traffic-exchanges-explained

What in your view differentiates a good traffic exchange from a bad one? Why are some traffic exchanges hugely successful in terms of membership numbers while others never seem to gain popularity?
Having looked at the main stream traffic exchanges, it seems very clear to me that their support for new traffic exchange launches has a lot to do with their prospects of success. Why? The answer is simple, if I contact 160 000 surfers on my exchange telling them how great some new traffic exchange is, I will obviously have some degree of success. Firstly you are receiving that news from someone who has credility in your eyes as far as traffic exchanges are concerned. Secondly, traffic exchange surfers are constantly on the look out for new exchanges and new offers. There is no TE surfer who is only surfing one traffic exchange.
So first priority for joining a traffic exchange is the number of members that a particular exchange has.
Secondly, I believe that the easy of use of a traffic exchange also is a contributing factor to its popularity. By ease of use I mean (a) the length of the timer in seconds for surfing, (b) the number of credits earned per view, (c) the number of website/splash pages you are allowed simultaneously.
The simple fact is that anyone today can for very little money (next to nothing) purchase a traffic exchange script and set up business. Yet the profits from such an exchange depend on traffic as does everything on the Internet. That is where the small start-ups fail. It is a vicious circle. Not sufficient adverising power without the advertising support and added credibility of the "big boys", little traffic, little interest. The traffic exchange fails. The secret to the success of any traffic exchange is the number of surfers/members as this is a sign of the exposure you would get by joining such an exchange. If you are on a traffic exchange and see there are currently three people online you can estimate that you get zero exposure, If, however, you are on a traffic exchange and see there are currently 324 other members surfing then this is a very different story in terms of the amount of exposur eyour website will receive. I believe it is increasingly difficult to get a foot in the door in the traffic exchange business and - I may be wrong - I suspect that the big and successful exchanges are using their power and credibility to create the new exchanges and by that I mean the new exchanges that will survive over time.