5 ms·

Why did HN's traffic tank so hard recently?

24 points by TekMol 8y ago

chatmasta 8y ago
Same trend for producthunt.com. Probably an issue of measurement, not actual traffic. Most likely due to ad blockers and the like.
supernovae 8y ago
google algo changes have been happening as well
- kangnkodos 8y ago
  Alexa says the number of visits from web searches hasn't changes that much.
mbesto 8y ago
Why do people rely on Alexa's traffic numbers? Serious question - have they ever proven to be reliable?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- scrollaway 8y ago
  They're excellent indicators yes.
zirkonit 8y ago
Similarweb doesn't show any significant change: https://www.similarweb.com/website/news.ycombinator.com#overview https://www.similarweb.com/website/news.ycombinator.com#over... Seems to be Alexa's bug, not HN's.
- 3minus1 8y ago
  I'm also seeing a similar large drop in reddit traffic https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com
- kangnkodos 8y ago
  The Alexa chart is rank among other web sites. The Similarweb chart shows number of visits. Apples and oranges. It's possible that they are both correct. Similarweb shows a small decrease in number of visits. It could be that there are thousands of sites with a similar number of visits. A small drop in number of visits might cause a huge drop in rank.
  - gota 8y ago
    Also that other sites in the same 'bracket' increase number of visits. Even if HN's visits were increasing, they could still be rising faster. Also when a site has been around for long you have to start taking into account the 'population growth'; how many new people gained access to the web this month? How many among those are tech-savy people? Does this proportion increase or decrease over time?
scarface74 8y ago
I’m wondering, is that a bad thing? I would think that the less traffic that HN gets via Google and the more it gets as a percentage from the prototypical tech crowd, the less comments/posts it would get that aren’t really conducive to intellectual discussions.
- kangnkodos 8y ago
  Alexa says that percentage of visits from a search engine has not dipped significantly. Maybe 15% to 13%.
remote_phone 8y ago
HN has the distinct privilege of not giving a single iota about traffic. That’s one of the things I like most about the site, a complete lack of monetization. It’s pure in this sense.
- minimaxir 8y ago
  I wouldn't say HN doesn't care about traffic (half the reason HN exists is a marketing vehicle for YC/YC startups), but the HN staff would not make user-adversarial changes in the pursuit of traffic.
- brianwawok 8y ago
  It monetizes. It’s a funnel for the incubator. It’s not run as a charity.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    And that’s a good thing. I’m always concerned about using anything that I like that doesn’t have a profit seeking business strategy.
- kangnkodos 8y ago
  I don't think the number of visits has dipped that much. Only the rank relative to other web sites has dipped,
- liftbigweights 8y ago
  > HN has the distinct privilege of not giving a single iota about traffic. If that was true, HN wouldn't exist. > That’s one of the things I like most about the site, a complete lack of monetization. But jobs are advertised here. > It’s pure in this sense. It's better than most, but it certainly isn't pure.
  - jamiegreen 8y ago
    I don't believe anyone pays to advertise jobs here (correct me if I am wrong) but it is available for YC companies to post jobs
KenanSulayman 8y ago
I'm not sure this is important at all for hackernews (benefit of people visiting it directly). But there definitely has been a significant drop in keywords where HN is displayed on Google (probably because of the major algorithm “Medic” update on August 1st): https://i.imgur.com/qCTC0xd.png https://i.imgur.com/qCTC0xd.png
- TekMol 8y ago
  What does the chart show?
WalterSear 8y ago
I've had work to do.
crtasm 8y ago
Is there an estimate anywhere of how many people have browser extensions installed that report back to Alexa? I note that for ycombinator it makes it clear figures are an estimate. To get proper stats you need to embed some JS, right?
blablabla123 8y ago
Using it less to get more perspective outside of the startup bubble
zck 8y ago
Maybe it's all the posts about Erlang (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=512145 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=512145).
dang 8y ago
I only just saw this, but HN's traffic hasn't tanked recently. Not sure what's going on with that Alexa chart.

24 points by TekMol 8y ago

Same trend for producthunt.com. Probably an issue of measurement, not actual traffic. Most likely due to ad blockers and the like.

supernovae 8y ago

google algo changes have been happening as well

kangnkodos 8y ago
Alexa says the number of visits from web searches hasn't changes that much.

mbesto 8y ago

Why do people rely on Alexa's traffic numbers? Serious question - have they ever proven to be reliable?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
scrollaway 8y ago
They're excellent indicators yes.

zirkonit 8y ago

Similarweb doesn't show any significant change: https://www.similarweb.com/website/news.ycombinator.com#overview https://www.similarweb.com/website/news.ycombinator.com#over... Seems to be Alexa's bug, not HN's.

3minus1 8y ago
I'm also seeing a similar large drop in reddit traffic https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com
kangnkodos 8y ago
The Alexa chart is rank among other web sites. The Similarweb chart shows number of visits. Apples and oranges. It's possible that they are both correct. Similarweb shows a small decrease in number of visits. It could be that there are thousands of sites with a similar number of visits. A small drop in number of visits might cause a huge drop in rank.
- gota 8y ago
  Also that other sites in the same 'bracket' increase number of visits. Even if HN's visits were increasing, they could still be rising faster. Also when a site has been around for long you have to start taking into account the 'population growth'; how many new people gained access to the web this month? How many among those are tech-savy people? Does this proportion increase or decrease over time?

scarface74 8y ago

I’m wondering, is that a bad thing? I would think that the less traffic that HN gets via Google and the more it gets as a percentage from the prototypical tech crowd, the less comments/posts it would get that aren’t really conducive to intellectual discussions.

kangnkodos 8y ago
Alexa says that percentage of visits from a search engine has not dipped significantly. Maybe 15% to 13%.

remote_phone 8y ago

HN has the distinct privilege of not giving a single iota about traffic. That’s one of the things I like most about the site, a complete lack of monetization. It’s pure in this sense.

minimaxir 8y ago
I wouldn't say HN doesn't care about traffic (half the reason HN exists is a marketing vehicle for YC/YC startups), but the HN staff would not make user-adversarial changes in the pursuit of traffic.
brianwawok 8y ago
It monetizes. It’s a funnel for the incubator. It’s not run as a charity.
- scarface74 8y ago
  And that’s a good thing. I’m always concerned about using anything that I like that doesn’t have a profit seeking business strategy.
kangnkodos 8y ago
I don't think the number of visits has dipped that much. Only the rank relative to other web sites has dipped,
liftbigweights 8y ago
> HN has the distinct privilege of not giving a single iota about traffic. If that was true, HN wouldn't exist. > That’s one of the things I like most about the site, a complete lack of monetization. But jobs are advertised here. > It’s pure in this sense. It's better than most, but it certainly isn't pure.
- jamiegreen 8y ago
  I don't believe anyone pays to advertise jobs here (correct me if I am wrong) but it is available for YC companies to post jobs

KenanSulayman 8y ago

I'm not sure this is important at all for hackernews (benefit of people visiting it directly). But there definitely has been a significant drop in keywords where HN is displayed on Google (probably because of the major algorithm “Medic” update on August 1st): https://i.imgur.com/qCTC0xd.png https://i.imgur.com/qCTC0xd.png

TekMol 8y ago
What does the chart show?

WalterSear 8y ago

I've had work to do.

crtasm 8y ago

Is there an estimate anywhere of how many people have browser extensions installed that report back to Alexa? I note that for ycombinator it makes it clear figures are an estimate. To get proper stats you need to embed some JS, right?

blablabla123 8y ago

Using it less to get more perspective outside of the startup bubble

zck 8y ago

Maybe it's all the posts about Erlang (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=512145 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=512145).

dang 8y ago

I only just saw this, but HN's traffic hasn't tanked recently. Not sure what's going on with that Alexa chart.