So, I needed to look up something on my SmugMug account, and I noticed an icon labeled ‘Stats’ under the Settings tab. I’ve never looked at it before nor knew it was there.
On a lark, I clicked on it . . .
Say what?! . . . 1,744 views of my photos just for today?
. . . so I clicked on the stats for the last month . . .
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! . . . 64,841 views, over a thousand per day, and a few days topping three thousand.
OK, I thought, this must be bots scrubbing photos for AI databases, so I contacted SmugMug and asked them if they plan on doing anything to keep bots from sampling the photos . . . and they said they already do. Those views are actual views.
They explained further that even if there were bots that scrub the galleries, they would not register as views.
So, let me get this straight . . . in the past thirty days, my SmugMug photos have been viewed 64,814 times.
Mind. Blown.
OK, so what was popular today?
Those are lists of galleries with the corresponding views for each gallery. It’s a long list, so I just captured the top and then the last part of it, with the total . . .
Each one of those is a gallery in SmugMug. The last gallery listed is from 2009, and this is one of the images in the gallery:
What about the last seven days?
The last gallery listed is one of my free screensaver galleries. Again, here’s an image from that gallery.
At this point, I was curious and clicked on what was popular for the past month . . .
The image at the top of the post is from the last gallery listed.
So, now, I was curious about where all these viewers came from; where were they referred from?
That is weird . . . I only had 40 visitors today, totaling 90 views on my blog (a little more than average for one day).
What about for the past 30 days?
Wait . . . 10,576 hits from my blog?! . . . plus 1,343 from the old URL of the blog (it’s supposed to be mapped over to dispersetracks.com, so I don’t even know how that can be).
And yes, I have an Instagram account, but I’m rarely on there, and it’s not linked to SmugMug.
Again, I’m . . . gobsmacked.
I have no idea who’s looking at my photos or how they can be referred from the blog by the thousands when, on a good day, I might get 30-40 visitors . . . and few of them ever click on the links or images.
I don’t plan to dwell on it, and I investigated the matter as much as I intend to, but none of it makes sense.
. . . and I still suspect some sort of AI devilry at play . . .
That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.
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Note 2: Sharing a link that points back here is perfectly OK.
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Disperser Tracks 
It wasn’t me! I only look at your Smug Mug about once a year! I hope you solve the mystery!
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There are only a few people who ever go to SmugMug from the blog (literally, a few).
I don’t understand it, but I’ve exhausted whatever curiosity I had about it . . . but I still don’t believe it.
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If you could charge even 10 cents a visit you can make some decent supplemental income!
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There is already the option for visitors to buy the SmugMug images (digital, in print, or on various items), and since I joined (sometime in the early 2000s), I’ve had four sales (six 4×6 prints (shipped!) and two downloads) for a total of . . . $5.54.
The last order was in November of 2015. Perhaps I’ll do a post about those images.
Since SmugMug does not disburse until the profit reaches $100, that’s sitting in my account.
. . . so much for making a living from my photos . . .
OK, so I don’t do any marketing, and some of the old images have large watermarks, making them unsuitable for anyone to frame and display in their homes, offices, or military installations.
Still, I always laugh when people tell me I should sell my photos . . . a maniacal and slightly unhinged laugh.
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I know that laugh. I’ve heard it many times.
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. . . you ‘been spying on me?
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Wowza! That’s wild! Well, if the viewery-visitor-lookers are human peoples, then I know they are enjoying your photos. I enjoy your SmugMug photos and your photo galleries, but I only have time to go and view once each posting. (BTW: Great photos in THIS post!)
Maybe Bones Bob Bones’ friend Devil Dr. Devil is messin’ with you! (Ha! Just teasin’!)
(((HUGS))) 🙂
PS…I’ve always thought “gobsmacked” is a great word!
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Thanks, Carolyn.
ElBob used to use gobsmacked and Perry (having had exposure to Brits) is also fond of it.
Me? I was just looking for an eye-catching title.
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You found it!
I still miss Sir Brian so much.
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You meant, “On a hawk, I clicked on it . . .”, not a lark, didn’t you?
Anyway, these are awesome stats, real or dreamt by SmugMug (it does have ‘smug’ in its name).
I am one of your SmugMug galleries’ greatest fan and frequent visitor. Surely, there are many out there with similarly good taste.
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Good one, AnnMarie.
I’ve had further conversations with SmugMug and did some digging. There are conflicting stats that point to a more sedate — and realistic — view history, one more consistent with the numbers from WordPress.
Realistically, you are one of the few who visits SmugMug. And, as I often said, SmugMug (and the other photo depositories) have many, many, amazing images, so the competition of eyes is very fierce. Given I don’t advertise, and given the low readership of the blog, I surmise the large numbers are, in fact, some sort of automated indexing bot.
But, no matter . . . I enjoy what I do, and even if only a few more get anything out of it, it’s enough.
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