Would it be possible to make MeFi traffic stats public?

January 8, 2007 4:56 AM

Would MetaFilter consider sharing detailed Public Traffic Stats?

This appears to be the strong trend among the top Technoratti Blogs - and SEO blogs.

http://seoptimization.blog.com/1221628/

It would be fascinating to view and discusse where new users are coming from.
What post attract search engine traffic & keywords
What geo-locations are sending viewers during a given time

In previous years there were very general stats showing growth - But something more intriguing could be considered
posted by Bodyguard to Feature Requests at 4:56 AM (37 comments total)

Let me set my pitchfork aside for just a moment to remark that this post and your very first post on the blue are making me wonder about your reasons for being interested in this information.
posted by briank at 5:13 AM on January 8, 2007

If SEO blogs do it, it must be a good idea!
posted by Plutor at 5:21 AM on January 8, 2007

As I said the other day, I don't maintain log files anymore and just use google analytics, which doesn't have any public options.

Also, I consider the SEO industry to be akin to spam, so please, tread lightly around here with SEO junk. I have a low tolerance for it.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:59 AM on January 8, 2007

It would be fascinating to view and discusse where new users are coming from.
What post attract search engine traffic & keywords
What geo-locations are sending viewers during a given time

And while this may or may not be fascinating to Webmasters, it doesn't sound to me to be 'the best of the web'. Surely there are plenty of technical sites where this kind of discussion goes on?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:11 AM on January 8, 2007

I have often said that we just don't get enough mesothelioma posts around here.
posted by dhartung at 6:52 AM on January 8, 2007

It will be fascinating to view and discuss the progress of this thread, at least.
posted by cortex at 7:11 AM on January 8, 2007

Hey Bodyguard, I think I might be your long lost pal.
posted by Kwine at 7:12 AM on January 8, 2007 [2 favorites]

Like to work from home? CALL NOW to find out how you can supplement your income by $200-$3,000/month!
posted by yeti at 7:14 AM on January 8, 2007

If all the top Technoratti [sic] blogs jumped off a cliff, would MetaFilter do it too?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:23 AM on January 8, 2007

I when I read the question I thought the OP's name was bugbread. Far from undermining my respect for bugbread I began doubting my own sanity. Having had my sanity confirmed by pysch I rechecked the thread with my glasses on, and realised the OP was Bodyguard. Coincidence? Perhaps, if it helps you sleep at night...
posted by econous at 7:24 AM on January 8, 2007

Once again I've failed to be the open and loving person that I would so like to be, because my reactions to this post, its tone, and the poster's user number, are cynicism and suspicion.

Thanks for that.
posted by OmieWise at 7:25 AM on January 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the kind offer, Bodyguard, but I don't need any C1@L1S or V|/\GR@, and my boobs don't need any embiggening. Perhaps you could consider trying to pedal your spam somewhere else? Maybe somewhere very, very far from here?
posted by majick at 7:27 AM on January 8, 2007

But something more intriguing could be considered

That's poetry, that is.
posted by chrismear at 7:28 AM on January 8, 2007

I curious if anyone's VISA number differs from mine by only one digit. You go first.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:59 AM on January 8, 2007

I had to google 'SEO'. Now I don't even want to discusse it.
posted by trip and a half at 8:07 AM on January 8, 2007

I had to google 'SEO'.

You notice how well-ranked the results were, though? Eh? Eh?

True weird story. Last week I got a non-recorded SEO spam phonecall from some douche claiming to have that my site, "uh, meh, uh, ficomp dot com" had "errors" that were preventing it from reaching "optimal search results", which was effecting the "profitability" of the site. Dude rambled on poorly for about 45 seconds before leaving his number, which was a long-distance call.
posted by cortex at 8:16 AM on January 8, 2007

quantcast
posted by Dave Faris at 8:27 AM on January 8, 2007

I got a non-recorded SEO spam phonecall from some douche claiming to have that my site, "uh, meh, uh, ficomp dot com" had "errors" that were preventing it from reaching "optimal search results", which was effecting the "profitability" of the site

For bonus points you can discover the current litigation that his employer is under by reading the first Google result for their company name. Optimization, indeed.

Why do his posts still stand? Does this not have enough shades of PreacherTom? This bomb should be enough of an indication of the perspective this individual has about this community and what information he deems valuable and worth communicating...
posted by prostyle at 8:30 AM on January 8, 2007

Why do his posts still stand?

Because we're not a thought crime community. Everyone is keeping an eye on him, we can wait. Unless there is something I am missing?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:59 AM on January 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Dammit. I thought this was the thought crime community.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:17 AM on January 8, 2007

Anyone know where I can go to join a community of thought crimes?
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:18 AM on January 8, 2007

4chan?
posted by cortex at 9:27 AM on January 8, 2007

NO U
posted by Rhomboid at 9:40 AM on January 8, 2007

NO U REVERSAL.
Honestly, SEOs. heh.
posted by boo_radley at 9:58 AM on January 8, 2007

A/S/L/SSN?
posted by Kwine at 10:02 AM on January 8, 2007

whatever happened to preachertom (besides being banned)?
posted by localhuman at 10:15 AM on January 8, 2007

Nothing, as far as I can tell. I know Nick Denton (gawker founder) was hounding Business Week, trying to get them to fess up over it, but they stonewalled him.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:34 AM on January 8, 2007

MetaFilter: We're not a thought crime community.
posted by Mister_A at 12:57 PM on January 8, 2007

No, we're a thought-crime filter community.
posted by klangklangston at 1:21 PM on January 8, 2007

You know those scrawny barbarians at the gate?

Well, it looks like they're becoming a well armed and trained militia of mercenaries. Zombie, mercenaries, sure, but there seems to be quite a lot of them.

Please bring me my armored battletrunks and my thermal lance. It's BBQ time.

Oh, hey? Play that Ride of the Valkyrie remix, the one that the Advent did? I love how it freaks 'em out and makes their eyes bug out when I come flying over the walls for a little healthy, herd-thinning smash'em up. Thanks.

*slings his goggles down, laces up his huge boots, fits his gloves a little more snugly, grabs his white-hot glowing thermal lance and leaps over the wall to stomp some more spam*
posted by loquacious at 1:38 PM on January 8, 2007

Know what I find really funny? That Metafilter has been operating steadily with high traffic and a high volume of linkages for something over a half dozen years. That means it's already got all the Google mojo it can possibly accrue on whatever keywords are relevant to the site.

SEOing this site is the most pointless thing Matt could do, and tempt a Google Death Penalty in the process.
posted by ardgedee at 1:53 PM on January 8, 2007

I am going to gnaw the meat off your face.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:22 PM on January 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

...you know, metaphorically speaking.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:23 PM on January 8, 2007

SEO companies are the white underbelly of the internet.
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:11 PM on January 8, 2007

Where does that "soft white underbelly" thing come from, anyway?
posted by chrismear at 2:29 AM on January 9, 2007

Fish. Pants fish.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:45 AM on January 9, 2007

Where does that "soft white underbelly" thing come from, anyway?

According to sites about Blue Oyser Cult (which started out under that name), it's a phrase from a Winston Churchil speech, describing Italy in relation to Nazi Europe. I can't find the text of the speech, though, or any other info about it.
posted by longtime_lurker at 6:07 AM on January 9, 2007