing. I must admit to getting a bit of a giggle over the questions that are asked by “admin” because they really are a bit of a hoot in my opinion. As if gladiators are going to use flowers or such like as weapons. It really is just too funny for words.

The credits per page is not necessarily very high in my opinion – usually a surf ratio of 3:1 for free members – but Dan has increased the ratio from time to time, has a decent bonus credits every so many pages, and you can pick up serious credits with the bonus page (I got 100 bonus credits today from seeing the page) and by turning over the words: EnterTheColosseum, I get a bonus of 100 credits. All in all, there is plenty of opportunity to earn extra credits, and this is one reason for liking this particular exchange over and above Traffic Splash (I never seem to win anything at TrafficSplash).

Another reason to like Gladiator Hits is that at present new entrants will get a bonus of $2.50 in their accounts up until 2500 members is reached. I have a bonus in cash of $0.65. It is not a lot and I do like earning small cash bonuses.

If you are reading this, and not already a member of Gladiator hits, then why not check it out. You will be pleasantly surprised.

The first time I came across “hover technology” was an invite to test a new traffic exchange called Newway2surf. This is the new site for Jennifer Herrold and John Gaunzon. I have used the site and I must admit I do like this no click technology.

The next new kid on the block, and the first to do a public launch is Lords-Of-Traffic. This exchange is run by a Scandanavian by the name of Kjell. It is a good traffic exchange with plenty of bonus credits. This one requires hovering the mouse over the arrow and away it goes. It is fast and it is smooth. There is a competition of earning bonus points. I must admit that I need to be a little bit more proactive with my surfing on this exchange. One of the things I like about this exchange is that it is reasonably fast. This is one area where the older exchanges fail in my opinion.

Now the really new kid on the block, but it is an older exchange, is GeneralenTrafficEmpire the exchange owned by Kenneth Krakstaad. Kenneth has configured his oldest exchange so that it now runs hover technology. I have been using this exchange today, and all I can say is thank you Kenneth for this innovation.

As a surfer who has arthritis in the fingers I have to say that this hover technology is fantastic, because I do not have to click and can relax my fingers over the mouse. I use all three of these exchanges and I do hope that they will become more popular as surfers start to recognize the benefits of not having to click the mouse all of the time.