[GET-dev] web hits ranking

[Alexander Wait Zaranek]

On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Kimberly Robasky <krobasky at gmail.com> wrote:
> But before we do anything, will GET be search-engine ready after  Clinical Analysis
> paper is accepted? If not, what else has to happen before we can register it for
> crawling by Google/Yahoo?
>
This needs its own discussion thread!

> Without further ado, here are some ideas for getting web hits ranked
> by the community:
>
> * Incentive: top contributers win $500 (full package) sequencing from 23andMe
>
> This is better than a cash prize because it will have a tendancy to
> only motivate those with a sincere interest in the field, and not just
> random hackers and ne'er-do-wells.
>
Why not award this prize to a PGP participant of the individuals
choice (could choose themselves but it has to be somebody registered
for PGP).

> * Link exchange:
>
> This is a well-known key component to building online traffic.  GET
> should have a published directory of links whereby like-minded
> webmasters can submit links to their website after they have shown
> that they have linked to us.  I have a PHP module that I developed off
> an open-source base that does this, and can probably be integrated
> into GET with a little effort.
>
Since we sell advertising spots this would have to be discussed with
Jason and thought about very carefully.   Consider Wikipedia.  The
only thing advertised on their site is their own donation box.

> * Interactive Banner for Link Exchange
>
> We need to have a banner that can be delivered for link exchange (see
> above).  We can be a little creative about this by including maybe
> some kind of AJAX application to stochastically pull an unrated link
> from a high-auto-score variant to include on the banner, along with
> buttons to allow us to capture a rating from the mere act of clicking
> our banner.
>
Maybe I don't follow how this might work.  But, again, I'm skeptical
that we want to offer "like-minded web-masters" space on the
main-site.  No?

> * Referrels
>
> Another key component to traffic-building; we can offer bonuses to
> people who refer a winner - say, $300 (minimal package) in sequencing
> from 23andMe.  The MIT guys that one the DARPA red-balloon contest did
> this.
>
Sounds great.  This seems far safer and if we can get our contests
publicized on Slashdot, CNN, blogs, etc.  we would be off to the
races.

> * Object of the "game"
>
> Rate links and/or editors (cannot rate editors you've referred, out to
> 3 connections?)
>
> Rating system:
> 10 points: rate a link
> 5 points: thumbs-up'ing a popular editor
> 1 point: thumbs-up'ing an unrated editor
>
> For this to work well, it's essential that ratings should include a
> comment field so raters can explain their rankings (there was a recent
> Science paper that kind of backs this up!).
>
> None of these components would take a terribly long time to develop,
> and I think it's pretty important to get it rolling quickly if we
> don't want to be displaced.  Can we have this ready and waiting for
> immediate release when the Clinical Analysis paper has been accepted?
>
I wouldn't wait that long.  I'd try to get this working on the dev
site immediately and then rolled out to production when we feel it's
stable!

Maybe others will chime in.

Thanks,
Sasha