The main stats they're reporting on are how many times the link was shared via embed.ly, and how many times it was viewed within the context of an Embedly-embedded video player (i.e. not directly viewed on YouTube).
It wouldn't surprise me if that selection bias is skewing the results when it comes to the lack of a boost from Ellen / SNL / The Today Show. Those appearances came late in the trend of the meme, and so it's logical to assume that anybody who learned about Gangnam Style from TV appearances isn't particularly meme- or net-savvy. Those aren't the sort of people who are likely to share the link to the Youtube video using embed.ly. They'll either tell their friends in person, or perhaps send them a direct YouTube link.
Also, since they're learning about the video from TV instead of from, say, an Embedly-powered blog post about it, I'd also assume they're more likely to view the video directly on YouTube rather than someone's posted Embedly copy. If you search on Google for 'Gangnam Style', the official YouTube link is the first result. If you check Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=gangnam%20style&d...), you'll notice an uptick in search traffic in the middle of September, a timeframe which includes all three of those TV appearances (the 10th, 14th, and 15th) but isn't represented in Embedly's stats.
This is admittedly all hearsay, but it wouldn't surprise me if Psy's TV appearances did actually result in a tangible bump in popularity.
It wouldn't surprise me if that selection bias is skewing the results when it comes to the lack of a boost from Ellen / SNL / The Today Show. Those appearances came late in the trend of the meme, and so it's logical to assume that anybody who learned about Gangnam Style from TV appearances isn't particularly meme- or net-savvy. Those aren't the sort of people who are likely to share the link to the Youtube video using embed.ly. They'll either tell their friends in person, or perhaps send them a direct YouTube link.
Also, since they're learning about the video from TV instead of from, say, an Embedly-powered blog post about it, I'd also assume they're more likely to view the video directly on YouTube rather than someone's posted Embedly copy. If you search on Google for 'Gangnam Style', the official YouTube link is the first result. If you check Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=gangnam%20style&d...), you'll notice an uptick in search traffic in the middle of September, a timeframe which includes all three of those TV appearances (the 10th, 14th, and 15th) but isn't represented in Embedly's stats.
This is admittedly all hearsay, but it wouldn't surprise me if Psy's TV appearances did actually result in a tangible bump in popularity.