Today at 00 GMT (5PM PST) a new month started. Every time a new month of statistics starts being logged by WordPress for Watts Up With That, I say to myself, “there’s no way I’ll get this sort of traffic again”. And yet, again I’m surprised that WUWT not only met last months stats, but significantly exceeded them.
Thank you again, loyal readers.
Click for full sized image
It was one year ago that I moved from the Typepad blog to WordPress, and as you can see from above, the growth has been steady, except for one month, April. which had a slight dip.
For September 2008 the total was 846,193 page views, up from 667,215 page views in August 2008.
But there is a caveat, I think the real numbers are just shy of 800,000, because on the weekend of 09/20 and 09/21 I got quite a bit of unexpected traffic that I’m not sure is real or not. During that time, we got a lot of Spam on one particular older entry comparing UAH, RSS, HadCRUT, and GISS, but not anywhere near the numbers specific to that post, shown below:
Blog Stats Increase due to DOS “something”
Saturday 09/20 23,486
Sunday 09/21 25,319
Monday 09/22 1,006
Total: 49,811
You can read about it here in this entry
I checked with WordPress support, twice, and they assured me that the numbers are real, saying:
Hi,
Our stats expert has had a look and found no evidence of a DoS or anything untoward. He says “the most plausible reason is an email newsletter featuring the URL, or else some other non-browser app loading the URL such as a feed reader. I have not been able to find any evidence of of a DDOS attempt or other “foul play.”
Separately, I’ve checked our security logs and see no other signs of activity that would normally indicate a blog under attack.
In short: we’re quite sure the traffic is genuine and doesn’t correspond with an attack of any kind.
Kind regards,
Alex
WordPress Support
Even so, I’m unconvinced. I got not one single comment added on that posting during the onslaught of traffic, almost 50,000 page views, which tells me the numbers aren’t real, no matter what WordPress support says.
Therefore I have decided to take the step of publishing an “adjusted” set of numbers this month. The difference is that instead of inflating the numbers, such as GISTEMP and USHCN adjustments do, I’m reducing them to what I consider a truly representative value for the month.
Raw WUWT September numbers: 846,193 page views
WUWT Spam Uncertainty numbers: -49,811 page views (from 09/20 to 09/22)
Final Adjusted WUWT September numbers: 796,382 page views
Still, not too shabby.
Anthony,
I am requesting people to send in suggestions for new buzzwords for climate skeptics. It is OT but your readers are from by far the most diverse backgrounds on the web.
Anyone interested in replacing or suggesting buzzwords to replace things like temperature anomaly, carbon footprint or carbon budget. I am trying to collect and advertise the best suggestions. We all know the AGW guys are great at this, if we can change or modify the buzzwords we can change the sound of the debate.
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/the-climate-change-buzzword-war/
thankful for this site.
my house …..
His life, his work
Jeff Id,
I responded on that link you posted. See if that helps you out any.
Those that are to smart to get involved in politics are punished by being governed/advised by idiots, ( Plato)
Australia is a young country, but that is no excuse for not studying history.
Congratulations, Anthony!
Henry Baker wrote a short treatise in 1742 on using the microscope. In it, he included this gem, which is the foundation of good science. You and your blog exemplify it 100% in the search for and the presentation of truth:
“Remember that truth alone is the matter that you are in search after; and if you have been mistaken, let no vanity seduce you to persist in your mistake…”
http://www.msa.microscopy.org/ProjectMicro/QuotesMicroscopes.html
No surprise. Excellent site with lots of variation in subject matter. Getting help with the moderating was a great step forward. Keep up the good work, Anthony. You are providing an invaluable service here.
I prefer climate variability over change or warming. “Change” is loaded because of its piggyback ride on warming and has the “warming up” sentiment attached to it. I am not skeptical at all over climate variability.
“Now that you have so many hits you could start advertising on the borders of your blog.”
Please. No.
This is the third on my checklist to look at on my mobile phone after Facebook and BBC News once I wake. I haven’t a clue how mobile phone hits may contribute to your count.
Thank you Anthony for modelling so well the real scientific attitude that, in time, produces the real results and the real paradigm shifts – and eventually, the numbers increasing. This blog is an inspiration to so many of us, and a reminder that we are not alone.
And THANK YOU ALL YOU READERS TOO!!! for making this blog what it is, a beautiful balance of science and fun and standing one’s ground.
By clicking on Lucy Skywalker’s name above, readers can view her really excellent site.
Congratulations, Anthony, on your remarkable success as a blogger.
REPLY: Thank you Steve, most sincerely. You are a a gentleman and a scholar. My success owes to a good role model, you. – Anthony
I see that Kare11.com out of the Twin Cities has a “Whatsupwiththat”section to their web site?
you have a great site