Thread: Can someone explain Alexa to me please?

If I can get my Alexa ranking within the under 100,000 zone what does it actually mean and do for me?

That means your site has a lot of traffic or a lot of people with the alexa tool bar are surfing your site. If you can get any of those two things (or both) then your alexa will be awesome.

alexa = spyware
spyware = bad

Therefore, alexa = bad

I for one do not understand why this recent trend (or train of thought) that spyware = good? When does a slow system, pop-ups, downloaders and highjackers become something that we want our visitors to have on their systems? I for one, do not want my visitors to have spyware installed. I also want the worst ranking alexa has to offer.

If you have a good alexa ranking, maybe you should post some threads and links to adaware and spybot search and destroy. This way your visitors can remove the spyware and keep their systems clean and smooth running.

No spyware = good
No alexa = good

Alexa ranking is based mainly on traffic so if you get a high rank then your site is getting good traffic.

It means more traffic ,but it only recorded vistors who had install alexatoolbar,not exactness.

Originally Posted by ~kev~

alexa = spyware
spyware = bad

Therefore, alexa = bad

I Don't agree with you kev, who said Alexa is a spyware ??

No, the Alexa Toolbar is not spyware.

Spyware is defined as hidden software that is installed on your computer without your knowledge. It generally collects your personal information for advertising purposes, and provides you with no value in return. If you would like a more complete definition of the term spyware, please see http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spyware.html.

The Alexa Toolbar is only installed when a user chooses to download it - it is not installed without your knowledge. The Toolbar is not hidden, it is prominently displayed at the top of your browser. In order to fill the Toolbar with relevant information, the URL of the page you're on is transmitted to us and we return related information for that page. We have an easily accessed privacy policy which is presented at the time of download and in the Alexa drop down menu in your Toolbar. The Alexa Toolbar can be turned off at any time. Turning the Toolbar off prevents any information from being transmitted to us. Alexa never attempts to identify individual users, and you are not required to enter any personal information to use the Toolbar.

very nice and detailed reply wachapori...good job.

Originally Posted by himoacs

Alexa ranking is based mainly on traffic so if you get a high rank then your site is getting good traffic.

i think it's on the reverse side. if your site do have a high ranking in alexa, it means you're having a lesser traffic. but if you have a lower rank, you're site is doing good because it's having a high traffic.

ex:
you have alexa rank: 1,000,000 - it means you were ranked by the alexa as 1,000,000th place in the web traffic. if you have alexa rank: 1 - you're site is on the first place.

Originally Posted by wujijiangjun

If I can get my Alexa ranking within the under 100,000 zone what does it actually mean and do for me?

It means your traffic is increasing...

Alexa indicates or allows you to monitor the traffic of a certain site...

Originally Posted by wachapori

I Don't agree with you kev, who said Alexa is a spyware ??

No, the Alexa Toolbar is not spyware.

Alexa is usually not listed in the add / remove programs list in windows control panel. This does make it hiddden, at least in part because there is no way to remove it.

Spyware reports websites that you visit. The only way that alexa servers know "where" you are going is if you are being spyed on.

Alexa usually comes bundled with other software, such as free downloads. Most of the time people that install Alexa do not even know that it is being installed because it is listed deep inside of the "Terms of service" for the "free" software.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Internet#Spyware

The Alexa toolbar is regarded by many vendors as spyware. Symantec classifies the toolbar as Trackware. McAfee Site Advisor rates the Alexa website as yellow with a warning, "In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentially unwanted programs," and the site has 67 user ratings of "Adware, spyware, or viruses", as of July 2, 2008. The toolbar is detected by McAfee as Adware-Alexa, a "Potentially Unwanted Program". Many other security vendors also detect and remove Alexa software.

The term "Alexa is not spyware" - is not even a logical statement. Because Alexa spies on your internet activity. Regardless of "where" the software resides, if it reports your internet activity, it is spware. Any program that tracks your internet activity is spyware. It does not matter what its name is, it does not matter is if its in the /programs folder or the /system32 folder - its still spyware.

Alexa tries to redefine spyware by saying "real" spyware needs to be hidden. This is a flat out lie. Spyware is spyware, regardless of where it is installed or what it its called.

A Rose by any other name is still a Rose. Spyware, regardless of "where" it is installed, is still spyware.

http://www.symantec.com/security_res...062410-3624-99

Behavior

Trackware.Alexa is a program that installs a toolbar and gathers Internet browsing and search information.
Symptoms

Files are detected as Trackware.Alexa.

Trackware is just a nice name for........... you guessed it - SPYWARE.


Real programs do not come back after they have been removed. Spyware and viruses like to stay around when they are asked to leave. Maybe that is why they are called pest.


http://www.spywareremove.com/removeAlexa.html

How can I get rid of Alexa?

The most common spyware removal tactic is to uninstall Alexa by using the "Add/Remove Programs" utility. However, as there may still be hidden Alexa files, it's possible that Alexa will reappear after reboot. Follow the Alexa detection and removal methods below.

And its sad when people have to have special removal tools to get rid of a program that is not "supposed" to be spyware.

http://www.tucows.com/preview/387103

Alexa Toolbar Removal Tool 1.0
Download
filesize 301.50 KB
This tool will help to remove the Alexa Toolbar from your computer or any remote computer specified.

Regardless of "where" the program is installed. Whether its on your desktop, /programs folder or a tool bar - malware is malware.

Originally Posted by ~kev~

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Trackware is just a nice name for........... you guessed it - SPYWARE.
.

Having my rank increased has nothing to do with what you are comtemplating... I never used any tololbar... my rank has nothing to do with alexa toolbar because I am not using it...if you hate alexa, go and fight with them..

Ok kev, you're taking this personal...

My point is that you can decide to choose Alexa or not... but since Alexa is installed by you, it's not installed anonymous, because is your decision.... and a characteristic of the spyware is that it's installed without user authorization....

Oh, and Symatec detects a lot of stuff as spyware even when it's not...

"A Rose by any other name is still a Rose."... Ohhhhh !! very romantic !!!

And I would like to add that symantec is the worst security suite... I am working ad Technical Support for Verizon and Norton is giving us problem daily, blocking Customers' internet for some reason. Even microsoft, hp, and dell support having problem with norton...