Alexa revises ranking system
In response to criticisms that its ranking methodology is not representative of the entire Internet population, web ranking company Alexa unveiled today a new system wherein rankings are now based on “multiple sources of data” rather than just the Alexa Toolbar.
In the past, Alexa used to measure a site’s traffic rank and reach based on the toolbar users installed on their PCs. This means if you don’t use the Alexa toolbar, your internet surfing habits are not counted. Today Alexa announced that they are implementing a new rankings system closer to the actual statistics of a website.
They won’t delve into the details of the changes but the new system includes:
- More Sources
Alexa rankings are now based on more sources of data to give a better indicator of website popularity.
- Improved Methodology
Traffic is being normalized from the global panel to provide consistently accurate rankings for all countries.
- Better Rankings
Rankings are now an even better indication of website popularity due to new and improved algorithms.
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Does this mean the previous Alexa rankings were wrong? Not really wrong but different.
Alexa explained that “users’ interests and surfing habits could differ from those of the general population in a number of ways and … the new rankings should better reflect the interests and surfing habits of the broader population of Web users.”
The new system currently shows only 9 months of historical data but the company promised previous year’s data will be added shortly.
Here’s the impact of the change on some of the big sites in the Philippines.
Inquirer.net
- New Rank: 3,034
- Old Rank: 2,638
- Change: -396
GMANews.tv
- New Rank: 4,030
- Old Rank: 4,451
- Change: 421
eBay.ph
- New Rank: 6,585
- Old Rank: 2,875
- Change: -3,710
Yehey.com
- New Rank: 12,737
- Old Rank: 6,716
- Change: -6,021
The new Alexa ranking for Philippine blogs will be released shortly.
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April 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Iba iba naman ang effect eh!
Check out my review on alexa new ranking system.
http://wahb.biz/2008/04/18/alexa-new-ranking-system-got-a-different-effect-on-websites/
April 17th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
really, pano nalang ung rankings ko nun? huhuhu baka bababa pa…
thanks by the way…
April 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Perhaps they are sourcing additional data from Google and/or Yahoo toolbars this time?
April 17th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Thanks for the info, I will go and check my alexa ranking at once, :)