MikePeters

Yes - IPv6 is supported

We currently test from three locations. A site is considered "down", only when the majority of the probes reach an agreement. This helps us avoid false positives due to local routing issues.

It's been working (big time) for us ever since we switched all landing pages to a "thin" design.

And no, we don't promote a cheaply-designed diet-pill website. SEO-driven, yes. Money-making, yes.

BTW - I love what you did with PhotoFlock.

While it is true CNN, Digg, CNet and others have chosen to switch to 1024x768, these sites target a different profile of users than the target demographics for our study.

SoftwareProjects is in the business of building websites that "sell". And by sell I am referring to the ability to convert an anonymous website visitor who is visiting a new website for the first time, into a qualified lead and then a paying customer.

Users frequenting Digg and CNet are in a completely different mindset, than someone looking to get a mortgage quote, or a user who is surfing the net looking for a new bookshelf.

For these type of websites, promoting a specific product/service, it's been shown you typically have 4 seconds to convince the user to stick around, before they hit the BACK button.

Our research conversion data shows users were more comfortable with buying when presented with a thin website.

If you examine popular retail sites targeting the average Internet user, you'll find they all follow a similar paradigm: Overstock.com, Target.com, BuyOwner.com, WalMart.com etc. - are all designed as "thin" sites, deliberately not utilizing the entire width of the page.