On MyBlogLog's ad tracking...

There have been a number of recent posts 'round the blogosphere about our ads tracking and we'd like to make a few clarifications:

1) Tracking outbound links is what caused us to launch MyBlogLog in the first place.  Ads are outbound links.
2) This feature was added after users requested it over and over...
3) This is not a Pro-only feature.  Free users can look at their stats page and under "What Readers Clicked" they'll see "Filter by: All | Ads | Content".
4) Google has acknowledged this feature (without protest).  And, as opposed to the click-through data that Google gives its customers, this info generated by MBL is collected independently of the AdSense program which doesn't appear to be considered confidential information under their terms of service.

UPDATE:

5) We did not nick our ad tracking from Jim Rutherfold's excellent Adsense Click Pepper for Mint.  I've included both of our code at the end of this post for you to compare Posting ginormous code samples made for an ugly post, so I've pasted Jim's email response below.  MyBlogLog wasn't the first person to figure out ad click tracking, and neither was Jim.  But as anyone who's ever programmed (or even tried to figure out CSS to change their blog template) can attest, we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before.  Jim's code was definitely the best, and we wanted to make sure that anyone who learned from our code knew that there was someone else whose kung fu was strong.  Hence the linky love in the code.

From Jim Rutherford:

Thanks for the note!  I did notice some trackbacks in my blog that pointed to the issue of code "swiping".  I have no problem with the code you are using, and appreciate the reference to the my URL in your source. Funny thing is that if you would have left the URL out of your code, you wouldn't be under any criticism of swiping code - funny how doing the right thing can come back to only bite you in the ass!

Borrowing and learning from other people's code is what makes the web such a great platform to work on.  I applaud the fact that you had the decency to provide attribution.

Keep up the great work with your service,

Jim

 

Comments

[HMTKSteve]

The ad tracking is the one feature that enticed me into paying for the pro account. MyBlogLog is the only tracking service (that I know of) that will tell me what articles are generating advertising clicks.

[Eric Marcoullier]

HMTKSteve -- we haven't forgotten about the remove co-author feature you asked for. Look for it sometime next week!

[myfansites]

I saw the post you did a trackback on on Jensense, and thought almost immediately that she hadn't even thought of coming to you and asking your side of things.

It looked more like and shock and awe piece if I ever saw one. I love MBL, and keep the great stuff coming!

[Steve Poland]

I don't see where 901am got this notion -- http://www.901am.com/2007/using-mybloglog-could-get-you-banned-from-adsense.html#comment-3154

Yahoo has to love this though -- although you aren't capturing CPC, you're snagging ad unit size and page filename.

Not to mention -- how many blogs are your widgets installed on these days? Google having so many bloggers/websites with the AdSense widgets installed, is what will keep them at the top of the contextual ad game -- however, now that Yahoo has swooped you up, they now have a way into tons of blogs that have taken the time to install a widget (yours).

Love all this juice. Excited to see how this all pans out -- and how MBL will help YPN.

[Paula Mooney]

Sweet deal.

Rock on.

Let the oh-my-God-Google-could-ban-you-for-MBLs-widget-fearmongering cease.

[Duncan]

Steve
as I've noted at 901am I never sought written permission from Google for MyBlogLog to log my information, unless it was snuck in the signup agreement or what not, so yes, it could breach the TOS.

Eric, saying that Google has never complained about it doesn't make it right, that and the fact that most people are seriously surprised to learn that your company was not only tracking data at this depth, but trying to shop it around the place as well prior to Yahoo! coming on board. You got a lot of people on board based on a the premise of a great idea, but really have other intentions, intentions which you never made clear to nearly all your users.

[Infopirate]

Eric, I read the 901am article today and your following comments here.

I'm very glad that you guys DO ad tracking! As you may remember I wrote you a big thank you mail when I noticed that you implemented the ad tracking feature. I am a pro user and I love your service! Looking forward to new and great features...

Keep on rollin'!

[TEAM SocialPAY]

Ad Tracking offers vital information. It takes the guess work out of how the world spends advertising dollars. We are considering partnering to implement this feature into SocialPAY's widget system. Any ideas? Contact us!

http://www.socialpay.com/partners/

Glad to see you guys are speaking my language. I'll add this topic to my blog, "THE EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING".

Note: Jim Rutherford seems like a good guy and he had a good point, about how doing the "right thing" can draw negative attention. We've had to bite that bullet before. (Sad, but true.)

[Mark Brown]

I would like to feature you for the importance of ad tracking in the blogosphere in an upcoming training teleseminar or webinar - are you available as a BlogLog subject matter expert?

Please contact me back and let me know as our roster of trainers is filling up fast.

Thanks,

Mark

[DJ Spiess]

Has anone figured out why there is such a huge difference between MBL and Adsense? I'm seeing a difference on the order of 10.

[Susie Q]

Thanks for the info, I had seen some rumors about getting banned from adsense but wanted to add the mybloglog widgets to my site. Thanks for clearing that up!