I can’t even begin to understand how it all works. Looking at the top of the list of most visited sites, I can believe the accuracy of the data, but once you get into the long tail of the web, is it just me or are the traffic stats a) irrelevant, and b) utterly wrong?
A few months ago, for one reason or another, I was breaking into the top 100K sites, which was pleasing enough. According to my recent stats, I’m now getting about 2-3 times as much traffic as I was then, and yet my ranking on Alexa has plummeted to an almost non-existent level.
My understanding is that visits are only tracked if the visitor has the Alexa toolbar installed. Perhaps all of my visitors, like me, don’t have it installed. Perhaps they too have heard the words Alexa and spyware together too often.
Anyways, I can’t even tell you what my current rank is, because Alexa have cleverly blocked my IP address because they suspect me of violating some terms of service or other. It could be the first time I’ve been banned for mis-using something I haven’t even been using.
Alexa, you rock!
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