At Least They're Consistent !

It's interesting and we don't know what the future will bring, but it's oddly intriguing that we get nearly the exact same number of e-mail from AmateurMatch.com each and every week (at the time of publication, just under 40 / week). With the exception of the occasional 'glitch' in our systems that may cause us to under report (never over report) data, you would think there would be more variance over time.

To their credit, e-mail volume to date has only originated from AmateurMatch.com, but the very clear pattern of e-mail volume would tend to favor either system-generated e-mail solicitations / notifications or an amazingly large system (where sheer size averages out what any one person might get). I'm not betting on the latter, but it is possible, if even remotely.

Tracking Page: AmateurMatch.com

We've Deployed a Search Workaround

I'm sorely disappointed in Google's search widget. Yes, it does return results. Yes, it's FREE, which is not to be understated. But it's simply not returning complete results for dynamically-generated .php pages that have been specified in the Sitemap for months. In some cases, pages that have long been indexed as part of Google Search have already adjusted to changes in our Search.php template page, which means pages that are indexed are being revisited and updated but that other pages specified in the Sitemap simply aren't 'making the cut' so-to-speak.

That's unacceptable.

So, we've deployed a workaround. Until Google's search widget either returns better and more complete results or we find something better, we're deploying a crude but effective alphabetical lookup of all domains that we're currently tracking. This will be updated regularly and can be found immediately below the search widget located in the upper right-hand side of the page. For an example, please visit the Amazon.com page and look for the "Lookup all domains alphabetically" in the upper right.

Dell, Moderate E-Mail Volume (but Complaints)

It's worthy of note that we're seeing e-mail arrive from Dell on the unique use-once-only e-mail address. It's from Dell. It's only from Dell, but we never asked for anything -- All we did was the minimal account creation process, and while some time transpired between that step and the arrival of our first e-mail, it does have a slight feel to it that we're somehow on the up slope . . maybe.

So, I looked around to see if anyone else might have Dell-related experiences, and I did find a few. They're not very complimentary -- Here's one from Spamhellfromdell's Weblog . . .

We'll keep an eye on Dell, but to be perfectly fair, they are only sending a couple of e-mail per week on average.

Tracking Page: Dell.com

uBid is Another Model Citizen

uBid.com, just like we already said about TechCrunch, is now emerging as another model citizen when it comes to sending a once-a-day e-mail digest. Congratulations, uBid !

We're a little bit more suspect of what they're sending, but maybe that's just our sentiment and not your's -- We know we can't afford to come anywhere close to buying all the items they include in their daily e-mail, but if you're interested in a concise list of auction items (typically just eight promotions), then you'll like what you get.

So far, very reliable and what would appear to be well-safeguarded e-mail list management -- We haven't gotten a single e-mail from anyone other than uBid.com, but we'll be the first to know if that suddenly were to change. We're working on an 'alerts' mechanism and will announce / launch that when it's ready for prime time.

Tracking Page: uBid.com