Blogger Blogs Redirecting To "opromo . com"

This week, we're seeing a new stream of problem reports, from blog owners whose blogs are, once again, mysteriously redirecting their readers to unknown destinations.

When I open my blog, it automatically directs to another search engine display.

This appears to be yet one more gadget, willingly installed by many Blogger blog owners, which is now redirecting uninterested viewers. The target of the redirection, this week, is a parked domain website (ie, "search engine display") - for a product which was apparently installed, willingly, by the blog owners.

It appears that the "opromo . com" free visitor meter is the latest victim of expiring domain registrations.

Overview for opromo.com

Registrar Info
Name  PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server  whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL  http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Status  clientTransferProhibited

Important Dates
Expires On  May 09, 2013
Registered On  May 09, 2006
Updated On  May 09, 2013

People who earlier installed the Opromo free visitor meter will need to uninstall it, as it's apparently no longer operational. Reliable replacements would be SiteMeter and StatCounter - as well as Google Analytics.

From what we've seen, identification and removal of the problem code seems to be straightforward - just access the dashboard "Layout" menu wizard, find the gadget identified, and remove it.

As always, you are advised to clear cache and restart the browser, after removal and before testing for success. If the gadget makes your dashboard redirect, before you can remove the redirecting code, use a well protected browser, like Firefox with NoScript, to block the redirection.

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Stats Displays Pageviews - Not Unique Visitors

Too many blog owners do not understand the unique capability of Stats - nor do they understand its limitations.

We see the periodic question in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.

How do I find out how many actual people are viewing my blog?

Stats does not provide unique visitor counts - Stats provides pageview counts.

It's simply not possible to determine, with 100% certainty, how many different people are viewing your blog.

Consider these environments, where multiple locations, or people, are involved.

• A single person can use multiple computers, simultaneously.
• A single person can use a mobile computer, moving from one cellular connection to another.
• Multiple people can view the same computer, simultaneously.
• Multiple people can share the same computer, serially.
• Multiple people can share the same Internet connection, serially.

There are other visitor meters besides Stats - and some other such products will provide "unique" visitor counts. Each product, which claims to provide "unique" visitor counts, will do so based upon specific limitations and techniques.

One of the most obvious ways to determine unique visitors is by comparing IP addresses. Surely, two pageviews from the same IP address will be one person - and two pageviews from two different IP addresses will be two people, right? Wrong.

• One person can use two computers, simultaneously.
• One person can use a mobile computer, moving between two locations (each location will have a different IP address).
• Two people can use the same computer, at a library or Internet cafe.
• Two people can use the same mobile Internet connection.

In each of these cases, one person may look like two people - or two people can look like one person.

It's even possible that two people can access the same page, from the same computer, one after the other. If the first person does not properly clear the computer, after use, the second page access will be from cache - and will not access the server. The second person, using that computer, will not show up in a Stats log. Again, two people can look like one.

Some visitor logs will drop cookies onto a computer. Detecting a cookie already in place, this indicates one person, returning - and successfully dropping a cookie, indicates a different person, right? Wrong, again.

• Again, a shared computer is a possibility.
• Not all computer owners will permit unknown websites to drop cookies, onto their computers.
• And some owners, when they permit cookies on their computers, will periodically clear cookies.

Some very sophisticated visitor logs can compare demographic details, similar to the Stats Audience display. Besides IP address, what can be determined?

• Operating system, brand, model, and version.
• Browser brand, model, and version.
• Maybe, location (possibly determined by IP address, again).

And finally, some visitor logs will compare IP address, over a given time interval. Arbitrarily deciding that all activity from the same IP address, over a period of 30 minutes, represents a statistical "single person", is a known technique. This is not a legally significant technique, however.

The bottom line is, as I state repeatedly, you simply cannot compare numbers from any two visitor logs or meters, with any degree of usefulness. Each product will have its own way of determining unique visitors - when they even suggest a "unique" visitor count. Stats simply avoids the uncertainty, and only provides pageview counts.

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Visitor Logs Cause Undue Concern

We see periodic concern, expressed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, over apparent visitor access to blog maintenance wizards, using the Quick Edit icons.

I found this entry, in my StatCounter log. How did this person get access to my blog?

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7834826019588534175&postID=890014875501476492&from=pencil

Was my blog hacked?

This may not be a justified reason to panic, however. One may first wish to check that Stats (or whatever visitor log is in use, in this case) is properly configured, to not track your own activity. The link that you see may reflect your activity.

Even if the visitor log entry in question does not appear to reflect your own activity - even when allowing for the vagaries of geo location, you may still do well to remain calm.

Thanks to the unpredictable nature of cache, some blog artifacts may be visible to people other than blog owners.

Cache in your browser, on your computer, or even on your network, may cause the Quick Edit icon - which provides you with access to the sensitive wizards, which control the content of your blog - to also be visible to the casual visitor to your blog. Any idly curious visitor may even click on such an icon, when visible.

However, visibility of the icon does not guarantee access to sensitive blog controls. Here's what I saw, when I clicked on the link above.

D'Ohh!!!

Maybe, you'd like to verify that your blog is safe?

1. Extract the URL, from a Quick Edit pencil, or screwdriver / wrench, on your blog.
2. Verify that the link works, by testing it in your browser. See that you can access the post editor or the wizard, for the pencil or screwdriver / wrench.
3. Save the verified URL, somewhere safe.
4. Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, clear all 3!).
5. Restart your browser, and do not login to Blogger.
6. Load the saved URL.
7. What do you see?

If the above suggestion isn't interesting, I'll let you try to attack my blog.

Similar to the problem with phantom visitors reading a private blog, or maybe seeing your email address where other people can see it, or even porn sites linking to your blog, this may not be an issue to concern you. Calm down, and get back to work.

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Stats Time Ranges, And Pageview Count Recalculation

Periodically, we see evidence of confusion about Stats and the pageview counts, as provided in the various displays and time ranges, expressed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

My pageview counts keep going down!

or

My counts go up during the day - but in the afternoon, they drop to zero!!

or

My counts keep going down! There's no end to the drop!!

All of these complaints - and more - involve blog owners, who don't understand the relationships between the displays and time ranges.

We've explored the results of the ongoing referer spam war, of normal viewer activity, and of the daily pageview count reset which applies, periodically, to all blogs. Besides those 3 issues, there is some confusion about the relationships between the various time ranges.

There are 6 different displays - and opportunities for confusion.

1. The Dashboard "Overview" page.
2. The Posts "All time" per post pageviews count.
3. The Stats "Overview" page.
4. The Stats "Posts" page.
5. The Stats "Traffic sources" page.
6. The Stats "Audience" page.

The 4 Stats display pages each offer 5 different "Time range" displays.

• Now (the last 2 hours).
• Day (the last 24 hours).
• Week (the last 7 days).
• Month (the last 30 days).
• All time (since May 2006, when Stats pageview counts were first extracted) - though possibly missing one year or another.

Some blog owners try to compare the Stats "Overview" histogram (in its 5 time ranges), with the "Overview" counts ("today", "yesterday", "last month", and "all time history"). Unfortunately, the graphs and numbers are recalculated (by Blogger) on various schedules.

• Some are recalculated on a minute by minute basis.
• Some are recalculated hourly.
• Some are recalculated daily (but not necessarily at midnight, for everybody).
• We have no idea of the timings involved, for "Popular Posts" re ranking.

Confusion arises, when a blog owner refreshes a display, without understanding when the numbers behind the display may have been recalculated, relevant to reader activity.

• When reader activity occurs, the graphs / numbers (when refreshed, following a recalculation) will indicate an increase.
• When reader activity expires from relevance, the graphs / numbers (when refreshed, following a recalculation) will indicate a decrease.
• When reader activity is removed because it was bogus, the graphs / numbers (when refreshed, following a recalculation) will indicate a decrease.

Note that Stats bases its figures on access to the URL - not to the blog - and recalculates each display when requested, as far back as 2006. If you just changed the URL of your blog, you may see pageview counts which reflect access to another blog.

The different time ranges may not balance, when a URL change is involved.

Like the inability to balance the various per post pageview counts, the task of balancing the various graphs and numbers may be beyond the ability of some blog owners. Each count or graph has to be considered in its own context.

Comparing any two displays, in context with each other, simply may not be a useful activity.

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Fluctuations In Stats Pageview Counts And Newer Blogs

Some owners of newer Blogger blogs spend time reading their Stats logs, and worry that their "All time" pageview counts don't always go up - they go down, too.

Why do the counts go down? Is there one number, that I can believe?

They don't understand that with Stats, you need to look for trends - not absolute readings. In the beginning, fluctuations are more obvious, and trends are less obvious.

Thanks to the referer spam war, and to normal visitor activity, even the "All time" numbers will go up and down - for newer blogs, which have less genuine and constant visitor traffic. And the constant rise and fall is scary - until you get used to it.

Newer blogs have less established readers, which makes spikes in both the periodic referer spam, and normal visitor activity, more visible.

With the 4 limited time ranges (Now, Day, Week, and Month), the spikes will "move" in and out of context - and make pageview counts in these time ranges fluctuate. When a spike in numbers "moves in" to a time range, the pageview counts will rise, suddenly. When a spike "moves out" of a time range, the counts will fall, just as suddenly.

With newer blogs, the fluctuations exert a "double whammy".

1. The fluctuations are more visible, because overall genuine visitor activity is lower. Less readers = less visitor activity.
2. Worrying over the fluctuations takes time away from working on the blog. Less time working on the blog leads to less blog content, attracts less new readers, and leads to less visitor activity.

More experienced blog owners know to use Stats to watch for trends - not immediate numbers.

The answer here is simple. Monitor Stats periodically - not constantly. Watch for trends, and learn how to interpret the trends. Spend more time working on your blog, because that's where the value of your blog lies.

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