I agree wholeheartedly.
FYI,
LionDollars stats show raw hits AND 2ND PAGE HITS, which includes direct to join page hits.
The issue for us has never been raw vs unique, but HOW MANY PEOPLE LAND ON THE JOIN OR CLICK THROUGH TO JOIN.
Here is my personal account stats for the month so far - my OWN traffic, TGP's, blog network etc:
Username Hits Uniques Joins Rebills Refunds Chargebacks
toyboyXXX 70945 25390 164 182 11 8
Hits = raw hits
Uniques = 2nd page/Join page hits
Now that makes 1:432 is to RAW (not uniques) and 1:154 is to join.
The interesting thing is that many affiliates look at their stats, ask the question as to why they look funny, get the above explanation and come back blank.
The other thing is that even my personal stats above are total bullshit when it comes to the usual affiliate.
I KNOW my traffic, I filter it, massage it, re-route it and clean it, because I know how to, and trust me, there are many peeps out there MUCH better at it than me.
That is why TGP and Blog traffic still works so well in my case.
2c
;-)