- Midas Oracle is updated many times a day, with interesting stuff about prediction markets, collective forecasting, and other topics. In all logic, the number of Midas Oracle feed subscribers is increasing slowly but regularly.

- Odd Head is updated each time the Catholic Pope contributes to the progress of humanity (that is, rarely). Still, the number of Odd Head feed subscribers is increasing slowly but regularly —too.

I feel humiliated. So, here are my questions to you:

1. How come that guy who rarely updates his blog can see his number of feed subscribers increasing at the same pace as mine?
2. What Internet marketing strategy and tactic are you proposing so that the number of Midas Oracle feed subscribers could increase at a higher speed than his?

Be sure to understand my problematic:

1. I am happy his blog is successful. I just want to outpace him. Just a motivation. No animal will be hurt.
2. For your information, I take the stats in Google Reader (the most popular feed reader). Type the name of a blog in the “Add A Subscription” box to spot the stats.
3. Contact moi confidentially. NOT A WORD TO THAT RESEARCH SCIENTIST.
4. It should be white-hat, natural, organic techniques. No fool play.
5. I’ll make up to you —other than monetarily.

- about 950 daily feed subscribers – [by comparison, BetFair Predicts has only 5 feed subscribers according to Google Reader]

- 29,334 visits

- 49,424 pageviews

Stats for all the 3 Midas Oracle blogs.

Our guest authors do benefit from this formidable, unrivaled readership.

-

BetFair Predicts is a blog that aims at the Americans. In my view, it’s a big failure (once again).

1. BetFair listened to some snake-oil “social media” consultant. As an experienced and successful webmaster, I can tell you there are many flaws in their whole project and in its execution.
2. BetFair has hired some second-tier writers for the content —it is not worth the read.

-

Technically, here’s one instance (in a long list) that shows you that they are completely incompetent.

-

Here’s what you might have seen from them this morning —the screen shot is from within Google Reader, the most popular feed reader:

-

-

Now, here’s what they wanted you to see, actually:

-

-

So, as you have seen, the chart is missing from the content if you are using a feed reader (like Google Reader).

-

Let’s recap:

1. They are using a kind of chart widgets that does not go into feeds.
2. They are asking bloggers to embed their BetFair chart widgets…. that the blog readers using a feed reader (like Google Reader) won’t be able to see.
3. Only the most stupid and most computer illiterate bloggers will actually embed those Betfair chart widgets in their posts. I won’t. [*]
4. The fact that the technical team of Betfair Predicts has not been able to understand the importance of feed reading, and the necessity to create chart widgets that are compatible with feed readers (like Google Reader) is telling a lot about the dual fact that the BetFair executives don’t understand the Web and that BetFair has a hiring problem.

-

Technical Note: Refer to my “predictions” webpage, if you want the list of the chart widgets that go into feeds and the list of those that don’t.

-

[*] I do publish some BetFair dynamic charts, but not the crappy chart widgets created by the incompetents of BetFair Predicts.

-

Not surprisingly, BetFair Predicts has virtually no feed subscribers (the people who are so interested in the content of a blog that they want to stick to it on a daily basis). For your information, Midas Oracle has probably about 900 feed subscribers, in all (counting both our PC-based feed subscribers and our Web-based feed subscribers). No wonder that some BetFair Predicts writer come on Midas Oracle to try to gather some interest.

-

-

To interpret these data, you should know that:

• The web visitors are not counted.
• The PC-based feed subscribers are not counted.
• The Web-based feed subscribers who use other feed readers than Google are not counted.
• In the case of Marginal Revolution, which was one of the defaults proposed by Google Reader until recently, many feed subscribers do not actually read this blog.
• A vertical blog like Midas Oracle, which deals only with prediction markets, is necessary far less popular than more horizontal blogs, which can publish about everything (including sex, as it has been the case in the past with those 3 economics blogs).

-