I’ve been using the Statistics plugin, but since Google now charges for that feature, I’ve disabled it on my sites.
Are there any plans to offer a built-in plugin (or option) that simply shows the number of views for each ad — similar to how WordPress displays post views?
I don’t want to pay Google just to track something basic. Most classified ad themes already include a simple view counter, visible to users, without relying on external services.
Is this something you’re considering adding to HivePress?
Thanks for your feedback, we plan to add simple self-hosted stats to the Statistics extension, e.g. the number of favorites, sales, etc. including the views counter (although it may not be reliable). Please share the Google limitations you mentioned, the Analytics API seems to be free but there’s a daily quota.
It was working fine for me for months, then on August 9th it suddenly stopped recording traffic. When I checked my Google Cloud Console, it said data collection was paused until I added a credit card and re-verified my site. They gave me a $300 credit but made it clear I’d be billed once that ran out, with usage-based charges.
That felt like overkill just to track basic views, so I turned off the Statistics plugin and switched to a simple “Post Views” plugin. It’s lightweight, shows counts right on the listings, and doesn’t depend on Google — which to me is more reliable in the long run.
Just an FYI in case someone wants a simple post view counter for their listings, since I discussed this about Google’s complicated program. If you install “Post Views Counter” plugin, it’s currently free, and just configure it for listings. It will put a basic post view counter at the bottom of the listing. Here’s a screenshot and it’s very simple.
