

Page Views are not Bullshit Metrics - azifali
http://asifali.me/post/39235598601/bullshitmetrics

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xpose2000
I agree, pageviews are not a bullshit metric. Although these type of metrics
tend to easily become bullshit metrics when it comes to public reporting.

Why?

Start-ups can artificially inflate pageview counts or just flat out make up
numbers. Then they pass along these numbers to tech blogs, who write them as
the truth without any fact checking. It's a great way to wrap up another round
of funding.

Anyone who's worked for a start-up has probably experienced this before. I
know I have.

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kzafar
I agree. I have seen many people complain about content sites that
artificially inflate their page views by spreading one story across 10 pages.
That can be arguably immoral but doesn't render the page views metric bull
shit. If they can do so while continuing to engage and retain their visitors,
and serve more varied ads int eh process to improve their CTR, all power to
them. It's a win win for all. If the strategy wasn't working and wasn't
resulting in higher revenues, any sane business would abandon such a practice.

