"Hits"
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1.3 min/day Avg. Time on Site
285 Sites Linking In
Not long ago I wrote letters --- old-fashioned print-on-paper letters --- to Alexa and Quantcast. I complained about their figures, wondered where they came from. I even called, managed to get through to Alexa. I pointed out that we get many more "viewers" than they are showing.
Their representative who sounded to be no more than fifteen years old responded that we would need to conform to their system which requires putting a code on our pages linked directly to them that would show something called "Business Activity Data." This would have to be placed by someone --- presumably me --- on every one of our online pages.
Since we have more than 6000 pages up in hyperspace --- mostly book reviews stretching back to 1994 --- that would mean that I would have to figure out how to get their wretched code in place to conform to their wretched rules. I pointed out that we are book people, not computer people, but the young man was bored, obviously unmoved, eager to get back to his computer space station or whatever they call it.
Google, by the way, seems to confirm our take on hits. Our review of E. L. Doctorow's recent novel, Homer and Langley, turned up at within the top twenty listings. Our view of Crow Planet, another new title, appeared at #6.
And our reviews tend to persist. An item we put on-line over five years ago --- our thoughts on Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure by Admiral Richard E. Byrd --- is within the first fifty entries at Google.
I tell you all this so that when we ask you for review copies of your new books, you won't think that we (and you) are wasting valuable resources.
The Review of Arts, Literature,
Philosophy, and the Humanities
San Diego CA 92176
poo@cts.com
www.ralphmag.org