Is it too good ?

[sealtech]

Morning Everyone,

So here goes for my first post - I have seen this site for sale on flippa and my sceptical head is telling me its too good to be true -

http://flippa.com/auctions/84373/50-...Blog-1Day-Only

For the amount of money he is asking it seems like a very good buy but - really why would you sell something that is going to earn you $400/£300 permonth ? with no work.

Thanks for any pointers with my first post.

Allan.

[hooperman]

Hi Allan

I wouldn't touch autoblogs simply because they churn out duplicate content. That's bad for users and bad for search engines. Maybe other people have had success with this kind of thing, but my opinion is to stay clear of it.

The worrying thing about the traffic stats is that you can't tell where the traffic is coming from (unlike with Google Analytics).

LOL - I've just noticed that the time ending is 1 hour and 56 minutes. This looks like a potential impulse buy!

I would leave this one Allan, and don't feel rushed into a purchase by the auction ending time.

[sealtech]

Thanks Hooperman

Impulse but - me - never

Good point but was just trying to understand if the site is really earning money. I have just read a post on here about traffic stats and how they can be "tweaked" so i was just considering the earning potential - can that be tweaked the same way ? posting code in multiple sites ?

I promise I wont ask the same question twice !
Allan.

[hooperman]

I have just read a post on here about traffic stats and how they can be "tweaked"

awstats and other stats screenshots can be photoshopped, but Google Analytics PDFs can't be. If you can get guest access to the Google Analytics, then that's even better because then you can conduct your own research and not be limited to the data in the PDFs posted. Many sellers will say "I haven't installed GA" but that is often an excuse. If they have a Wordpress blog, for example and the auction is running for a few days, they have time to add the GA code (very easy to do on Wordpress) and collect enough data to give some pointers.

[benitez17]

awstats and other stats screenshots can be photoshopped, but Google Analytics PDFs can't be. If you can get guest access to the Google Analytics, then that's even better because then you can conduct your own research and not be limited to the data in the PDFs posted. Many sellers will say "I haven't installed GA" but that is often an excuse. If they have a Wordpress blog, for example and the auction is running for a few days, they have time to add the GA code (very easy to do on Wordpress) and collect enough data to give some pointers.

Why do you say that Google Analytics PDFs can't be photoshopped? I can't think of any reason that someone with Adobe Acrobat couldn't modify the files or someone who was really dedicated couldn't set up a totally fake report. I'm not saying it would be easy, but I don't know why it would be impossible. Is there something I don't know?

[hooperman]

When I've emailed myself reports from GA in the past, they've come directly from Google so there's no chance to manipulate between clicking Send and the recipient getting the PDF. What data is present on the GA view you're currently using is precisely what gets emailed. I'm assuming that's how Flippa are handling it, and it's the only reason that I can think of that Flippa would put their "Verified" stamp of approval on it.

[benitez17]

Regarding the auction in question, I agree that the seller is trying to rush people into a quick buy, which isn't a good sign.

Also, the fact that he doesn't mention earnings for October or December, that he lists Adsense revenue from September when the site was started in October, and he claims that next month's revenue is going to be way higher than any previous month makes me suspicious. I am guessing that he is listing the checks that he received, but that is somewhat confusing and still doesn't explain why there is revenue from before he says the site existed.

I wouldn't recommend buying the site, unless there is a really good explanation for the issues I mentioned, and even then it's pretty expensive for an autoblog, even with that claimed revenue.

[sealtech]

Thanks guys - all constructive

And i'll put my wallet away now

[daveslutzkin]

When I've emailed myself reports from GA in the past, they've come directly from Google so there's no chance to manipulate between clicking Send and the recipient getting the PDF. What data is present on the GA view you're currently using is precisely what gets emailed. I'm assuming that's how Flippa are handling it, and it's the only reason that I can think of that Flippa would put their "Verified" stamp of approval on it.

That's essentially right. We receive an email directly from GA and we check carefully that it is in fact from them using a variety of methods. We catch a few every month who are attempting to get around this.

[benitez17]

That's essentially right. We receive an email directly from GA and we check carefully that it is in fact from them using a variety of methods. We catch a few every month who are attempting to get around this.

Dave, I noticed that you put a little notification box below the verified GA PDF. That's a nice touch.

Thanks to hooperman for cluing me in about how to obtain a legitimate GA PDF. I have always just asked for access to the account, and never dealt with the PDFs in any other place besides Flippa.