Just so you know, N. Z. Bear is tinkering with the TTLB Ecosystem rankings. Apparently, the new algorithms don't look kindly on

The blogosphere (thank you, Bill Quick) has been buzzing with a number of insider topics recently, and I think it's about time to discuss them in some detail. As we go I'm going to give my thoughts on the topics,

I really think there is an element of "stuck inside the system" going on here and failing to recognize the value of new means of connecting the dots of information together.

The Truth Laid Bear bit the Blogosphere today, when its proprietor NZ began implementing plans to eliminate counts of open trackbacks toward ecosystem ratings and top posts. TTLB results are in complete shambles at present.
Glenn Reynolds, eat y...

NZ Bear is worried and link whores gaming the TTLB Ecosystem. He's mostly commenting on "open trackback" posts. And James Joyner, at Ecosytem and the Value of Links » Outside The Beltway, stretches the point to Blog Carnivals: [Carnivals,] pioneere...

The point? Bear can figure out how to not count them within the ecosystem, but it won't stop their use or value. Viewing them as a negative, which is implied by saying they are used to game the system, is a great way to avoid seeing the value.

And yes, people will continue to game the system.

So, for the past week, or so, there has been a furor over open trackbacks, inline trackbacks and what NZ Bear's grand plan to deal with them may be. He, apparently, is trying to prevent people from gaming the Ecosystem...

The link parties hurt absolutely nobody. In fact they provide a gret way of finding new blogs. My blog surfing habits have changed quite a bit over the years. i hardly ever use anyone's blogroll and instead follow threads of conversations using inline trackbacks. If nothing else, people are making an effort to get some visibility and you can't blame them for that.

Trackback parties aren't gaming the system. Creating a bunch of blogs and linking back to yourself is gaming the system.

Absolutely. So, it is rather amusing for me to watch.

What exactly is the ranking system for? To determine how popular a blog is? How well known it is? How visible it is?

Isn't this what unique hits/visitors are for?

Why don't you calc the value of a link in combination with the number of unique visitors to that site.

If you've got a blog with 500 linked blogs but only 20 unique visitors per month, then there isn't really much visibility going on there. But if you've got 500 linked blogs and 100,000 unique visitors per month, then that's a completely different story as that linked blog is now more visible to more visitors.

Speaking of the topic of links... Thanks for having a reciprocal link policy (and linking to mine!). I hope that you and yours have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

A thought:

You track number of unique links from blog A to blog B now, along with total unique links blog B gets.

Why not devalue links from blog A to blog B as the number increases, or cap them at some number like 5 or so as far as actually contributing to rank?

It would mitigate the potential problem of someone who has a blog starting another blog and repeatedly linking themselves to game the system.

It would leave inline trackbacks as a thing of linky value, but would limit the value of inline trackback overuse.

It would address manual trackback fests the same way, not having to distinguish inline trackbacks.

It would reduce the value of "link to this post and send a trackback so it links you in turn" links to the blogger holding the open trackback fest.

Just a thought. It makes more sense to me than anything else as a blunter of abuse that won't kill all abuse or take the fun out of the Ecosystem rankings race.