Rushing for BlogRush?

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief September 19, 2007 · 2 min read

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I’ve been reading a lot about this BlogRush traffic exchange program in the past couple of days from almost all big blogging sites around. However, every time I hear about some structured traffic exchange program, I shy away from such campaigns due to several reasons. Let me share why I think BlogRush isn’t something to really rush about.

We’ve seen variations of this before — BlogExplosion, BlogMad, etc. Were they successful? If they were, why start with another one?
Traffic exchange is all that — exchange of traffic. If you don’t have any, you can’t trade ’em. And obviously, those with little to nil traffic will be the ones who’ll be most interested/excited in getting traffic. It means, it will be hard to get traffic from this program if you don’t have traffic to put in it as well.
If you’re running Google AdSense, you could also be violating the TOS. Read this previous entry I wrote about it.
Unequal widget positioning could pose a problem. Since you’re paying traffic for traffic, anyone can just put that widget way down the page, get the needed impressions but with very thin CTR. Darren Rowse got 35 clicks from 70,000 impressions. I don’t think a 0.05 CTR is worth the real estate you’re allocating for that widget.

Still, if you think you have some blog space to spare and a 0.05% CTR (that’s 1 click for every 2,000 impressions spent) is worth it, try them. It doesn’t hurt to get a few targeted visitors once in a while.

My suggestion to BlogRush is to switch from trading traffic to trading unique clicks. That way, bloggers will have more incentive of putting that widget way up above the fold to get more exposure and CTRs. Just make sure to filter duplicate clicker IPs to a minimum.

Why does the author think BlogRush isn't worth rushing into?

The author believes traffic exchange programs like BlogRush mainly benefit those with existing traffic, and users with little traffic struggle to gain visitors.

What is a potential issue with using BlogRush alongside Google AdSense?

Running BlogRush with Google AdSense could violate AdSense's Terms of Service.

What click-through rate did Darren Rowse achieve with BlogRush?

Darren Rowse got 35 clicks from 70,000 impressions, a 0.05% CTR.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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24 Comments

McBilly · 19 years ago

Thanks for giving me the heads up on the Google TOS. I removed the blogrush plugin just to be sure.

itot54joni · 19 years ago

Do what you think is good for you.M nt on d earning side bt to recognze my blog by other blogerz through my feeds.Anyway,blogging is all about sharing.Nevr thought of earning m0ney at all.

Blogrush Flavors : New Colors! · 19 years ago

I changed my mind.

BlogRush really works for me. I just have my site running 3 days ago and I’m now having 1000 hits on my stats.I’m not sure sure if its pretty low for starters. About 60% is coming from the blogrush widget. And Dont have any idea why I have link-in coming from technorati.

It works for me! I’m no professional blogger with 3 day old blog.Here’s more info about the widget. My referral network on blogrush is adding every 4 hours.

I suggest you look around. you have nothing to lose. http://www.blogrash.com/blogrush-widget/

noypi din

Manuel Viloria · 19 years ago

I’ve opted into mailing lists of John Reese in the past. I’ve also opted out easily, with just a couple of clicks. That’s why I’m not worried about the BR mailing list.

While ignoring the effects of signups and referrals, it looks like visits to my site will grow by 75% over the next 12 months, based on a tiny 0.16% clickthrough rate via BlogRush.

For those trying Ken Evoy’s CTPM model (Content – Traffic – Presell – Monetize), you might consider testing BlogRush. Notice that traffic comes ahead of monetization.

If it BlogRush doesn’t work for you, then remove the widget and opt-out of the mailing list.

Dave Starr — ROI Guy · 19 years ago

Good summation. Also insightful questions from Mar. It amazes me how many of these “butt ugly” widgets I see now, taking up tons of real estate on blog, simple providing another vehicle for John Chow to blog about his traffic count. The scheme is flawed because:
There is no opportunity to make the widget “fit” your site
The heavily trafficked sites get much more traffic value per click than the lightly trafficked blogs
There is no actual benefit … if you take up the equivalent space with an ad, you might get some revenue .. with the BR widget you just give up,
And the last point which I havene’t seen mentioned often … did anyone ever consider that, like AGLOCO, this is just a huge MLM email opt-in collection scheme? How many millions of email addresses is BR collecting for future “sales mails”? And you can’t call them spam, because the users of BR signed in and gave permission… Ill-advised, in my view.

JC John SESE Cuneta · 19 years ago

wee, just the confirmation I needed for my suspicions.. was really hoping you’ll blog about it ;) to shorten my time of studying it… it looks like an MLM to me, and it doesn’t seem to work as advertised. But I’ll leave it for a few more days and see how well this one is..

But in the long-run, it is not worth it, especially if you watched the video first, you will really have more doubts about it.

mar · 19 years ago

One quick question. Doesnt’Blogrush violates google TOS? Or wouldn’t you be loosing credibility with spammy links? Traffic exchange?

jhay · 19 years ago

Thanks for making this all clear master Abe ;)

nel animo · 19 years ago

Thnx sa tip. I already removed it from my blog. Check this link http://www.michaelmartine.com/2007/09/17/blogrush-does-not-violate-adsense-tos/

For me its better to play safe. :)

Manuel Viloria · 19 years ago

How about using it on non-Adsense sites? You can also use BlogRush not to get clickthrough traffic, but as a stepping stone for future traffic. :-)

(Try not to think of traffic trades. Instead, think of the other bloggers you’ll get to meet. That’s the secret.)

sylv3rblade · 19 years ago

Because it relies on page impressions, it’s quite easy to cheat the system to increase your credits. I took it down from my main site awhile ago after reading Problogger’s post on it.

Jaypee · 19 years ago

I’ve recently joined BlogRush to try it out for a few days. But after reading this post and the Marketing Pilgrim’s post regarding this issue, I’m convinced that it’s not worth it and not worth risking violating Adsense’ TOS. :)