As far as I am currently aware, Clicky, developed by Roxr Software Ltd are not a direct competitor, and thus in my mind them having access to my data is potentially less risk.

Accuracy of Tracking Data

The accuracy of your tracking data is important, thus I am doing a test

Clicky
Performancing Metrics
Mybloglog

Just to give Performancing Metrics a slight advantage, I am going to include their tracking data first in my page.

Clicky does seem to have an edge currently on interface over MyBlogLog, but remember that as I previously wrote, MyBlogLog might well have an API available soon and that historical data is highly valuable if you have been using them for a while.

Also what happens if Clicky gets acquired? I feel more confident in a change over and longevity of the service if it is not being hosted on 3rd party servers.
If Performancing Metrics was just an affiliate white label, and they didn’t have anything to do with my data, I would be much happier to recommend them, but at this stage, Clicky direct gets my vote.

Update

Performancing Metrics and Clicky don’t seem to want to co-exist, thus one of them has to go at least until they improve their scripts so that they truly are different. Maybe there is a problem with shared declaration.

Performancing Metrics

Nothing highly personal, I would just prefer Clicky to have my data rather than Performancing.

UPDATE:- based on the information I currently have, I would much prefer to use and recommend the use of the Clicky service directly, rather than a white label version hosted by Performancing.

As is a tradition on this blog, I don’t have any favoritism, and I don’t hold any punches. It is what my readers expect, especially when I am also including affiliate links in a review.

Better The Devil You Know

There is a saying “Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t”

Another equally good expression is “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”

Is Performancing Metrics A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing?

Possibly…

Splashpress Media

Splashpress media is the owner of Performancing.com , along with many notable blogs such as the Blog Herald.

I haven’t had any direct dealings with the guys at Splashpress Media, though I have frequented their blogs, linked to them, they link to me etc.
But…

Splashpress Media Are Competitors

If you are in a profitable niche, maybe they are not in your niche now, but they may be in the future.

Their terms and conditions suggest that they will not provide your data to third parties, but that doesn’t prevent them aggregating data for their own use.

Performancing Tracks Everything

The Performancing Metrics service is tracking click data, and that could well include monetization links to affiliate programs, advertising and PPC.
Performancing also tracks page views

This data even if just looked on in an aggregated manner could be used to identify niche markets that are profitable or experiencing high growth.

Bad Taste

I was debating whether to mention this, but decided it would be best to have everything out in the open from the off.

Recently there was a blogosphere scandal regarding MyBlogLog tracking Adsense clicks. I don’t know how the “learned” A-list “reputable” bloggers could have missed it as it was reported on a number of prominent blogs previously, and it was obvious the data was being tracked.

Performancing.com is edited by David Krug
901AM is owned by David Krug

Just a few weeks ago Duncan Riley was writing for 901AM (he is just a paid seat there), and reporting on the “MyBlogLog Adsense scandal“, which didn’t really exist.

It doesn’t take much effort to research whether you have your head stuck in the sand, or whether there is something real to any story. As an example Darren Rouse first reported about the Adsense feature back in September 2006, and Michael Gray had discussed it as well.

I actually noted at the time Duncan’s piece was written that in the footer of David Krug’s 901AM blog was a reference to Performancing Metrics, pre-prepared to become a hyperlink to a sister site in the future.

I actually still have a screenshot of the full story.

It will be interesting to see how many people who attacked MyBlogLog’s Adsense tracking write balanced reviews of Performancing Metrics.

You see there were 2 key points

• Whether people knew about the tracking
• Would tracking Adsense really get you banned

As mentioned above, Darren Rouse and a number of others had reported it, and as I previously wrote, it was fairly obvious that MyBlogLog was tracking Adsense.

Can tracking Adsense get you banned? Actually it may be the opposite, the only way to defend yourself if you are accused of click-fraud, and the only way to determine whether Adsese are tracking your clicks correctly.

Jeremy Zawodny was previously asking people whether their MyBlogLog Adsense tracking results compared well with those clicks allocated by Google. Don certainly saw a difference, and discussed the differences in stats with the Adsense team. That wsn’t the first occurrence.

It should also be noted that Performancing Metrics in its previous incarnation always tracked Adsense stats. It was a known feature, as is the case with many stats packages.

As far as I am concerned the story was ill-conceived hackbait, and as 901AM was connected with a soon to launch competitor, they definately shouldn’t have run the story, even if it was topical and written by a 3rd party (Duncan has no direct interest in Performancing Metrics)

Performancing Metrics Has Great Features

So that is the negativity out of the way, lets look at Performancing Metrics and what it has to offer.

It is free for most bloggers and cheap for the rest of us
The statistics seem to be accurate
The statistics are “almost live” due to caching, but much faster than things like Google Analytics
The interface is fast – Google Analytics honestly after more than a year still runds exceptionally slowly

This isn’t the old Performancing Metrics that were highly rates, but honestly I never really liked the interface. The new Performancing Metrics is Slick.

Would I use Performancing Metrics?

Damn tough question… probably on a few sites.

Whilst I might universally use Google Analytics on every site I own, I doubt I would use Performancing Metrics on my niche blogs that are not public knowledge.

I might use them on a few public sites, including this one although I would much prefer a situation that a purely monetization company is running a statistics service, and not a potential competitor.

Once I have some more stats to compare over the next week, I will write a full review.

But Performancing Metrics isn’t Performancing Metrics

It is just a rebranded version of Clicky as is being reported.

Do Performancing still get access to the data, and why no mention of this in the terms of service?

Here is the answer:-

It is not just a ploy to earn affiliate commissions – he has “officially” licensed our product and is hosting it on the Performancing servers. He believes in our product, as do we, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this position. I don’t know what else to say, but I think you are being overly negative for no good reason.