https://marco.org/2009/04/12/when-your-sole-metric-is-the-number-of-times-that
When your sole metric is the number of times that pages on your site are loaded (and, that those delicious and life-sustaining ads are served along with them), it becomes unbelievably tempting to start doing things that you know are total bullshit.
— Merlin Mann: Free as in “Me”, a great article about creative motivations and web traffic that you should really read.