That’s a good improvisation . You could include some sort of a timer – say a 10second wait time, before the drop is counted.

I have nothing against with all the good plan for more improvement

As a user of the FireFox Toolbar, I usually open ten blogs at a time based on those I have marked as my favorites. However, I would say on a given day, < 20% of the blogs have a new post. Naturally, the bounce rates for those blogs that have not have a new post will be higher. This is something to take into consideration when designing the algorithm.

Seriously, can you tell me you can drop and read and leave a comment on all 300 blogs that you visit each and everyday. If you can do that, then wow, you must be the coolest person ever, plus you must not have a life.

I drop and run not to gain credits but because I have a limited time, and I only drop on those who have dropped on me as well. I drop and run not for the credits but because most of the time, that is the only thing my internet connection can handle. I drop and run not to gain credits but because sometimes I have nothing to say or comment about the post, but would want to let the site know that I visited, that I was there, visiting.

I feel that this is unfair for people like me who aren’t even in it for the cash out program.

When i joined I thought that EntreCard was fun, with all these new rules, it’s beginning to feel like a chore.

Oh dear. I can see the complaints and fuss coming from here if you do this.

How about you get the basic system sorted out and working in a stable fashion before trying to make all sorts of fancy, and frankly dubious-need, additions?

Please… prioritize!

am back for an addition– I disclose that is my personal thought with regards to this matter. I hope you understand me. thank you!

Isn’t this just a design to keep EC credits in control vs keeping the bounce rate in control?

Whatever system you put in place, please ensure it doesn’t encourage the leaving of spam comments. I’d rather have a high bounce rate that spam comments.

Not happy. I do not have time to interact with all the blogs that I enjoy reading. And I don’t want spam comments either. While I could understand a set time for visiting a blog and earning credit, a required “interaction” is something I am against.

I’m not too happy with this. I have to agree with what John above said. I don’t want people leaving spam or silly comments just to be counted. And it would be ridiculous to ‘force’ me to leave comments on blogs just so that my drop would be counted.

I visit all sort of new blogs that drop on me and some of them hardly interest me at all to bother leaving a comment so why ‘force’ me to leave a comment just so I can ‘earn’ that credit?

If this gets implemented, I’d wager my last dollar that a lot of people would rather leave the system and I would follow suit. I believe we all have the freedom to choose where we want to drop and if we do want to interact with that blog.

Like John said, I’d rather have a high bounce rate than spam comments! My two cents worth.

I prefer that somebody should bounce rather than leave a stupid comment or just as mindlessly click on more links.

On the other hand, if somebody will use the visit to leave a comment that’s meaningful, subscribe, join my Google Friend Connect, bookmark me on a social bookmarking site, or link back to me, that’s engagement.

This “secret” algorithm is not going to work. Because hears what its going to be…

EC click next occurs in > 20 [or insert time here] seconds
Drop n’ Running… credit is not rewarded

EC click next occurs in < 20 [or insert time here] seconds
Not Drop n’ Running… credit is rewarded

[sarcasm] It was very hard to figure out that algorithm. [/sarcasm]
EC is not going to be able to tell if you made a comment so this is probably the formula they will use. But how many people have honestly just visited some sites for credits, I do not always read sites (I do for most) but some I do just for the credits. We have all done it, and we all will. Its the circle of Entrecard.

I think it is for the best and in my opinion people should rated on karma.
And points are given on comments and bloggers will rate those comments so that there is less of spamming.

Well, while this is a good idea in theory, I think all will feel penalized. There is absolutely no way to possibly interact with every single blog I drop on. I do tend to drop 250-300 cards per day, but, I do that over the course of several hours. If there is a post I find interesting I read it, which is the case on almost ever blog I visit unless there is no new post. Of those, I probably only leave 10-20 comments per day. I leave a comment only if I feel I have something valid or worthwhile to say. Does that make me a drop and run EC dropper, I certainly don’t feel like one.
I do hope this is well though out before it is implemented.

Seems very odd to me.

If, as this blog post states, “The point of participating in Entrecard is to find new blogs you enjoy, and to interact with each other.” then
why are there paid ads running in the system or even the monetizing of Entrecard with the implementation of the offer-incentive Gambit system?

I think that this is only the point of this latest ‘ill-thought-out’ scheme or rather, an attempt at its’ justification.

All the comments above this one have certainly been well-expressed with the general opinion and potential pitfalls in proceeding with this idea, so I will not bother to repeat these in this post.

My only comment is to suggest you first stabilize and refine the current system and work on today’s issues instead of addressing new functionality of less importance.

Sometimes stability is a good thing!

A “proprietary algorithm” with not so well defined (for obvious good reasons) trigger points might be putting too many kinks in the plumbing. Too many bends, easier to clog the pipes.

Certainly willing to give the new system, which I would imagine is coming, whether anyone likes it or not, a fair shake and see how things go. Personally, I prefer to actually be actively writing on my blog, or visiting my favorites and keeping up with them than “dropping”.

The only reason dropping becomes rewarding is when you do discover some new blog that appeals to you and you decide to stick with. There are blogs that deserve to be seen that may be missed through less active dropping.

I do use, sorry EC, another site similar in scope, and it’s 30 second timer before moving on to another site is “painful” at times. It feels as if we could conquer half the planet in that thirty seconds, and so, I spend more time at EC than there. This algorithm may effect me in the same way, but, I’m willing to give it a try.

the main thing that I am concerned about is that the sites that I visit and drop on do not do posting on a daily basis.So my question is are we to be penitalized for visiting out favorites to drpo on and have to say for what ever set time that you will come up with just to read the same one stuff???If so that is being a little dictitoral to me.

Well, I tried leaving a comment that simply said ‘Nice Post!’ as a snarky comment about the idea, but it looks like it blocked it. (Maybe that tells us a little bit about the algorithm).

I’m not sure if this is the dumbest idea yet, but it ranks up there for a bunch of reasons.

People have noted it will generate meaningless interactions. I don’t want lots of ‘nice post’ comments.

It will also generate other issues. For example, it would seem that this scheme would further decrease the probability of a visitor clicking on an EntreCard ad. Each change seems to drive down the value of EntreCard ads and make them less likely to get clicked on.

Finally, it is solving a non-problem. While bounce rates are problems for online stores, a good blog should have a high bounce rate for regular readers. My regular readers should be able to come to my blog and read what I have to say without clicking on anything additional. On top of that, I don’t want a comment from each of the 300 visitors I get each day from EntreCard. I trust my readers enough to let them decide if they have something valuable to add to the discussion.

It already takes me forever to drop – I drop between 300 and 600 a day depending on how fast EC is that day – How fast my connection is that day – How many new posts are out there – I stop and comment on the sites that I’m interested in. I don’t usually interact any more than that. A lot of people have the same advertisements through CMF and adjitize. I’m already following most people on twitter. I’ve already subscribed to most blogs and the only way I stop at a blog for any length of time is if it has a post I’m interested in and I have something to say about it. I sure am not going to search through 1000 blogs to find 300 that I can comment on and I’m not going to leave stupid comments just for the heck of staying on a blog for a certain amount of time. If I go to a blog it’s up to them to make me want to stay – I shouldn’t HAVE to stay in order to get a credit. This is going to make EC just like a traffic exchange which kind of sucks. I guess this will have to be another wait and see. I hope it goes well – I don’t think EC needs another huge exit – it seemed like it was just getting stabilized again.

This is really a good news. I,myself slow down a bit in dropping because of my blogs bounce rate.I know I have plenty of visitors bec of Ec but i realized they are doing my blog more harm than good bec of drop & run.with the new algo,it will help the bloggers to lower our bounce rate as well while visiting others.

EC’s bounce rate isn’t entirely the fault of the “drop and run” crowd and you know that, Graham.

No one should be forced to leave a comment on a blog post they have no interest in reading.

If the title doesn’t grab my attention, I don’t read the post and I don’t comment. But I do show those who drop cards on me love by visiting ON A DAILY BASIS and dropping. I don’t expect everyone in here to be interested in what I blog about, but I swear to god I’m reading some of these EC’rs whining and moaning about how they don’t write posts just for themselves, implying that we should all be leaving comments on posts about how frickin good that banana split they had that day was. In fact, I visited one of my droppers today who was whining about no one commenting. I know for a fact this EC’r doesn’t practice what he/she preaches, because they drop on my blog regularly and have never left a comment. But do you see me publicly whining about that? Nope.

So I know for a fact this isn’t just about the bounce rate. This is about a bunch of crybabies not only whining to you, Graham, but publicly whining about how no one comments on their posts. To them I say, get a clue, because you’ll not get 100% of any visitors you may be getting via the SERPS commenting on your blog either. That’s just the way it is and if you can’t handle the heat, perhaps you should get out of the kitchen.

I hope this doesn’t result in another mass exodus of bloggers, Graham because that will affect your bottom line in terms of how much $$ you can charge for advertising now that EC is a money making operation. And that’s something to consider.

Just thought you should know.
.

This sounds like an idea that could work.

we’ll be watching for changes.
we get comments sporadically even tho we
post about 5 days a week.

sometime folks just have nothing to say.

when surfing and reading, more so than dropping;
I may look at a pic or a vid, and move on afterward,
without leaving a comment.

I surely hope there is a way to compensate for reading
the post – even if you don’t leave a comment.

I really hope this gets rid of more of the splogs;
and clickfarmers.

goodluck to you on this idea graham,

~RE

If there is a problem with drop and run, then that exists for only one reason, and that it was / is ec induced from inside management.

It has been discussed for ages that the current reward system of 1 ec with a max 300 ec a day causes this problem. Ec has known of this from day one and ignored it, even though it is impossible to view that many blogs and drop. This whole problem does not stem from people who drop and run as implied but from poor inside management that allowed to continue for the benefit of ec alone with hit numbers / data

It has also been said to correct this you need to adjust the credits per drop from 1 to say 5 meaning that people would only need to drop 60 sites to gain their full 300 ec points ( the system you have in place )

Jumping up and down now making it like the user (classed as a speed lover) is to blame is wrong and it would be nice if you called a spade a spade and say you stuffed up without blaming others.

In conclusion this proposed change will do nothing to remedy the outcome, so long as you have the 1 drop = 1 ec / 300 limit in place, people will find a way to still do what they need to do to gain the 300 ec and your only real goal is to increase the time spent on a blog to make ec look better to use / and or force people to click at least 1 blog to open it or page / pizzing them off, nothing but a bad and poorly thought out solution.

I think people will see there are better alternate to support their blogs and as a bonus achieve real visitors and better site stats as these changes will amount to squat.

I think this is a great change. I haven’t spent much time on Entrecard for the very reasons you stated – this will add quality traffic to people’s blogs which will benefit everyone.

As long as the max number of qualified drops allowed is decreased and the credits per qualified drops is increased so that people can make close to the same amount of credits in the same amount of time i have no issue.

Let’s say a comment was required – well, who is going to comment on a site that has not updated for 3 weeks (and there are plenty out there). As far as I am concerned, this is fine with me.

Also – seriously – put me back in the forum – this is getting old.

I dont like that everyone is dropping and running, but come on? Interacting with the blog on each drop? The point of dropping my card on another person’s widget is to say “hey, i’m here, take a look.” What if I am genuinely not interested in the blog after visiting it? How much ‘interaction’ is needed?

Acadia makes a good point. I think the “drop and run” issue is a direct result of the 300 drop limit.

I understand wanting to increase the quality of traffic.

But people don’t update their blogs everyday. What are we supposed to do re-read the same stuff over and over if nothing new has been added since last time?

I do not drop for credits.

I drop for visibility.

I now have FOUR blogs that I run through Entrecard. The system has vastly increased my traffic AND my readers. I know my readers have increased because of the interaction that I get now. I love it. I can’t imagine my blogging life without Entrecard.

I have actually managed to drop 300 on two different blogs in one day. It isn’t easy. It takes time.

Seriously, though, if I’ve visited a blog – Let’s use Daisy for my example because I hit her blog regularly…

If I visit Daisy while using my parenting account, then I visit Daisy while using my Unschooling account, and then I visit Daisy while using my Through the Forest Account…. see where I’m going here. I’ve hit her blog 3 or 4 times in one day. There is absolutely NO NEED for me to comment each and every time that I visit.

There aren’t enough blogs – or time – for me to visit 300 unique blogs with every account. I will end up hitting the same blog more than once in any given day.

Follow that by the fact that at least half the blogs I visit do not update their posts every single day. If they haven’t updated their blog, then how am I supposed to interact with their blog? I want to drop my card to let them know I visited them. This might encourage them to update more frequently if they realize that I am visiting regularly and looking for new content. It may not, though, but at least they will know I’m stopping by.

Maybe you can apply the algorithm only on blogs which have posted a new post that day. This way, blogs with no new content to comment on can be left quickly, but blogs which one could engage in droppers are encouraged to engage in.

@gautm hans
“I think it is for the best and in my opinion people should rated on karma.
And points are given on comments and bloggers will rate those comments so that there is less of spamming.”

Nice idea, people who engage with the entrecard community would generate more credits and gain more power in the community.

Is there a way could could get more credits for new blog posts we write?

I agree with those who say that this will just cause a flood of spam comments on all of our blogs on a daily basis. That’s going to drive away many more members than you can ever hope to attract! And I am going to be seriously tempted to start moderating blog comments on my site if this policy goes into effect. I don’t like that, I think it’s unfriendly and off-putting to newcomers to the site, but I may have no choice.

I think those who say 300 drops per day would be much too high under such a system. Do the math. If you spend 60 seconds on each of 300 blogs, reading and “interacting” (what does that mean? is it going to be defined or clarified somehow?) with each one, that’s 5 hours per day. Which is completely beyond ridiculous!

I also agree with those who have pointed out that some of the “drop & run” is actually caused by people checking to see if a site they are interested in has had any updates since the last time they looked. I do this quite a lot. One of the blogs I follow is on hiatus until mid-July. I drop there anyway, to pick up the EC, even though I know perfectly well they are not going to be updating this week. Why should I be penalized for dropping on a site that doesn’t update every single day?

Karen

“Decreased the drop limit” seems to be an awesome idea. More time to read others blog(with a comment) and more time to choose which interesting blog to follow.

*I hope that you will maintain or maybe increase the price of credits for the cashout system. Have a good day.

So, we are just beginning to get some traffic back after the last huge fiasco with the introduction of paid ads, and now another new fly in the ointment?
I doubt that the algorithm could include leaving a comment; there are too many issues with that. But I feel penalized already. I like surfing for new blogs, but I am a very fast reader, and can usually tell in just over a glance if the page is one that has content that intersts me.
Don’t penalized people for clicking to check out new blogs. My connection speed doesn’t really allow the real speed clicking anyway, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Hmmm! I have already reduced my drops due to the time taken and missing out on family life. I used to spend 3 hours at my computer dropping 300 daily. This has now been cut down to probably 1-2 times a week.

I read what interests me and comment if I want to say anything. I do not blog everyday so don’t expect people to comment everyday.

Not sure how this is going to work????

Maybe you can apply the algorithm only on blogs which have posted a new post that day. This way, blogs with no new content to comment on can be left quickly, but blogs which one could engage in droppers are encouraged to engage in.

My comment wasn’t approved yet, reposting it.

[...] users to do less dropping. This is a major backfire to this new policy. In the blog post about the new dropping policy, the first sentence under the headline “The Point of Entrecard” says: The point of [...]

Yes, it seems the old maxim : “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” hasn’t reached the ears of Entrecard.

If they’re so concerned about their “ongoing effort to increase the quality of Entrecard traffic across the board”, why was a perfectly good blogging network called Entrecard torn apart a few months ago because of a rabid insistence on introducing paid ads in completely the wrong way ?

Once again we’re going to have to endure a knee-jerk, controversial “initiative” that’s not thought through and almost certainly the fancy new “algorithm” won’t work properly, alienating yet more good bloggers.

When is Entrecard going to start taking its constituent bloggers with it when such decisions are made, instead of imposing half-baked ideas that do more harm than good ?

Not telling people what will help them gain the most credits, ads, or whatever is to me like a teacher giving a test without telling their students what the test is on.

Sounds a lot like BC to me. A lot of people like EC more because they thought the system was more fair.

Whom are you kidding? Nobody even truly understands how google formulated their bounce rate algorithmn (it only serves good to google ad network) and here you are saying you will do something about it! Did you know that spending more time in a site reading its articles without clicking on anything is considered a bounce? What do you want to do? Take liberties on your members and forced them to click on anything even if they don’t want to? You will definitely spell doom to entrecard. If you have succeeded the first time around with the paid adds…this time you will fail because the whole thing will smack of dictatortship…Please don’t push it!

I know the systems with a waitingtime. Except for blogexplosion they all died. And they died lonely.

Waiting 1 minute means 300 minutes plus loadingtime to get the full 300. That’s ridiculous!!
Especially as many blogs are full with advertisements, repeats of old posts, rewritten copies of the news, and other crap.

Give me a way of rating these blogs on a scale of 1 to 10 and you can throw out the majority of the blogs.

I don’t like it that you want to be boss of my time without anything to compensate me than these blogs and a simple 1 EC.
I can’t read and comment 300 blogposts, and I don’t want to.

Sometimes reading the title is enough to know how someone is doing and that that person doesn’t need my comment. Especially during slow loading times commenting can be a real burden. So I
come back when the connection is better. No need to login at entrecard.

At the other hand.
I don’t want forced comments on my blog.
I hate spammers and people who think they should comment to gain something.
My life is full of people who take from me, I want to have people with integrity and friendship around me.

I don’t want to be forced to comment on blogs.

Otherwise just pay me out and I’ll leave without a word.
You’ll enable me to realize my dream.

Bet you didn’t bother to read my blog, except for that one time I really attracted your attention.
Don’t want to make us better than you are yourself.

If people are so worried about their bounce rate they shouldn’t have signed up for Entrecard in the first place. Please, please, please, don’t break it again!!! Can’t you leave the system alone? Seems most folks like it the way it is. And let those worried about their bounce rate drop out.

[...] Taking action against the bounce rate [...]

Please see comments 32 and 42, which are still awaiting moderation. Is there a problem?
I would like an explanation as to the definition of “interaction”.
I drop approx 200 per day. I am retired, I have the time. I have the EntreBar. New and interesting content will always ensure I stay and read. Sites where I have to scroll past huge headers and acres of adverts, I run. I often don’t drop because I can’t find the widget among the garbage, let alone the content. (Whatever happened to the widget being close to the top?) I guess I’m old fashioned – I liked things as they were and don’t understand all the new problems and why people seem to be leaving in droves and why all the Today blogs had to leave and …

RE Ausetkmt and Aldon both have great ideas here. I concur with their suggestions entirely.

Please forget this algorithm idea — bounce rates are what they are and by attaching the ec=$ then you’ve encouraged this phenomenon. Take away that incentive and you will certainly reduce that quite quickly and easily.

Implement a paid ads policy that takes into account the guy buying with EC — in other words give us a dual widget or cut the ad prices for the EC buying advertiser.

Have it where you only get credited for a drop if there is a new post (that would go both ways).

I’m probably taking a slightly different stance than a lot of bloggers but I happen to thin Entrecard is fantastic just the way it is. Here’s why:

I use Entrecard (and other networks) to get exposure. That’s the most you can get from any network. Forcing people to sit on a page for 30(ish) seconds doesn’t guarantee that they’ll read anything. If they like the content, they will. If they don’t, they won’t (just minimize the window until the timer’s done).
The “problem” of dropping and running isn’t a problem at all. It pushes up your traffic numbers (and rankings of all sorts) and simply allows your site to be more available to the world; more visible on the web. If anyone’s expecting any more than this, they’re deluding themselves.
What makes Entrecard so great is that, as an involved community member, I do spend a good deal of time on sites to ensure that they’re relevant before I spend my hard-earned ECs to advertise on them. And in a number of cases, the blogs have turned out to be so good, I come back just for the fun of it. Isn’t that the whole point?

Graham, I think the current Entrecard concept is fantastic. The traffic is real and much better because it comes from other bloggers (who usually are much more interested than average viewers), and I can’t imagine what you could do to force people to sit on a page and actually read it anyway. Besides, I would never want to do that to people who visit my site. If they like it, they’re always welcome back. If not, thanks for the visit (i.e.pushing up the traffic/helping to promote it) and I hope they do the same tomorrow.

Consider this a vote for the status quo.

Graham, Do you realize how many blogs that you have on entrecard that do not update? What are we supose to do then?

“The point of Entrecard” is the reason I joined in the first place. I am not a high-roller or drop and runner, just a serious blogger who appreciates other bloggers. Hope I don’t sound like a dinosaur, but Entrecard is a lot of fun and I am not catching on to all the high tech stuff. I have used it as it was used in the beginning and have no complaints. We are all under times restraints and our heads are full of somewhat new knowledge. It can wear a person out.

this is the impression I get from the bloggers who still write about this stuff:

anyone who cared about bounce rate left months ago. those who stay here have accepted the bounce rate as a side effect.

how well do you know your community?

[...] I would like to ask a favor to all Entrecard members dropping here on my blog. If you can please stay a little longer here in my blog, say about 2 minutes. I know there’s nothing much to read here, but if you’ll just drop and run, soon your drops will not be counted anymore (according to Entrecard). [...]

I understand wanting to stop the “drop and run” issue… especially now that the credits are able to be turned into cash. My issue…. what if I drop in on the same blog every day this week…. and they only posted something new 1 day? I’m not going to want to hang around on their site just to assure that my dropping in gets counted. How will that work?

Hear the power droppers bawling already and making all sorts of excuses.

After some period of time bounce rate goes high, we needed to update elements which would now become regular exercise to maintain bounce rate.

My bounce rate is my problem…not entrecard’s.
Why waste your time on it?