Compete.com

Watch out Alexa, apparently there is a new sheriff in town! It goes by the name Compete.com.

So, in the spirit of the season (Super Tuesday is tomorrow), I have decided to put it to a vote (at least mine). Even though the Internet does not have a political platforms and spans across different forms of government. Many of which are still trying to control this level of open communication. But, before I get up on my soap box, I will stay on the subject.

Alexa vs. Compete
Alexa is not a competitive force on the net, but you already knew that… didn’t you. Not to say that they cannot be important, but they are limited to the users that carry their cookie.
Compete is new, looks different and plays upon our need to replace Alexa with something that is more relevant, right?

Unfortunately, Compete’s first try is not all that is advertised to be.

This is noticeable and discussed in further length by Matt Cutts.

I would have to agree with Matt, that Compete is not all it’s cracked up to be!

Alexa, even though it is not as important as it could be (see old posts), but it has a track record and we know what to expect. Unlike Compete who expects you to verify your site through VeriSign to show as a valuable site on the Internet. You do not have to be using a secure certificate from VeriSign or pay for it’s service to provide your users a safe environment to share their information.

Today, search engines help us find sites, but they fall short of showing how safe, popular and valuable a site is. Through click-sharing, Compete extends search algorithms by tapping the collective online experiences of millions of people. By sharing our clicks, we create useful new information about the websites we visit that can help us answer questions like:

Is this website safe from spyware and other threats like phishing?
How many people visit this site and how does it compare to other sites?
Are there promotion codes for this site that can save me money?

Compete.com helps you personally benefit from click-sharing. Whether it’s protecting you from a dangerous site, profiling each website you visit, or showing you promo codes that will save you money at check out, Compete wants to help create a more trusted, transparent, and valuable Internet.

They are making them out to be something other than they appear and still have not answered the basic question: “What makes you so much better?”

So, in a fight or an election between Alexa and Compete, I choose Alexa. We know what to expect and they don’t make themselves out to be anything other than what they are, a tool!

I would like to take to the soap box for just a moment, I am not going to try to sway you or anyone else one way or another, but I would like to encourage you to get out and vote! Your vote means more than you may think!