Alexa has recently released a toolbar for Firefox. This has long been a weak point in Alexa’s rankings since not only did it exclude a significant market share, it excluded a demographically different market share. You see many Firefox users are different from IE users. Ok, make your jokes now, but when you’re done think about it. It’s quite simply a different set of people you’re talking about. That means that many sites were skewed either up or down depending on what percentage of Firefox users they entertained. So now that the Firefox toolbar is out, everything should be great right? My rankings will improve since it will now count my Firefox users as well? Not necessarily.
The first issue is whether or not Firefox users will use the toolbar at all. Firefox users tend to me more technologically savvy and that’s an audience that has traditionally rejected the Alexa toolbar. It’s entirely possible that there will be so few installs on Firefox that it will have no real effect on the rankings.
If it does grab hold though, there are still a lot of possibilities, not all of them to your advantage. If the toolbar does get market penetration, then you need to consider that Firefox stats will come into play. All Firefox stats. Not just yours. That’s important to remember. That means that if you have a low percentage of Firefox users, your Alexa ranking will likely drop. If you have a high percentage, then your ranking will increase.
There is one more variable to throw into the mix though. There will be one advantage to all publishers. Advertisers will have better metrics. That will increase their confidence in forms of advertising that rely on Alexa rankings. That means more money in your pocket even though your ranking may take a minor hit. Even though your ranking drops a little, the increased confidence in your ranking will turn into real revenue increases over time.
So overall it should be a positive thing for publishers provided that there is adoption in the Firefox community. We’ll have to see how that turns out.
Alexa, Firefox
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Brandon // Aug 8, 2007 at 2:12 am
I swear I had just replied to this ?? I’ve posted a thread for my members to add the alexa toolbar. I think maybe a dozen or so did, so it all helps out.
2 Marc // Aug 8, 2007 at 10:11 am
Yeah, if they’re willing to do it, it can be very helpful. I have a fairly transient audience and my hardcore readers generally don’t like things like the Alexa toolbar. I’m left to the whims of the public
3 Jeremy Hobbs // Aug 8, 2007 at 4:02 pm
It’s about time… I’m heading over to download it now…
4 Marc // Aug 8, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Cool, hope it works out for you Jeremy.
5 Nickel // Aug 9, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I wish that google would come out with a better system for Page rank. Maybe a larger scale instead of just 1-5. Thanks for the info on the alexa bar.
6 Marc // Aug 9, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Well Google’s PageRank actually is displayed in the toolbar on a 0-10 logarithmic scale. It actually has a much, much finer gradient, but it’s in their best interest not to show it to us.
Also Alexa Rank and PR measure two completely different things, so even if Google gave us the extra information, it wouldn’t really be that useful.