Disputes within Entrecard

Several of the recent announcements and launches at Entrecard have caused disputes within the system. At times, it appears as though the members could care less about whether Entrecard remains in operation, while others remain devoted to the system.

I also want to clear up some issues. I want to stress that I am divided on some of these and have different feelings about which side of the fence I am on.

Value of Dropping Credits - There is no reason to stop visiting other blogs and earning credits this way. Even though you can't travel from one blog to the next through the widget unless you look at the status bar link, Entrecard is still rooted in providing traffic to members of its service.

The Ad Approval Process - Even though all ads have to be manually approved, some members have felt that some shouldn't have made it through the system. The simple matter here was that you are in full control of ads, and you are free to approve or deny them as you wish. The site might have contained content or beliefs that you might not have approved of, but they are the thoughts of one member.

Paid Ads versus Credits - Paid ads are placed on blogs by advertisers and advertisements that display at the top of your queue, which have been paid for by other members through the credit system. There may not be a sharp distinction between the two at this time, in terms of how they are displayed on your blog, but one is "paid" and one is "free."

Time Concerns - I can see where people had a hard time dealing withe the large number of ads in the Dashboard, especially if a large number enters between logins. However, in the long-term, you'll get more back as you continue to approve ads.

Rotation - Although all ads rotate that you place, other than through Entrecard credits, you will still receive the number of clicks or impressions that you have. It is a different situation than purchasing an ad on a single site, as they will be distributed throughout the network or by a category that you specify. When there are more ads, it will just take longer for your ad to be displayed, although you have to look at the entire category/network and how often your ad is being displayed - likely on multiple blogs.

The 50/50 Split - Separation between paid/credit ads has to be made, and this is a concern that many people have expressed. There are those people who are able to pay to have their ad displayed that isn't really a blog, while others put work into their blog, dropping, and commenting on other blogs day in and day out (often paying in excess of two thousand credits) to advertise on that blog for one day.

The 'Spam' Ads - Some users have complained about "ad" sites appearing. A third-party ad network allows ads from anyone, not just blogs. Even though many of these sites are really just affiliate ads, many could still be run by bloggers that you have commented on. Look at Google AdWords/AdSense, and you'll find a similar case.

[My Complaint] - The number of SPAM BLOGS in the network is still extremely high. Unless you stick with sites that have a daily price of at least 128 (or so) credits, the content has typically been copied, the person never signs into their dashboard and drops, or the widget isn't on the blog. This means that the top blogs will continue to receive a majority of the traffic, and trying to "give" traffic to smaller blogs is nearly impossible due to the fact that 60% of the sites in the "random" or "cheap" categories don't contain a widget, are full of ads, or redirect to another site.

Any further disputes will be added to the post. I'd like to hear more of what you think about the changes - whether they are for better or worse.