Survey: Clicking Links (I promise this is relevant)

Community
1

So, okay. We don’t usually have access to ROM download data. What we do have is a counter of How Many Clicks A Link Has Received. If you can see that DoW has 9,300 download link clicks – and, okay, say some of those are people updating patches, but also some people got the game from a different source, and we’ll say it evens out – then, boom, you’re probably looking at roughly that many downloads.

Except.

FEU doesn’t log a ‘click’ if you open it in a new tab, whether by right-click or middle-mouse clicking. And I always open this stuff in new tabs. So, actually, maybe our real download counts are all a lot bigger than we think. So it’s time for science.

(Of course, it’s kind of a fool’s errand because there are so many other little pop-up sites people wind up downloading ROMs from, but, hey…)

That in mind…

Do you left-click ROM links, or open them in new tabs?

  • I always LEFT CLICK.
  • It DEPENDS for some reason.
  • I always OPEN IN NEW TAB / MIDDLE MOUSE CLICK.
0 voters
5 Likes
2

Generally, I prefer to open in a new tab so I can just close the new tab instead of backspacing to get back to the thread, but sometimes I left-click instead of right-clicking without meaning to.

2 Likes
3

If I’m just downloading something on a whim, I left-click.
If I’m downloading en masse, I open things in new tabs so I don’t have to scroll back down the thread list.

1 Like
4

If you wanted to log downloads, the hosting site is probably better than trying to use feu clicks in the first place. I know mediafire tracks downloads.

5

mediafire is infested with misleading “download here” ads nowadays, I would recommend against placing any new uploads onto that site :pensive_face:

3 Likes
6

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it is? I’ve been using it for like 3 years now and no one has ever told me of any issues

7

I come here strictly on mobile so all mine are taps…. Not sure if that’s tracked differently. fwiw I usually single tap to open in same tab probably ~75% of the time.

1 Like
8

Are you using an adblocker? Those tend to be pretty good at their job ime.

10

I figured nearly everyone does, but yes I am

1 Like
11

I don’t use an adblocker…

12

I open in new tab when the link is big, but left click when link is smoll. That is how my brain works. Do not ask why.

5 Likes
13

I never knew middle mouse click opened in a new tab lol. I’ve been patching from my phone for a few years now, so I just click, download, then go back.

14

To answer this, if the post mentions the credits are more explained in the download link I like to make a new tab to I can read that over.

If I know it’s like just going to be a ups file to download I do left click.

15

I could never survive the guilt of a kid clicking on malware ads in my link because they don’t have adblock and their parents beating them up over it :pensive_face:

1 Like
16
  1. you’d have no way of knowing if that happens
  2. that’s not your fault, it’s the parents fault for not teaching their kids internet literacy and safety
  3. they have the tools available to prevent this, if they don’t use them, that’s also not your fault
1 Like
17

Hey, I’m really sorry that happened to you. You didn’t deserve that.

18

i intentionally left click links that i’m downloading from/purposefully consuming and mid click links that im just looking for credits or whatever. i dont think i had the concious thought that i need to do this, moreso i subconciously ask myself if i wanna +1 the link before i hit it lol. though it’s more important on tiny links i suppose

2 Likes
19

I don’t even know if I have a pattern tbh.

20

I never knew middle-mouse clicking would open a new tab

Because left-clicking means leaving the current page, I only do this when there is no more I want to browse.

(Checking my latest post in the DoW thread, AO3 recorded 3 more hits than FEU recorded. But this sample is biased: it’s the newest post in this thread.)

1 Like
21

Looking at the percentage, it seems like you can add roughly another 38% more clicks so DoW is probably around 9300 * 1.38 = 12,834 downloads. Nice.

12k players is a really big outreach