Alexa rating gone mad

Google toolbar is spying on me perhaps?

[eplus]

I've got a little site I am testing a couple of things on and I know that apart from a couple of bots and myself no one goes to it. It's not listed in google yet but alexa has decided to pick it up and rate it a 214,128 ok it's not a great rating but it should be in the 3,000,000 region as no one goes to it. I've also noticed that having been crawled yesterday by google it's suddenly got an image associated with it. I know that alexa work with google but is it legal for google to be passing on my crawl statistics to alexa for their rating system? This is the only way I can guess that they found me and the only reason the hit level would look so high. I wonder if the site will make it into google next month? It also makes me think that alexa might be privy to googles’ fresh crawl data even though we can't see it for weeks yet. Any suggestions as to what’s happening? Is it just coincidence that after being google crawled I now have an image in alexa?

P.S. Sorry for being a bit prolific with the postings today, having a Search Engine day.

[Hemsell]

(Edited) I found it [alexa.com...]

I am unable to find an Alexa Forum so I am posting here.

Thanks for the post. I was unaware that Alexa was affiliated with Google.
I went to the Alexa sit and was able to update the contact information for my site, but cannot find anywhere to update the "related sites"
I know I submitted this info myself quite a while (99) back. It still looks the same as when I entered it.
It is 100% inaccurate now though. 2 of the urls are no longer even valid.

Can anyone find a way to change this info?
I have looked all over the Alexa site and could not find anything.

Regards,

Todd Hemsell

[soapystar]

ok...this is my first contact with alexa..can u tell me what they base there rankings on?..traffic yes!..but where do the figures come from?

[MasterSpas]

In short, rank = toolbar users usage.

Here is their explanation:
[pages.alexa.com...]

[vitaplease]

also check this earlier thread on Alexa and its heavy bias towards Korean sites:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[soapystar]

gave i a spin and i must say the toolbar seems very naughty..unlike the google toolbar it remains active even after a connection i.e. website has been made several minutes previuosly....and also phones home even when u untick from the main tollbar..unlike google!

[mbauser2]

I'm having serious trouble following your logic here.

I've got a little site I am testing a couple of things on and I know that apart from a couple of bots and myself no one goes to it.

Which bots are visiting your site. Alexa gets data from ia_archiver (and possibly Mercator).

Come to think of it, what were the other bots? I sense a potential lapse in logic here: You're suspicious that Googlebot found your site, but you're not suspicious of the other bots? Huh?

It's not listed in google yet but alexa has decided to pick it up and rate it a 214,128 ok it's not a great rating but it should be in the 3,000,000 region as no one goes to it.

Alexa's numbers are always a little goofy for brand new sites. The ranking number is supposed to be based on three-months of data [pages.alexa.com] , and I get the impression that the ranking formula is quirky for sites with less than 3 months of data.

I've also noticed that having been crawled yesterday by google it's suddenly got an image associated with it. I know that alexa work with google but is it legal for google to be passing on my crawl statistics to alexa for their rating system?

I am not a lawyer, but judging by the Alexa privacy policy [pages.alexa.com], I'd say it's legal. The policy lets them share non-personally identifiable information with "commercial partners".

This is the only way I can guess that they found me and the only reason the hit level would look so high.

That made no sense. Robots don't count in Alexa traffic ratings. Besides, there are other ways for Google to find you, if your site links to other sites.

I wonder if the site will make it into google next month? It also makes me think that alexa might be privy to googles’ fresh crawl data even though we can't see it for weeks yet.

What?

Any suggestions as to what’s happening? Is it just coincidence that after being google crawled I now have an image in alexa?

Alexa claims to get the image from its own crawler [pages.alexa.com], so I'd blame ia_archiver before Googlebot.

I think too many people take the Alexa/Google "relationship" too seriously. Google didn't even issue a press release about the deal. It's not important to them: Alexa is just another customer like CometCursor and a bunch of other minor websites/utilities.

[eplus]

sorry for the confusion mbauser. I was aware of ia_archiver and that bots don't count for the traffic ranking thing. The point I was trying to make and have obviously lost in my rambling is that the only person with a toolbar that has ever visited the site is me and I don't have an alexa toolbar, I've only got a google one. This is why I was wondering if alexa is privy to all my surfing in the same way google is. You are right though they may only be giving them the visit count and nothing else.

With regards links on other sites alexa claims that their are 141 links (I think) not that I can find reference to any of them in any of the major search engines?

My pondering on the inclusion in the google index is based on wondering where these 141 links have come from?(probably just a glitch) I was also curious about the way the little site pic appeared after the google crawl, does alexa get this from google as well?

Lots of questions and very little point in answering any of them. Cheers for the reply mbauser.

[mbauser2]

Are you sure you're the first person to use this domain name? With "141 links", it sounds like Alexa may remember your site from a 'previous life'. Alexa is awfully slow to update its links count, so it wouldn't suprise me if Alexa remembered a site that other bots have forgotten.

Double-check the Alexa entry for your domain. Is the contact information yours? Is there a "History - Wayback" link for the domain? (If there is, follow and see if you find somebody else's site.)

I have further anecdotal evidence that Alexa is getting its screenshots from ia_archiver rather than Googlebot: the screenshot for webmasterworld.com is a "403 Forbidden" page [alexa.com]. I'm pretty sure Brett wouldn't 403 the mighty Googlebot (and I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong).