What is the Ultimate 50 Network?

We are an internet portal that ranks the top sites on the web in a number of different categories.

How do you work?

We rank sites by how much unique traffic they get a day. Webmasters place a piece of HTML code on their site which displays a small icon. This icon tracks how much unique traffic the site gets a day... the more visitors the site receives, the higher it will place in the rankings.

What do you mean by "unique traffic"?

We count each request for the button from an individual person that visits your site only once per day. This keeps the rankings fair and accurate.

What about cheaters? Can't people cheat by reloading the page?

Our software automatically finds cheaters. The same person reloading a page over and over will not increase their rank. Also, we can see when a site places their button onon a different site, trying to get more traffic. These sites are automatically removed and banned from our system.

Can I change the HTML code? Do I have to display the button on my site?

You cannot change the code in anyway that makes it smaller, invisible, or non-clickable as this would be unfair to other sites. We track all page locations for buttons and have software that "spot checks" to make sure people are being fair. If you attempt to cheat the system you will be banned and removed from our system.

If you notice anyone not complying with the rules or attempting to cheat, you should contact us immediately at admin@ultimate50.com. All complaints will be kept anonymous.

How do I join?

Just go directly to the Ultimate 50 category you are interested in and click on "Add Your Site"!

What does the Hit % field in the rankings mean?

The hit % is how many visitors you get compared to the #1 site in the rankings. If you have a hit % of 65%, that means your site gets 65% of the visitors that the #1 site gets.

My site is listed and appears as a link, but I can't click on it... why?

Your sites link is only active if you receive traffic. If you don't receive any traffic, nobody will be able to click on your site.

What does it mean when a site is listed in black and the word "suspended" appears next to it?

Sites become "suspended" if they intentionally modify the code or try and abuse our service in any way. Examples include listing the icon on a site completley unrelated to the one being rated in order to gain traffic or intentionally hiding the icon so that visitors cannot see it. Sites that do not properly fix the problem after they have been suspended will become banned from our service.

I'm having trouble with my button... I put the HTML code in and it won't work!

Please make sure you have copied the code exactly as shown. It must be put in exactly as shown or it will not work. If you cannot get it to work you may want to have a friend help you or contact your web host/isp for more help.

My site moved up 5 positions in the rankings, but the button on my website still shows the old position... why isn't it working?

The button really has changed, but your browser is "caching" the old image. This means your browser is remembering the old image so it doesn't have to keep reloading it and slow down your modem. Usually it will automatically get a new copy after a couple of days... you can also try emptying the cache in your browsers preferences, or try holding down the CTRL key while hitting reload.

How do the stats work? I track my own server statistics and the number you are showing does not match.

One reason is that we track unique "traffic" rather than unique "visitors". Unique traffic is counted as a request to our servers for your button from a visitor to your site. This will typically be lower than the number of unique visitors you receive. The reason for this is called "browser caching". When you visit a website, your browser caches (stores) a local copy of the image so that it does not have to load it each time you visit the page. Your browser actually only requests a new copy of the image every few days.

The second reason is that you may not have the button located on every "portal" page of your site. A portal page is a page that your visitors come to your site through and may not always be the first or front page of your site. For example, someone may have bookmarked your "news" page and may come directly to your news page without visiting the front page. If you only have the icon on the front page then this visit has not been counted.

The last reason is that you may have the icon too far down the page and it may not be loaded in time to count. If you have a large web page and place the icon near the very end, the person who is visiting your page may click to another location before the button has time to load. The closer the icon is placed to the top of your HTML code, the more likely you are to have a visitor counted.

The current 3 day average is what we use to rank your site. This is the average of the current days traffic + the 2 previous days traffic.

The system we use is the same for every site that is a member of the Ultimate 50. Every sites traffic is calculated the exact same way and is a fair determination of the ranking for that site.