Surfing Around the Traffic Exchanges

Do you like drag racing? Making surfing more interesting

Maggie — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:50:11 +0000

Performance Traffic is owned by my friend Kevin Millhouse. The exchange is based upon the ljs script, and it has been programmed to introduce Kevin’s rather unique ideas. One of those ideas is his surf bar where he has a drag race. The bar is set up so that you, the surfer, races the PT car. If you have the slow car you will not win http:-). However, there are plenty of chances to win which is great and you do win more than splash points. The exchange is for hover surfing. During December Kevin used several icons and now it is back to his little man, but that is ok. Expect the timer to be reasonably fast too – personally I think that a 10 second timer is adequate and if you want to read what is on the site you will anyway, regardless of the timer.

I think that there is a lot of growth potential for the new breed of owners who are making their exchanges more interesting. Congratulations to Kevin for being one of those owners who are trying to make our surfing experience something special.

Traffic Exchange vs Blog Exchange

Maggie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:56:06 +0000

As a blogger I understand the need to have my writing seen by a large audience. Finding a readership is important because it helps to get a ranking in the search engines. The question for a newbie though, is what is better – a blog exchange like Blog Explosion or a Traffic Exchange such as Lords -of-Traffic or Traffic Era?

For a blogger the blog exchange is probably best. People who surf traffic exchanges are usually not interested in reading blogs. As a newbie one needs to deal with a whole new language when surfing traffic exchanges – for example splash pages, banners etc. Bloggers do not normally have their own banners and so the whole thing can be quite confusing.

The two exchanges I have mentioned here offer a blog for use. The Traffic Era blog is not something that can be easily circulated. It is part of the member’s profile and it is lacking a lot of features that could make it a useful tool or resource. On the other hand the blog at Lords-of-Traffic, which has only been introduced recently, has many more features. The blog resource is only available to the upgraded member, so if a person wants to use the blog resource then he or she needs to be upgraded.

In the world of Traffic Exchanges a blog can be useful as a marketing resource but there are some limitations with most blog providers. The biggest limitation on bloggers has been Ad Sense and their rules which make it hard to circulate blogs from Blogger and yes even from WordPress. The obvious answer to the problem is to simply not allow Ad Sense on the blog. In that way one can circulate the blog at any exchange without breaching the TOS of either Blogger, Word Press or Ad Sense. Personally, I cannot understand why Ad Sense was cracking up over 10 cents in earnings which I never received.

So if you have an internet marketing business the best place to advertise in a Traffic Exchange, if you blog for personal reasons then the best place is a blog exchange such as Blog Explosion. If you want to read blogs then join Blog Explosion, not a Traffic Exchange.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Traffic Exchanges and spam email

Maggie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:30:15 +0000

The subject of too much mail coming from traffic exchanges is one that is quite controversial. When can such mail be called spam if a person has signed up to a site that has in its terms and conditions that being a member of the site means accepting that mail? You cannot really say that it is spam because you have agreed to receive the mail.

There are sites such as the safelists where you deliberately sign up and agree to receive mail from other members. Likewise this is not spam in the sense that there has been agreement to receive the mail. If people want to receive it, and they use the system, then that is fine. However, it is not a system that I like all that much. I prefer sticking with the Traffic Exchanges for the majority of my promotions.

However, there is such a thing as spam in this situation. I have personally seen where a few members of these lists use more than one user name – one of them uses at least 5 other names – to get around limitations upon sending out mail to members. Now this is the situation that I do in fact call spam. The fact is that I do not want the mail from that particular member because she is promoting the kind of things that I think are scams and would never join in the first place. Her promotions and her spamming are really very annoying.

To get around this problem I find that the easiest way is to block and delete immediately her mails. I am using Windows Live as my email client. I download my mail from the gmail site because it is easier to read than when it is online. I use the junk mail feature for this mail, and when I find these people have tried to circumvent the allowance for sending mails to members, I just add the new name to rules. Voila, no more mails from that person because it goes straight to the trash.

Anyone who does not want mail from a traffic exchange, especially the newsletters, then that person should make use of the option to delete the account for that particular exchange. There is no point in complaining about the mail because the TOS of most exchanges do include an agreement to accept this mail.

What’s New?

Maggie — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:01:39 +0000

Two of my friends and ex-team mates have done a double launch for their new traffic exchanges. Judy Dodd has launched Raven Surf and Kevin Millhouse has launched Performance Traffic. Both are sure to be very good admins and I am certain that they will strive to do their best for their new members.

What can you expect from these exchanges? Both exchanges offer hover surfing. If you like hover surfing then these are a welcome addition to the growing list of exchanges that offer the same convenience. The icons for Performance Traffic have been varied and intersting and have a Christmas theme. Raven surf has a more conventional surf bar, with multiple icons.

So, if you like trying out the new exchanges place these two on your list. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

Another new exchange that is worth a mention is Volcano Hits. This exchange is themed around volcanoes. I find that surfing there is quite fast and there is a good admin as well. It is a manual click exchange and will be more to the taste of surfers who prefer clicking over hover surfing. Watch out for the bonus prize pages because there is an opportunity to win small amounts of cash as you surf.

Traffic Era – the new age in surfing? A review

Maggie — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:26:52 +0000

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.

Is it all about Traffic – another look at cheat checks

Maggie — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:45:25 +0000

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.

Announcing the launch of Bella’s ClickShack

Maggie — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:15:54 +0000

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.

Why the supersurf is not a good idea – more on StartXchange

Maggie — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:49:00 +0000

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.

A Review of StartXChange – Newbie friendly? No

Maggie — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:33:05 +0000

I have been a member of StartXchange since about February this year. This is the exchange that has been touted as a good one for beginners, but I am not convinced that such hype is accurate. From the beginning I never really understood the system. There is a team surf of sorts but there is no real involvement or interaction with members of the team. Personally, I was happy to be kicked off the first team. I was not surfing because I did not understand how it all worked.

Quite frankly, I do not like the StartXChange surfbar, and that includes the new and improved surfbar that has been introduced. I find it distracting to have so much information in the surfbar. I simply do not get the levels and I do not understand the system of points or why the points appear to disappear causing one to fall in levels. This is working as a disincentive to surf, not an incentive at all. I must admit that I am getting extremely cheesed off over the manner in which points are given. At the same time I dislike the icons because they tend to be mesmerizing and thus it becomes a little bit harder to distinguish the shapes at times. The shapes look extremely scratchy and patchy in my opinion.

Then there is the issue of the awarding of points, especially the points given for advertising in other exchanges. Now on many occasions I have received the full points that can be awarded but recently that dipped down to being awarded 14 points on one day and then on other days I have received 58 pts and lower. I am so disgusted over this that I am no longer even checking to see how much was awarded – I just cannot be bothered. I know that it is low because I see my position sinking and sinking. Then there is the bonus, and today I have the underwhelming bonus of a whole 1% – great going Tim, this really gets surfers very enthused about wanting to surf the exchange – Not.

Now I realize that no one would want to cheat with StartXChange because there is no real reason to even want to have a go with cheating. From what I have seen there are no real cheat checks in place. There is a bonus given when one reaches 100 pages, and I have missed clicking the link several times, usually because of lack of concentration upon working my way to the 100 pages. However, there is never any warning about missing the link, there are no cheat check pages in place, and I see no real evidence that anything is being done to prevent cheating.

In recent months, after joining a team with people I know, due to Traffic Era, I have been surfing more often. However, I am finding that I am less and less enthused again, especially when I see myself sliding backwards because of the manner in which the points have been awarded in the first place. Granted, there have been days where I have done little in the way of surfing, but hey I do have a life outside of the computer.

As a newbie I could not comprehend what was required. Trying to reach level 1 is daunting. In the end I worked out how to set my sights a lot lower so that I had some sense of achievement after surfing for one day. As a newbie I found the information of how many sites to go etc confusing and the way in which the information sits side by side means that I can get easily confused in how I am receiving that information – hence a greater propensity to make mistakes and fail to click the prize page link.

To me this is not a very friendly exchange for a newbie. I have been a member of exchanges that have been far better and that includes Traffic Era. Personally, I find StartXChange to be a very disappointing experience.

Traffic Exchanges and cheats

Maggie — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:52:31 +0000

Whenever a traffic exchange has a contest and there is a monetary prize there will inevitably be cheats waiting to cash in and claim the main prize. I do not think that there is one exchange that is totally immune to cheating whilst surfing. A smart programmer can create a surf bot for any exchange if he or she wants to win the competition.

As a surfer, I have competed in surfing competitions and I have won some of the competitions, fair and square. On at least one occasion I just had to surf and surf to beat the competition, I would come on and the other person would be ahead, so I would do as many pages as possible to get and stay ahead of that person. This is the fair way of competing in a surf competition. However, some people are not content and they try to create bots so that they will end up as the surfing competition winner. In a lot of cases they do not claim their prize – and by not claiming the prize these cheats have spoiled the competition for everyone else.

However, this is the beginning of the story and not the end of the story and yes I do have quite a few opinions on the matter. Surfing cheats use up the credits of other surfers, and this is not fair to these other surfers. It is possible for a surfer to protect him or herself in an exchange where one can change the number of times that a url is seen each day. I use this form of protection in the exchanges where it is offered. However, if I have no control over the situation then my credits are used up as fast as I can earn them. I do not want to waste my hard earned credits on surfing cheats.

From the other side of the coin, there is the measures that should be taken by traffic exchange owners to catch the cheats. Having to click on multi icons such as in StartXchange is not a good enough protection. I doubt that one can even call that particular surf bar a reliable measure for cheat protection. Some have expressed concern about using the hover technology claiming that it is open to the cheating, especially where there is a single button, but again this is not necessarily true. It all depends upon the other cheat check measure that have been put in place.

A good example of an exchange that has cheat checks in place is Lords-of-Traffic. This exchange has been criticized by at least one other exchange owner because it uses both hover technology and a single button. What the critics fail to see is that there are plenty of other checks in place and the cheats are caught. For example, if a surfer has found more helmets than pages surfed, then that person is a cheat. What the person has tried is to constantly refresh the page. He or she is caught out by the other members of the exchange when the helmet count for the weekly helmet competition is way too high. Other examples are the links for bonus credits as well as text and banner impressions, plus the Halt Page. I am not the only surfer who can miss these links – it can happen at least once. All it takes is for the surfer to be tired and mistakes will happen. However, if the surfer has never clicked on the links then it is more than likely that he or she is using a bot. A daily log is being kept and checked by the exchange administration. Those who constantly fail to click on the links will end up being suspended.

The purpose of writing this is to encourage both surfers and exchange owners to have their say about this very important issue of cheating. Therefore I want to encourage a discussion of this very important subject so that both the surfers and the exchange owners can come up with a best practice to try and stop the cheats.