Public vs Private - Stats, Stealth and Invisible counter widgets

QUESTION: “Hi. Do I have to put up the counter code on my blog? I just want to know the stats, but I don't want to show everyone the stats. Thanks!”

ANSWER:

Great question! In order for BlogPatrol to count stats for your blog, the BlogPatrol counter code must be copied into your blog's HTML template code. Otherwise, it is physically impossible for our site to track the visits to your site. Our terms and conditions also require that active BlogPatrol accounts display one of our counter icons on your blog or website.

We offer two types of blog counter widgets or icons: "Stats widgets" and "Stealth widgets", which are defined as:

• Stats Widgets: Counter icons that display the total number of unique visitors to your blog. (When the same visitor returns to your site, s/he is recorded as a unique visitor if the visit occurs more than 24 hours after the previous visit.) We offer 18 different stats widgets which you can choose when you signup. You can also change this choice at any time by logging into your BlogPatrol account, selecting a different widget icon, and clicking the "Modify" button.

• Stealth Widgets: Smaller-sized counter icons that do not display any stats. We offer 6 different stealth widgets. You can interchange among stats and stealth widgets at any time by logging into your BlogPatrol account, selecting a different widget icon, and clicking the "Modify" button.
  

• Invisible Widgets: Represent counter code which displays nothing on your blog. We do not currently offer "Invisible widgets".

When one of your visitors clicks on the BlogPatrol widget (whether stats or stealth), they are taken to the BlogPatrol homepage. Please note that making your stats public allows others access to your stats reports, but not to any of your account information, particularly username and email address.

An additional layer of privacy that we provide to users is the option to password-protect one's stats reports. The following information is published on our Privacy Policy page :

~ If you wish to make your BlogPatrol statistics private, please select the checkbox labeled "Password-protect my stats reports so that they do not appear on Google search results" option in your account settings. Private statistics do not appear in Google and other search engine results.

~ Many users like to share their site statistics with the public, so they do not "password protect" their BlogPatrol accounts. Public statistics are indexed and searchable by Google and other search engines.

~ Public statistics can easily be shared by emailing or bookmarking the unique URL of one's BlogPatrol account. For example, one can email or bookmark the unique URL of the BlogPatrol demo stats account.

~ Also, public statistics have the View link after the blog URL on the BlogPatrol Top Blogs rankings page; private statistics do not.

~ An important distinction is that making your stats public allows others access to your stats reports, but not to any of your account information, particularly username and email address.

~ Converting from public stats to private stats will prevent the public from viewing your current statistics, but it will not affect the cached results stored by search engines. Over time, search engines may remove cached results of private stats pages, but BlogPatrol.com cannot control the activities of Google or any other search engines.