It seems like every where I go (as far as blogs are concerned), I seem to come across RSS feed subscriber numbers that look a little odd. They're odd because there aren't a whole lot of comments to coincide with the high subscriber count. That's almost impossible.
If you think what looks like an official FeedBurner chicklet showing the RSS feed subscriber count couldn't possibly be faked, guess again. How many of you check the source of the page? Where's that chicklet coming from? I can tell you with utmost certainty that I could make a chicklet like that and even make it look correct in the source of the page in under 2 hours, and that's with me being out of practice in coding. It would be even easier for me to fake a FeedBurner plain text feed count for all my feeds since I'd only have to edit the widget in the sidebar.
Why would someone fake their RSS feed subscriber count?
It's a marketing gimmick and it's unethical. Seasoned bloggers know that you don't show your RSS feed subscriber count if it's below 100 because it could have a negative effect on the casual reader. Some of them won't show it until it's above 200 (like me), or 500, or even 10,000 (see "Dosh Dosh Reaches 10,000 Subscribers (and the Reason Why People Subscribe to a Blog)").
The unscrupulous blogger will fake his or her RSS feed subscriber count in order to positively influence the casual reader into subscribing. It's very likely that the unscrupulous blogger has less than 50 actual RSS feed subscribers.
There's a free online tool that will expose the fakers.
I want to thank Grizzly for his article, "The Rating Blog - How to Game Your Stats" and for pointing out this online tool.
You can enter any FeedBurner feed address here: Feed Analysis v1.1 Analyzes Your FeedBurner Feeds. In just a few seconds, you'll get the complete feed statistics for a specified period. What you choose to do with the information, if you find a faker, is entirely up to you.
My own RSS feed statistics.
I was going to go through the trouble of capturing some screen shots and put them here, but I figured it was a waste of effort. My RSS feed subscriber count, as of right now, is 271 and that includes people who are subscribed to all 3 feeds. According to the tool, my blog is worth between $690 and $1380 USD. I average 21 new RSS feed subscribers per month.
Of course, some of the numbers are based on the last 3 months, a tumultuous time for me. I left the Philippines for 30+ days and didn't write a whole lot while I was in the United States. Doing stuff like that has a tendency to disrupt anything.
