Topwebgames for traffic?

[cpvr]

Over the years, I used to use topwebgames to bring traffic for a game called "Zetapets", it worked wonders - up until I quit their game - and saw what James was doing with apex and saw what he was doing - and I told Aaron to come up with a better design or he'd lose his massive appeal.

He still hasn't listened to me.

Is topwebgames still a good source of traffic for online games? If yes, how much traffic does it bring to your game?

[Goffdahl]

In the beginning when we listed our game we received some traffic. But later on we dropped down the ladders and now we receive next to zero traffic from Topwebgames.

[codestryke]

Over the past 30 days for one of our games:
Apex - 6
MPOGD - 6
TopWebGames - 4

Interesting sites that give us greater hits then the above:
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Bing

TopWebGames, Apex and MPOGD are going down the tubes and fast for generating traffic. Couple of new and up and coming directory sites are already sending us more hits then those three combined times 3. I know my partner and I are in the process of removing Apex from all the sites and I'm sure TWG will follow. I'm not going to send my traffic to them for nothing in return, hell at this point I think we would get more traffic making a myspace page then to send them votes and get almost nothing back.

[OBY]

It seems like specific marketing sites don't do justice anymore IMO.  Things like Facebook, Twitter and a cool video on youtube can get scores more traffic.   Hundreds of Millions of people combined use these sites daily.  How many people do these game sites say they get daily?  Thousands... probably.  Write interesting news articles and submit them to social news sites such as Digg, Mixx, reddit and even fark. 

There are so many other outlets to use these days that work soo much better.  With marketing, you have to stay on top of it or it fails.  You don't need to pay for ads, just keep your profiles updated.  A few hours a week should drive traffic to your games.

[Mufasa]

I get decent video from apex, never bothered with TWG because I don't like their audience.

We get a LOT more traffic from viral placements though.

[Jerry (WGF)]

Well, voting sites are free of charge, so why would you NOT use them?

[Harkins]

They distract your playerbase. Anytime they click a link off the site they may not come back, especially if they're going to a site that's going to advertise a bunch of competitors to them.

And some of them are so ugly and flaky that the game looks bad for taking them seriously. For example, here's one that had a tabled web design from 1996, teenage goth color scheme, no clear call to action, and PHP errors:

[Mufasa]

Oh the irony of getting this email right after I read this post:

Dear webgame owner, owning a webgame is great fun. But it is even more fun when you get a large number of people playing the game (not to mention the fun of seeing a little extra income every month from players paying for benefits). Without a doubt, you realize the importance of a growing player base. Without a doubt, you've already done some advertising. www.webgamefavorites.com is there for exactly that purpose, to help you promote your game. We have just completed our website, and implemented the voting system, which provides registered sites with a button to put on their site, allowing their players to vote their favorite game as "Webgame Favorite". As a registered site, you will receive a link to your website, a (short) description), the option to upload a 468*60 banner, and the chance to gain eternal fame and glory as most popular game. And the best thing is, all this is entirely free of charge. All that we require from you in return is that you place the code for the votebutton on your site, in a place where your members can easily see it. But...that's not much to ask, as it is in your own interest to get as many votes as possible! So, please take a moment to register your game: http://webgamefavorites.com/topsites/index.php?a=join and put the code provided anywhere on your site. As an extra bonus we offer you some free premium advertising if you respond before january 25th. To claim this bonus, all you have to do is register your game, implement the code and then reply to this email with an attached .jpg banner (size 120x600 or 160x600 or 728x90 or 125x125). It's up to you to decide which banner size you prefer. Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in a reply to this message as well. Regards, Jerry http://www.webgamefavorites.com

[Blacklava]

I get decent video from apex, never bothered with TWG because I don't like their audience.

We get a LOT more traffic from viral placements though.

What you mean by "Viral placements" here?
Referral links and word of mouth around your game?

[Sunchaser]

Maybe Social Networks? Although I tried to search the term PBBG in Facebook and it didn't bring lots of results. I will try prison block and cypher to see what i find