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Alexa Internet Searching Browser
by Alexander O. (www.webskyguide.com)
Alexa Internet is one of the biggest searching browsers on the Internet, which provides traffic statistics. Despite the fact that Alexa was founded in 1996,
it was named "one of the best searching browsers" only after it was purchased by Amazon.com in 1999. Alexa is very popular due to the fact that is uses Google's
databases and DMOZ catalogue - two giants of the world Internet search.
History
The Alexa searching browser was developed in 1996 by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, together with Jacqui Safra Investments Etoile, which belonged to Swedish
billionaire Jacqui Safra. The latter suggested using Alexa.com as a commercial project Internet Archive - a famous international web-resource that provides
cultural and historical information for researchers, school children, and people specializing in the Humanities.
Alexa was one of the first searching browsers to place thematically arranged links. In 1997 Alexa programmers develop a network "time machine" called the Wayback Machine,
which allows for viewing the site pages in the way they were made several years ago (the function is used only for indexed sites). Alexa service developers were
made up of famous engineers, including Scott Hassan (eGroups developer), Patrick Tufts (developer of Alexa совместного filter) and W. Daniel Hillis (Vice-President of
Disney Corporation).
In 1999 Internet shop, Amazon.com, purchased the Alexa searching browser for 250 million dollars. In spring 2002, Alexa signed a contract with Google for the right to
use its databases, and beginning in January 2003, Alexa started cooperating with DMOZ catalogue. Since 2003, Alexa has become a member of the Internet searching
community.
Alexa.com: specifics of the site traffic rating
A unique feature of the Alexa.com searching system is its ability to calculate a website's traffic with the help of the Alexa Toolbar, which should be downloaded and
installed in the browser.
Website traffic rate is a value that shows the rating of your website among other websites. The definition of traffic rate is especially important for new websites. A
t this stage, it is important to know how the site rates in relation to its competitors. The function of the definition of the site traffic rate helps analyze this.
The website traffic rate calculated on the basis of the three months visitor's data. However, the visitor must have the Alexa Toolbar installed in the browser, which is
the main tool for transferring information about the number of visits and visited pages. The number of visits and visited pages is then averaged and presented as a
figure on a special page in Alexa Internet.
Information about traffic is defined only for second level domains, because third level domains are part of one website.
Alexa.com: traffic trend charts
Trend charts are used for calculating traffic changes for a short period of time. In comparison with main traffic, which is calculated for a three-month period,
and thus gives an idea of the total popularity of the site, traffic changes for one or two days can be useful for a detailed look at the popularity of the website.
It is possible to see short term traffic changes with the help of the initially installed Alexa Toolbar.
Traffic rate for three months and for a short time periods can show considerate differences between the end figures. In this case, one should take into consideration
that three months' traffic is an average of the visits, but traffic changes for short periods are presented in precise figures.
Mover & Shakers List
Short-term website traffic changes are used for the calculation of the Mover & Shakers list. On the main page of the Alexa.com searching browser, there is a
periodically renewed list of websites, conditionally called Mover & Shakers. The list is based on changes of average numbers of visits (i. e. for three months).
The calculation of changes is quite simple: for each website, Alexa calculates weekly visits and compares the result with visit during previous weeks. The result is
the percentage of average visits during past weeks.
Some drawbacks of Alexa.com
The main drawback of the Alexa.com searching browser is that the traffic it shows is not precise. The reasons for this are:
- The Alexa Toolbar works solely in the Windows operating systems. Traffic of websites visited by other operating system users is thus not calculated;
- The Alexa Toolbar does not work on encoded pages, using https protocol.
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