Since you asked: Compete vs Alexa

Written by TJ Mahony (contact - e-mail) -- December 11th, 2006 | Share - Save - E-mail

Finally, Competition for Alexa.
- Liz Gannes, GigaOm.com

I find them more accurate for US sites than Alexa, and a lot easier to read.
- Howard Morgan, WayTooEarly - First Round Capital

New FREE ranking system better then Alexa by far.
- Markus Frind, CEO of Plentyoffish.com

The accuracy of Compete vs Alexa has convinced me to switch.
- Rogelio Choy, Let me be blunt

Many people have cheered Compete’s decision to open its data to the world. We love it! Opening access to the competitive site metrics has driven people to compare Compete against Alexa, which is great, but has also caused a few points of confusion. We wanted to take the time to clarify a few points so that you have a better informed view of who Compete is and where Compete’s analysis / metrics come from.

  • Compete data is not based solely on Compete Toolbar users. Compete balances multiple data sources, including ISPs, ASPs, Opt-In Panels and the Compete Toolbar. We strongly believe in our multiple data source strategy and its ability to detect and correct for bias across diverse data sources to ensure accurate projections.
  • Compete, Inc - the company - was founded over five years ago and we have over 70 employees! Yep, that’s 70+ people working day and night to make sure the infrastructure is always up, data is being normalized, analyzing the data, continually tweaking projection algorithms, etc. We have been doing this for a while, we’re serious about what we do, and we’re here to do more of it.
  • Compete.com - the website you see today – was launched November 1st, 2006.
  • We created Compete.com because we know that people will find our data useful and valuable (bloggers, marketers, moms, dads, ninjas), just like the leading brands that leverage Compete’s commercial services.

Since many people have asked, the table below shows how we think we compare with Alexa. Make your own comparison and let us know your thoughts. We will post replies within the comment forum.

  Compete Alexa
Precise Unique Visitor Estimates Yes No
Site Rankings Yes Yes
Active Monthly Panel Size 2,000,000+ Not Disclosed
Normalization Methodology Multi-dimensional scaling (Age, Income, Gender, Location) Not Normalized
Clickstream Sources ISPs, Compete Toolbar Users, Opt-In Panels, ASPs Alexa Toolbar Users
Geographic Focus U.S. International
Reporting Timeframe Monthly Daily

For more details check the links below:

About the Alexa Traffic Rankings

How does Compete estimate site traffic and Internet rank?


Analyze more domains: + +

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Comments

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  1. Ian Bell

    Great post. I submitted it to Digg, hopefully it will get some attention. Some bozo had already submitted a link to his site basically copying your post: http://adcentered.typepad.com/adcentered/2006/11/competecom.html

    Hopefully his does not make it on the front page.

  2. Somewhat Frank

    Compete Confronts Alexa Head On…

    Are you a web metrics junkie? If so you probably have been using Alexa to access public site rankings and metrics. Alexa now has a legitimate contender in the space in Compete, a subsidiary of the online market research firm…

  3. Answers for Compete toolbar vs. Alexa on Yedda - People. Sharing. Knowledge.

    Answers for “Compete toolbar vs. Alexa on Yedda - People. Sharing. Knowledge.

  4. webgk.com

    Does it make any difference in rankings installing compete toolbar? As I have read somewhere it makes difference for alexa. Just curious to know. Thanks

  5. Is alexa widgets or using redirection worthless?

    I installed alexa toolbar & widegt but no result see http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main?url=www.fortunehotels.in ranking of my website here.

  6. Manos

    I have found a great way to check Alexa vs Compete
    Visit http://www.hit360.com/toptravelsites/ to view top sites from Greece by Alexa rankings and compare them with compete

  7. buzziboy

    Great information, thanks for sharing it with us. i will try it out for my newly kids portal http://www.buzziboy.com

  8. onlinemf

    Great posts..

    http://onlinemutualfund.wordpress.com

    ONlineMF.

  9. Suire

    My website Nosle ranks ok in alexa but not in compete.
    what should I do?

  10. 电视墙

    i think compete should focus on International like alexa do

  11. ELD DANISMANLIK

    thank you sharing

  12. ELD DANISMANLIK

    ELD Danışmanlık İnternet Yazılım Tekstil San. Ltd. Şti Türkiye’nin her noktasına hizmet verebilen bağımsız bir kuruluştur. 2004 yılında firmaların internet sitesi ve yazılımları geliştirmek üzere iş dünyasına atılan firmamız, bugün, ELD Danışmanlık adı altında, internet sitesi ve yazılımlarının yanı sıra ISO9001:2000 Kalite Yönetim Sistemi, ISO22000 (HACCP), OHSAS, CE, TSE, Marka Patent, Logo Tasarım, Grafik Çalışmaları ve ayrıca Tekstil (Rivet Baskı) konularında aktif olarak hizmet veren bir firma haline gelmiştir.

    ELD Danışmanlık 80 ‘den fazla referansıyla müşterilerine güven vermektedir

  13. bassan

    hi, msj 295 wonderful blog 295 share


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