Do podcast downloading robots exist?

[Lana Dee]

Hi,
I have one podcast that has been downloaded over 900 times. :confused: WAY more than any other: http://blog.dearlanadee.com/2008/02/10/no-reallythis-is-lanadee.aspx What is strange, is that it was a short 2 min. podcast stating that I COULDN'T talk and therefore WOULD NOT be podcasting that day.

I used a "robotic voice" to state this. My podcast is like a biography, so it is not unusual for my podcasts to continue to be downloaded as they build on to the next. But nothing like this. Are there robots that download podcasts? NOt real people? OR could it be because I wrote "I sound like a man" and wierdo's are downloading it? ha :( Thanks for your help!

[WyethDigital]

It's important to distinguish between "hits" on a file and actual downloads. A hit is just how many times a browser or aggregator has requested a file. It is not how many times a file has been downloaded. For example, if an aggregator like iTunes is downloading your file, it may actually hit your file dozens, or even hundreds of times before the download is complete.

Some web stats programs discount hits on a file after the first one (as long as there is not error associated with it) to make the numbers more realistic. But sometimes new programs and tools outpace stats programs, and therefore create artificial numbers. Microsoft Bits is a perfect example of this. When MS released their Bits program that allowed automatic software updates to download in the background to developers about 18 months ago, it became a popular aggregator component. Bits handled file requests in a way that most web servers were not set up to deal with, which caused website stats to jump like crazy and service providers to block Bits because servers were reacting as if it were a Denial of Service Attack. The worst of the issues have been fixed, but some versions of aggregators that use Bits can still inflate your numbers. I'd compare your bandwidth used to the number of hits on your file. My guess is that they won't match. But if they do, congrats.

Eric

[Lana Dee]

Eric,
Thanks so much for the explanation. GoDaddy told me they were accurate (?) statistics. All I can say is "Ya, Right". They said unless a podcast is completely downloaded it is not "counted". But at least I won't feel as if I am being stalked. THANKS lanadee

[WyethDigital]

Eric,
Thanks so much for the explanation. GoDaddy told me they were accurate (?) statistics. All I can say is "Ya, Right". They said unless a podcast is completely downloaded it is not "counted". But at least I won't feel as if I am being stalked. THANKS lanadee

Hi Lana Dee,

That may well be the way they designed their stats engine, and how they expect it to work, but, well, we're talking the internets here! Some things are bound to get lost in all those tubes! :)

Eric

[DailySplice]

Can anyone comment on the accuracy of Podpress stats?