{"id":3035,"date":"2008-04-08T22:35:21","date_gmt":"2008-04-08T17:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=3035"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:24:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T08:54:47","slug":"entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrecard: How the Blogger Ad Network Worked and What Happened"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Entrecard<\/strong> was a popular blogger advertising network around 2008: you &#8220;dropped&#8221; your card on other blogs to earn credits, then spent those credits on ad spots on other blogs. This article explains how Entrecard worked, why its card-dropping game was changed in April 2008, our own experience with it at QOT, and what bloggers can use to get traffic today.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-67281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026-1024x538.webp\" alt=\"Entrecard blog advertising network explained\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026-768x403.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-2026.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Entrecard was a credit-based ad exchange for bloggers, launched in late 2007 by Graham Langdon. In April 2008 it changed its ad pricing so that prices depended only on demand for a blog&#8217;s ad spot, not on card drops, to stop people gaming the system. The network is no longer running, so today bloggers grow traffic through search, social sites, email newsletters and real collaboration instead.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae5e5919b768\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae5e5919b768\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#How_Entrecard_worked\" >How Entrecard worked<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Entrecards_2008_pricing_change_the_card-dropping_game_stops\" >Entrecard&#8217;s 2008 pricing change: the card-dropping game stops<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Our_experience_with_Entrecard_at_QOT\" >Our experience with Entrecard at QOT<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#What_happened_to_Entrecard\" >What happened to Entrecard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Entrecard_alternatives_how_to_grow_blog_traffic_today\" >Entrecard alternatives: how to grow blog traffic today<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#What_was_Entrecard\" >What was Entrecard?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Why_did_Entrecard_change_its_pricing\" >Why did Entrecard change its pricing?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Does_Entrecard_still_work\" >Does Entrecard still work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/04\/entrecard-changes-pricing-algorithm-card-dropping-game-stops\/#Are_blog_traffic_exchanges_worth_using_today\" >Are blog traffic exchanges worth using today?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Entrecard_worked\"><\/span>How Entrecard worked<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Entrecard was a great concept. Bloggers placed an Entrecard widget on their site and could drop their &#8220;business card&#8221; on other blogs that hosted the widget. Each drop earned credits (EC), and you could spend credits to place your ad in other blogs&#8217; widgets. The aim was to build a social network of bloggers who sent traffic to each other.<\/p>\n<p>The problem was that a blog&#8217;s ad price was largely set by <strong>how actively cards were dropped<\/strong>. People gamed the system by dropping hundreds of cards a day, prices rocketed, and well-known sites started removing the widget.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Entrecards_2008_pricing_change_the_card-dropping_game_stops\"><\/span>Entrecard&#8217;s 2008 pricing change: the card-dropping game stops<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/entrecard-prices.jpg\" alt=\"Expensive Entrecard ad prices in 2008\" width=\"133\" height=\"175\" align=\"left\" \/>In April 2008 Entrecard announced a new pricing algorithm. Your ad price was now set <strong>solely by demand for your ad spot<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every time someone bought, or applied to buy, an ad on your site, your price doubled.<\/li>\n<li>Every time an ad finished running, your price halved.<\/li>\n<li>Prices <strong>no longer had anything to do with drops<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When the new system went live, ad prices swung up and down wildly while it settled, and some blogs shot up to 16,384 EC per day.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Our_experience_with_Entrecard_at_QOT\"><\/span>Our experience with Entrecard at QOT<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We used to have an Entrecard widget on QOT too, but the drop gaming pushed other blogs&#8217; prices beyond our reach. I could not keep dropping hundreds of cards every day (unless I used Entrecard browsers like Sitehoppin), and I could not earn enough credits to buy an ad on any reasonably busy site. When the new pricing arrived, we put the widget back on our front page to see how it would perform.<\/p>\n<p>Within 5 minutes of activating the widget, our price jumped from 2 EC to 32 EC and ads were lining up. Maybe we had been selling too cheap!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happened_to_Entrecard\"><\/span>What happened to Entrecard<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In September 2008 founder Graham Langdon listed Entrecard for sale, then changed his mind. The network gradually faded as bloggers moved their attention to Twitter, Facebook and search, and Entrecard is no longer running. Many traffic-exchange widgets of that era met the same end, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/09\/try-blogrush-widget-for-10-levels-of-free-referral-traffic\/\">the BlogRush widget<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Entrecard_alternatives_how_to_grow_blog_traffic_today\"><\/span>Entrecard alternatives: how to grow blog traffic today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There is no direct replacement for Entrecard, and click or traffic exchanges are a poor idea today because search engines and ad networks value real readers. These work better:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Google Search Console<\/strong><\/a>: see which searches bring readers and fix pages that are close to ranking.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Pinterest<\/strong><\/a>: still a strong traffic source for how-to, food, travel and craft blogs.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Reddit<\/strong><\/a>: share genuinely useful posts in relevant communities, following each community&#8217;s rules.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Email newsletter<\/strong>: build a list so readers come back without depending on any network.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guest posts and collaborations<\/strong>: write for, or with, blogs in your niche to reach their readers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a longer list, see our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/04\/top-sites-to-drive-traffic-to-your-blog\/\">sites that drive traffic to your blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_was_Entrecard\"><\/span>What was Entrecard?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Entrecard was a credit-based advertising exchange for bloggers. You earned credits by dropping your card on other blogs and spent them on ad spots in other blogs&#8217; widgets.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_did_Entrecard_change_its_pricing\"><\/span>Why did Entrecard change its pricing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Prices were tied to card drops, so people gamed the system by dropping cards in bulk. From April 2008, prices depended only on demand: they doubled with each ad purchase and halved when an ad finished.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Entrecard_still_work\"><\/span>Does Entrecard still work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Entrecard is no longer running, so its widgets and credits no longer do anything.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_blog_traffic_exchanges_worth_using_today\"><\/span>Are blog traffic exchanges worth using today?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Generally no. Traffic from exchanges rarely turns into loyal readers. Search, Pinterest, communities and email bring more lasting results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Entrecard was a popular blogger advertising network around 2008: you &#8220;dropped&#8221; your card on other blogs to earn credits, then&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","category-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67285,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions\/67285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}