The Indie Virus- an experiment in viral campaigning

by Jesse on April 7, 2006 · 18 comments

Nearly a month ago, on March 10, The Indie Virus was launched by Chris Pearson.

The goal of the virus was

* To bring exposure to lesser known blogs (especially those outside of Technorati’s top 100)

* To explore the metrics behind a viral linking campaign launched by the “little guys” (less popular blogs)

The way it works is people send trackbacks to other blogs, always with the anchor text “The Indie Virus”. The reason trackbacks are used is because search engines reguard them as more important than links (supposedly). Blogs that have been infested by The Indie Virus then pass it on to others.

A search on Technorati currently turns up 168 results. Google gives us about 1,800,000 results.

A fuller report on how things were going after 2 weeks can be read here

{ 18 comments }

1

Travis Seitler 04.07.06 at 12:47 pm

“Google gives us about 1,800,000 results.”

True… however, Google’s number drops to “about 18,800″ when you put the term in quotes, which fits how the links ought to be built.

2

Travis Seitler 04.07.06 at 12:47 pm

“Google gives us about 1,800,000 results.”

True… however, Google’s number drops to “about 18,800″ when you put the term in quotes, which fits how the links ought to be built.

3

Travis Seitler 04.07.06 at 12:47 pm

“Google gives us about 1,800,000 results.”

True… however, Google’s number drops to “about 18,800″ when you put the term in quotes, which fits how the links ought to be built.

4

Jesse 04.07.06 at 2:06 pm

yeah, that’s definitely a more realistic figure, but 1.8 million just sounds so much more impressive

on technorati that gives you like 22 results, which is far too low.

Then again, technorati indexing has been crap lately

5

Jesse 04.07.06 at 2:06 pm

yeah, that’s definitely a more realistic figure, but 1.8 million just sounds so much more impressive

on technorati that gives you like 22 results, which is far too low.

Then again, technorati indexing has been crap lately

6

Jesse 04.07.06 at 2:06 pm

yeah, that’s definitely a more realistic figure, but 1.8 million just sounds so much more impressive

on technorati that gives you like 22 results, which is far too low.

Then again, technorati indexing has been crap lately

7

Chris P. 04.07.06 at 11:29 pm

Aaron, much appreesh on the mention! I’ve been using the term “Indie Virus” (instead of “the Indie Virus”) in order to obtain semi accurate metrics for the experiment. At the time of this comment, that phrase returns 291 results in Technorati.

I’d like to add that I’ve come across quite a few links that Technorati has no chance of indexing, so the 291 represents a pretty conservative lowball. I think we’re somewhere around the 350 mark, and based on the increase in traffic at pearsonified, I’d say that’s a pretty fair estimate.

18,800, though? Nah. I wish, tho.

Oh, and regarding Technorati, I’ve had to force-ping updates from my blogs. It used to pick up automatically, but that feature seems to be sketchy at best here of late.

8

Chris P. 04.07.06 at 11:29 pm

Aaron, much appreesh on the mention! I’ve been using the term “Indie Virus” (instead of “the Indie Virus”) in order to obtain semi accurate metrics for the experiment. At the time of this comment, that phrase returns 291 results in Technorati.

I’d like to add that I’ve come across quite a few links that Technorati has no chance of indexing, so the 291 represents a pretty conservative lowball. I think we’re somewhere around the 350 mark, and based on the increase in traffic at pearsonified, I’d say that’s a pretty fair estimate.

18,800, though? Nah. I wish, tho.

Oh, and regarding Technorati, I’ve had to force-ping updates from my blogs. It used to pick up automatically, but that feature seems to be sketchy at best here of late.

9

Chris P. 04.07.06 at 11:29 pm

Aaron, much appreesh on the mention! I’ve been using the term “Indie Virus” (instead of “the Indie Virus”) in order to obtain semi accurate metrics for the experiment. At the time of this comment, that phrase returns 291 results in Technorati.

I’d like to add that I’ve come across quite a few links that Technorati has no chance of indexing, so the 291 represents a pretty conservative lowball. I think we’re somewhere around the 350 mark, and based on the increase in traffic at pearsonified, I’d say that’s a pretty fair estimate.

18,800, though? Nah. I wish, tho.

Oh, and regarding Technorati, I’ve had to force-ping updates from my blogs. It used to pick up automatically, but that feature seems to be sketchy at best here of late.

10

Jesse 04.08.06 at 6:12 pm

Chris, I was actually the one that wrote the entry.

I somehow missed that the “the” shouldn’t be included, so yeah, that definitely effected things.

Google’s results are usually 2/3 repeat results, but I don’t know where they came up with the extra 12 1/2 thousand…

11

Jesse 04.08.06 at 6:12 pm

Chris, I was actually the one that wrote the entry.

I somehow missed that the “the” shouldn’t be included, so yeah, that definitely effected things.

Google’s results are usually 2/3 repeat results, but I don’t know where they came up with the extra 12 1/2 thousand…

12

Jesse 04.08.06 at 6:12 pm

Chris, I was actually the one that wrote the entry.

I somehow missed that the “the” shouldn’t be included, so yeah, that definitely effected things.

Google’s results are usually 2/3 repeat results, but I don’t know where they came up with the extra 12 1/2 thousand…

13

Aaron 04.09.06 at 6:54 pm

No problem, Chris! :) Wish I could take the credit though. Jesse has been good enough to put up some guest entries for me while I’ve been fighting to keep my head above water.

Good to see you here… :)

14

Aaron 04.09.06 at 6:54 pm

No problem, Chris! :) Wish I could take the credit though. Jesse has been good enough to put up some guest entries for me while I’ve been fighting to keep my head above water.

Good to see you here… :)

15

Aaron 04.09.06 at 6:54 pm

No problem, Chris! :) Wish I could take the credit though. Jesse has been good enough to put up some guest entries for me while I’ve been fighting to keep my head above water.

Good to see you here… :)

16

Chris P. 04.09.06 at 8:15 pm

Yeah, I get around. Just don’t tell my girlfriend.

Kidding, sheez!

17

Chris P. 04.09.06 at 8:15 pm

Yeah, I get around. Just don’t tell my girlfriend.

Kidding, sheez!

18

Chris P. 04.09.06 at 8:15 pm

Yeah, I get around. Just don’t tell my girlfriend.

Kidding, sheez!

Comments on this entry are closed.

Older post: This Country Can’t Survive Another Bush in the White House

Newer post: Tip Nip Day