IYT ladders suck. Too much reward for just playing. The idea that a player can move up by beating someone near the bottom is ridiculous.

I suggest that only beating someone ahead of you moves you up. You should be forced to accept up to (some number) games at a time, and only be allowed to challenge people (some number) places above you.

The main attraction of a ladder seems to be to see who is currently playing well? If so I suggest a second rating, where only games finishing in the last few months count. Not sure exactly what the algorithm would be.