Surfing Around the Traffic Exchanges

I have been with Traffic Era since the beginning. I joined in January as a silver member and I have now moved along to be a club member. The up side of Traffic Era is that I have had some success in getting signups by surfing and advertising there. However, there is a down side to Traffic Era. It is the mix of egos that one gets through team surfing.

On the whole, a majority of the people that I have met through team surfing have been pleasant. However, there is a minority of people who are unpleasant types and can make the whole experience quite hellish. What is getting in the way at Traffic Era is the desire by some to be always at the top, whether that is in a team or within a team. This desire can actually drive other motivations which in the end causes a crisis within a team.

The problem with team surfing in a TE like Traffic Era is that people with different egos are being brought together. Some people like to dominate, whilst others just want to have fun. Some people seem to think that flirting is ok, whilst others believe that there should be boundaries, especially for those who are married. Some people have this idea that their team must always be at the top and they will do anything to keep it that way.

I will not dwell on the things that can and do go wrong within a team, but the truth is, they go wrong because of the way in which some people want to dominate others all of the time. It is just human nature. What is really wrong though, is when people strive to cut others from a team by using anything but fair means. Again, I will not dwell on the issues involved because some of the issues are yet to be resolved.

Now, there is another reason for not seeing Traffic Era in a more positive light. This is the fact that one cannot earn commissions from this TE. I have to wonder about the point of belonging when there is nothing to be gained for being a member. The timer is also a bit of a concern because sometimes the numbers are very hard to read.

There are positives for continuing to surf at Traffic Era but there are also quite a few negatives. The question then becomes do the positives actually outweigh the negatives that I have encountered over recent months? I am not sure that I have an answer to that question at the present time.

It seems that Tim Linden thinks that he is the security expert when it comes to Traffic Exchanges. He has recently written a post claiming that a halt page or a stop page is not going to stop the cheats.  His claim is that he checked with security industry experts but you gotta give Linden credit – he did not quote any sources.

Jon Olsen claims that if you announce to the world that you have cheat checks in place then the cheaters are going to have a try to beat the system. Well Jon, the good news happens to be that where they have tried to beat the system, they have been caught with their bot surfing and other methods of cheating.

It is not just about missing the bonus links or those silly questions that are asked in some exchanges, it is about stopping the bot surfers. Usually the cheats will choose the exchanges where they offer the most competitions. What that means is that a lot of members do stay away out of frustration with the cheaters. Yes, I have done the same thing, because if I see what looks like evidence of a cheater I will not surf that exchange until I know the person is gone.

Unfortunately some exchanges do not even show signs that they have cheat checks in place. In reality what this means for the surfer is that they have no guarantee that their sites are getting unique hits per day. It means that the credits are being wasted in that exchange. This is not good news for the average surfer, especially the free members.

So why is it that some traffic owners seem to have such a cavalier attitude towards this issue? Try and get them to talk about the issue and there is a wall of silence. Or when they do say something they show that they are in denial as far as cheaters being able to penetrate their exchanges. Why would they be in denial? Because it is all about traffic and making their numbers look good in order to encourage new members to believe that their sites will be seen by thousands of members every day.

Now I am not wanting to have a go at any particular exchange on this issue, especially since I have my own opinions on the matter. However, from the point of view of a surfer who does not have the income to be able to afford to upgrade in the exchanges that charge high monthly fees, I want to know that I am getting some results from my surfing. The truth is that if I surf 100 sites in an exchange that offers a 3:1 ratio then I only get 30 credits per 90 sites which is just not enough per day to get in decent advertising. I get a better result in a 2:1 exchange, than I do in the other kind of exchange. What is really disappointing is that these same exchanges tend to be rather stingy with bonus credits.

So, when an exchange offers some form of cheat check this means that the surfer can be reassured that something is being done to make sure that the exchange is one that is effective when it comes to advertising results. I do know that I have good results out of small exchanges, and also from the Logiscape exchanges but not so good out of some of the so called top exchanges. Others will say that they have had a different experience with those same exchanges and that they get good results out of the one exchange that is considered to be at the top. In other words it really depends upon what we are trying to advertise when it comes to getting results. However, when it comes to cheaters, the bot surfing will not bring results even if one is getting a better rank as a result of the number of views per day. If there are bot surfers in an exchange then you have to work really hard to make up the credits.

It is up to the traffic exchange industry to get their act together and to tackle the subject at a more serious level. The traffic exchange owners should be doing more to reassure their members that cheaters are being caught and that they are being suspended from the exchange. If they continue to do nothing then the membership will gradually bleed until the exchange is choked to death through lack of surfing. The exchanges that have halt pages or stop pages are at least attempting tackle the problem, and even if the cheats make the attempt they might think that they will not get caught, but in the end they do get caught.

Why then is it necessary to hide the fact that there has been an attempt to cheat the exchange? Perhaps it really is all about traffic statistics.

There are many new traffic exchanges being launched at the present time but not all are equal when it comes to quality and smooth surfing, or at least offer something that is sufficiently different to make the exchange stand out – and this includes exchanges such as BootScootinTraffic which is an imitation of Gladiator hits.

However, there is one new exchanged, just launched last week and already it has close to 500 members. This exchange is Bella’sClickShack. So what makes Bella’s ClickShack different from these other exchanges? Well first of all it has very smooth surfing in a very relaxed atmosphere. It also offers a chat module that is custom- built, not like the shout box that is found at so many other exchanges, and it has a dynamic surf ratio. However, what is really interesting and amusing is Bella’s smack page. What is that, you might ask? Sorry you have to join to find out.

Bella’s ClickShack also offers members the opportunity to earn commission on the purchases of one’s downline, with an opportunity to earn up to 50% commission for those purchases.

If you are bored to tears with what some exchanges are offering then here is the chance to experience a Traffic Exchange with a difference. Come and cruise with me and join Bella at the Cabana as you surf and relax.

This post is not aimed at any other exchange except Tim Linden’s StartXchange. I am writing this because I have found that since this supersurf began the members of StartXchange who are not participants are getting a raw deal.

The first thing that I noticed is that the surf bonus has been drastically reduced. I can surf over 100 pages in a day and find that the next day I am getting a measly 3% bonus. Prior to supersurf I was getting a bonus of something like 23% through to about 44% whilst surfing, but it seems not any more. I presume that Tim Linden is reserving the bonus for those who are participating in this new idea.

I am a free member of this exchange and there is no way that I will upgrade my membership, especially when members are not really get the best possible deal from the exchange. This also means that claiming a prize that is a 5% coupon or any other percent for that matter is just a real waste. It amounts to no prize at all for a free member who has surfed the 100 pages.

Now that I have dealt with the StartXchange issue, I will deal with the rest of the exchanges involved in this scheme. I belong to one other of the exchanges – Dragon Surf. I have no intention of ever belonging to at least one other exchange that is included in the 5 exchanges, and the promise of extra credits for surfing does not cut it with me since I will not join Advertising Know How, and I am unlikely to rejoin either IloveHits or TrafficSplash.

For a long time I have not been in favour of these contests that involve multiple exchanges. A part of that reason has always been due to the fact that I live on the other side of the world and there are time zone differences to consider. I can never get it right as far as the two halves of the day is concerned. It is all just too much to take seriously. Yes, I do know some of the competition winners, but looking at those lists, there were some who took out multiple prizes so what is the point of spending the time surfing to be involved when the same people will be the winners. Personally, I just cannot be bothered with that form of competition because it really is a waste of my time. The same goes for this supersurf. I am not joining in when it really is a waste of my time. I get better results from other exchanges anyway.