I have been using a FireFox Add-on called SearchStatus for the past few months. It allows the user to view the Google PageRank, Alexa Rank and with the latest update the Compete Rank.
The Add-on is simple to install and unobtrusive, you do not have to click on anything to get a PageRank, it simply displays these ranks in the lower right ‘status’ bar of the browser.
I have not been familiar with Compete prior to the update of SearchStatus; it looks like this is the brainchild of Bill Gross creator of GoTo which eventually became Overture. According to the Compete.com About page, the concept which is based on click-sharing is designed to help by notifying users about whether or not sites are ‘safe’; what traffic sites receive and how that compares to other sites; and finally, provides promotion codes which could save users money on retail sites at the time of check out.
To click-share or not to click-share, that is the question… What do you think about letting somebody, anybody monitor your clicks? Do you really believe that claims of anonymous click-sharing are really anonymous?
I’ve been using SearchStatus for a similar length of time in the hope it may improve my Alexa ranking – which i assume is one of the things that has helped since it has increased.
I don’t mind my clicks being monitored in this way as such, i mean it’s monitored if you go to sites via search engines anyway.
For me the benefits outweigh any other concerns.