Top all-time · #9151
John W. DeFeo
Personal blog · johnwdefeo.com/articleseconomicsculture
John W. DeFeo's personal blog at johnwdefeo.com covers economics and culture. Since 2018, 8 different Hacker News readers have linked it 32 times, most often “An Amazon Review Analysis”. The last post was in 2021, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (3) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link his posts on the decline of Google search traffic and an analysis of Amazon reviews. Commenters cite them while discussing search, affiliate sites and his data-cleaning methods.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 3 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
I like to think of myself as a jack-of-all-trades who is pretty good at a few of them. This site is a collection of my work and my thoughts.
Most-linked posts?
- An Amazon Review Analysis3 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2020-02-24
- Google 'Looks' for High Quality Websites2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-02-26
- I Write Letters to CEOs2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-05-30
What Hacker News says?
I agree with this sentiment: https://www.johnwdefeo.com/articles/google-is-ruining-the-in... That 7% conversion rate is legit (and was equally surprising to me). On top of that, my return rate is lower than typical. I know that my site isn't for everyone, but the people who do happen across it seem to get value from it.
Comment linking /articles/google-is-ruining-the-internet
on “My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero”Submitted I Write Letters to CEOs as a story · 449 points
HN discussionThe website is another run of the mill affiliate website built with the sole purpose of making the owner some money. This is the exact opposite of every principle that I believe in. If that were true, at minimum I would have: -Placed ads on the site -Opted into Skimbit's data sale program -Hyperlinked titles and images with affiliate codes -Written about huckstery things like CBD oil and salt lamps. I feel bummed to…
Comment linking /articles/amazon-review-analysis
on “My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero”Submitted SEO for Web Engineers as a story · 207 points
HN discussionI spent my first year scrubbing the seed corpus to minimize the GiGo effect: https://www.johnwdefeo.com/articles/amazon-review-analysis - I also review all the pricing data manually to flag and discard outliers. Not sure about why Anandtech stopped endurance testing, but I would assume cost cutting. I left the company in Sept. 2018 which was right after it was acquired by Future PLC. They're a frugal lot.
Comment linking /articles/amazon-review-analysis
on “My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero”Submitted A False Economy Powered by Ads and Lies as a story · 117 points
HN discussionThank you for the thoughtful reply. I agree that the spirit of my site is closer to "a statistics site for products" than a typical review site. Adding more content, photos, etc. may help to remedy my situation, but I would feel like I was abandoning my original purpose. I designed the site with "satisficers" in mind, i.e. allow people to make a decent decision as quickly as possible. No frills. Until recently, I wo…
Comment linking /articles/amazon-review-analysis
on “My Google Traffic Has Fallen to Zero”Submitted What If Google Doesn't Reward White Hat SEO? as a story · 99 points
HN discussionSubmitted I Write Letters to CEOs (2018) as a story · 87 points
HN discussionSubmitted X Factor Investing as a story · 12 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Altar of Covid-19 as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted Being a Better Photographer as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Google 'Looks' for High Quality Websites as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Deals via Data Science as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted SEO Lessons from 2019 as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Pros and Cons of Being a Jack of All Trades as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted A Simple Guide to Investing as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Amazon Review Analysis (2020) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Stem Toys as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Movies I've Seen as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted An Amazon Review Analysis as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Opposite of Loneliness as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Investing Lessons I'd Like to Share as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted New York on 35MM Film as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Google Search Quality Cheat Sheet as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted An Ode to 35MM Film as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Investing Lessons I'd Like to Share as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Marijuana Laws May Hurt People More Than the Drug as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Things That Rot Your Company as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Big Businesses Ruin Startups as a story · 2 points
HN discussion