X’s recent update on iOS may be contributing to inflated traffic metrics for certain websites, including Substack and Bluesky. Following the update, these platforms observed a significant rise in what has been described as “fake” views. Nick Eubanks, Vice President of owned media at Semrush, indicated that this occurrence results from a new feature that preloads content before users engage with it.
Eubanks explained that this situation exemplifies “metrics distortion” attributable to changes at the platform level. The update allows X to collapse a post when a user clicks on its link, enabling interaction with various post features while viewing the linked webpage. Previously, links opened a separate browser that blocked the original post, negatively impacting engagement.
According to Eubanks, the new browser design fetches link content in the background, potentially inflating analytics by increasing perceived click rates. He cautioned that this could mislead advertisers, publishers, and creators regarding actual traffic, as the inflated metrics may not accurately represent genuine human visits.
Substack CEO Chris Best initially reacted positively to the rise in traffic after the update, only to later recognize that much of this increase was illusory. Nevertheless, he noted that Substack did experience a real traffic increase after accounting for the inflated views.
Paul Frazee, a product manager at Bluesky, echoed similar concerns, stating that X’s preloading system has compromised its metrics for measuring daily active users. He pointed out that while the new feature aims to enhance loading speeds, it inadvertently provides additional traffic to external sites that appears legitimate.
Nikita Bier, X’s product head, mentioned that this new link functionality addresses complaints from creators about lower engagement on posts with links. However, while preloading may enhance user engagement on X, it poses challenges for creators and publishers outside the platform by complicating their ability to track the source of their traffic. Eubanks warned that such practices blur the line between genuine user engagement and automated behaviors, underscoring the need for transparency in how engagement is quantified.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/816451/x-fake-traffic-preloading-links-bluesky-substack