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?