Blubrry Statistics Compared to Other Services
How Blubrry Statistics Are Calculated
Blubrry Podcast Statistics are designed for accuracy and compliance with industry standards. Here’s how we calculate downloads:
- Unique IP filtering: Each listener is identified by IP address.
- User agent & location checks: We confirm valid podcast apps, browsers, and locations.
- Bot & crawler filtering: Automated traffic is excluded.
- Network adjustments: Special handling for large networks (universities, businesses) where many listeners share one IP.
Note: This method ensures your statistics reflect real listeners, not inflated request counts.
How Other Systems Compare
FeedBurner / Feedly
- What they measure: Feed subscriptions (how many devices checked the feed in the last 24–48 hours).
- Limitations: Cloud services like Feedly collapse many users into a single request, leading to underreporting.
Warning: FeedBurner and Feedly stats do not track downloads. Blubrry does not recommend using these services for podcast measurement.
Web Server Statistics (Webalizer, AWStats)
- What they measure: All file requests from your server logs.
- Limitations: Count bots, spiders, and repeated requests as “downloads,” leading to inflated numbers.
- Good for: Bandwidth usage tracking, not podcast downloads.
JavaScript Web Statistics (Google Analytics, Jetpack)
- What they measure: Activity on web pages (via JavaScript).
- Limitations: Podcast apps (like Apple Podcasts) never load web pages or JavaScript, so those plays are invisible.
- Good for: Website engagement, not podcast downloads.
Shortened URL Counters (Bitly, TinyURL, goo.gl)
- What they measure: Browser “hits” on shortened links.
- Limitations: Do not account for multiple hits per download; often inflated.
- Problem: Shortened links strip file extensions (required for Apple Podcasts and most apps) and attract unnecessary crawler traffic.
Warning: Never use shortened URLs for podcast media files. They break podcast app compatibility and inflate stats.
Learn more: Podcast Statistics vs. Web Statistics in the Blubrry Podcasting Manual.
Need help? Contact Blubrry Support: https://blubrry.com/support