12 May 2008

Why Do Alexa Rankings Even Matter?

Google admitted somewhat recently that PageRank does not necessarily affect a page's search ranking. After all the hype about the importance of PageRank, and after Google adjusted their algorithm causing many highly ranked pages to drop down a notch or two, most of the gurus came out and told us PageRank doesn't matter... focus on keeping a high Alexa ranking instead.

Now, Alexa has announced that they are changing their ranking system, too. Instead of basing a page's ranking via those who have the Alexa toolbar installed on their web browser, they are expanding to include every user on the net (or something similar). Why? Well, most of the people who install and use the Alexa toolbar were programmers and site owners. I had no idea!

This change has caused me to think about the legitimacy of Alexa rankings. After all, if it was only the programmers and online marketers who used the toolbar, how are the rankings an accurate reflection of a site's popularity?

I don't know why Alexa chose to switch their ranking system, but I'm glad they did. In making the switch, they have stepped into the Web 2.0 era and handed control back to the people, those who use and populate the internet in greater numbers than the programmers and marketers.

1 comment:

Kyle Stich said...

Thanks for the detailed explanation of Alexa. I know what it is and how it works, and I am especially aware of how a site's Alexa ranking is used to leverage sales.

The greater question for me revolves around this fact: "Alexa collects information from users who have installed an 'Alexa Toolbar'." I find it hard to believe that the average internet user is downloading the Alexa Toolbar, so I remain confused as to how the rankings they generate carry so much weight in the financial world.

I am most interested to see how rankings change now that Alexa has moved away from collecting their data from these installed toolbars. I think many sites that previously ranked high will begin to notice a dip. Just a prediction, but the more that the actual populous is pulled into the data, the average user, the more that self-inflated rankings will begin to reveal their pomp.