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How does Alexa work? It seems to me it’s hard for anyone except Google Analytics or Cloudflare to build such a service.

lelandfe 5y ago
Handwavey "proprietary methodology" using data from "millions of Internet users using one of many different browser extensions" and "direct sources in the form of sites that have chosen to install the Alexa script."[0] Translation: trust us [0] https://www.alexa.com/about https://www.alexa.com/about
lgats 5y ago
Initially, it was mostly by monitoring the traffic of users of the alexa toolbar, https://www.alexa.com/toolbar https://www.alexa.com/toolbar I think they moved on to more broad data sources, possibly purchasing data from ISPs.
- fragmede 5y ago
  Read between the lines as to how this similar product from Cisco works. http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/umbrella-static/index.html http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/umbrella-static/index.html
  - smarx007 5y ago
    Thanks! Goodness, only raised more questions: 1. What is Umbrella? See http://info.opendns.com/rs/033-OMP-861/images/OpenDNS-Global-Network.pdf http://info.opendns.com/rs/033-OMP-861/images/OpenDNS-Global... 2. What is Passive DNS? See https://docs.umbrella.com/investigate-ui/docs/passive-dns https://docs.umbrella.com/investigate-ui/docs/passive-dns
input_sh 5y ago
They used to have its own toolbar that tracked which websites users visit. After that, they've paid other browser add-ons to add their script and some websites voluntarily gave them their data by adding their tracker. It says so right on the about page (warning: unusable on mobile): https://www.alexa.com/about https://www.alexa.com/about
- ralusek 5y ago
  You'd assume that this would give a super biased sample of the population that would skew boomer+.
  - duskwuff 5y ago
    It was always biased, and it's only gotten worse over time as browser toolbars have ceased to be a thing and data collection in browser extensions has been heavily discouraged. I have to wonder if that's one of the reasons they're phasing the product out.
- madaxe_again 5y ago
  Yeah, it was also really handy for figuring out how to attack various web properties, as they frequently indexed administrative pages that were secured through nothing but obscurity, as the toolbar was most popular with amateur (and (im)professional) webmasters. Ah, the good old days.
- bluetwo 5y ago
  Interesting. I wonder if Apple privacy policies killed it. Or if the fact everyone is using the same 10 web sites for everything has eroded the need.
Uehreka 5y ago
Google Analytics would only work on sites that run Google Analytics, which would exclude sites run by the other big tech companies. Alexa worked because their toolbar addon would record every site their users went to, regardless of what was running on the site.
skarz 5y ago
I remember vaguely that they got their metrics from a browser toolbar.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
It wouldn't suprise me if they got their metrics out of their arse. And that would explain the closeure.

Handwavey "proprietary methodology" using data from "millions of Internet users using one of many different browser extensions" and "direct sources in the form of sites that have chosen to install the Alexa script."[0] Translation: trust us [0] https://www.alexa.com/about https://www.alexa.com/about

lgats 5y ago

Initially, it was mostly by monitoring the traffic of users of the alexa toolbar, https://www.alexa.com/toolbar https://www.alexa.com/toolbar I think they moved on to more broad data sources, possibly purchasing data from ISPs.

fragmede 5y ago
Read between the lines as to how this similar product from Cisco works. http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/umbrella-static/index.html http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/umbrella-static/index.html
- smarx007 5y ago
  Thanks! Goodness, only raised more questions: 1. What is Umbrella? See http://info.opendns.com/rs/033-OMP-861/images/OpenDNS-Global-Network.pdf http://info.opendns.com/rs/033-OMP-861/images/OpenDNS-Global... 2. What is Passive DNS? See https://docs.umbrella.com/investigate-ui/docs/passive-dns https://docs.umbrella.com/investigate-ui/docs/passive-dns

input_sh 5y ago

They used to have its own toolbar that tracked which websites users visit. After that, they've paid other browser add-ons to add their script and some websites voluntarily gave them their data by adding their tracker. It says so right on the about page (warning: unusable on mobile): https://www.alexa.com/about https://www.alexa.com/about

ralusek 5y ago
You'd assume that this would give a super biased sample of the population that would skew boomer+.
- duskwuff 5y ago
  It was always biased, and it's only gotten worse over time as browser toolbars have ceased to be a thing and data collection in browser extensions has been heavily discouraged. I have to wonder if that's one of the reasons they're phasing the product out.
madaxe_again 5y ago
Yeah, it was also really handy for figuring out how to attack various web properties, as they frequently indexed administrative pages that were secured through nothing but obscurity, as the toolbar was most popular with amateur (and (im)professional) webmasters. Ah, the good old days.
bluetwo 5y ago
Interesting. I wonder if Apple privacy policies killed it. Or if the fact everyone is using the same 10 web sites for everything has eroded the need.

Uehreka 5y ago

Google Analytics would only work on sites that run Google Analytics, which would exclude sites run by the other big tech companies. Alexa worked because their toolbar addon would record every site their users went to, regardless of what was running on the site.

skarz 5y ago

I remember vaguely that they got their metrics from a browser toolbar.

hellbannedguy 5y ago

It wouldn't suprise me if they got their metrics out of their arse. And that would explain the closeure.