Alexa Toolbar

The Alexa Toolbar Internet browser plugin displays traffic trends, related links and traffic rank for any site a user visits. It also helps Alexa determine these trends and rankings by monitoring the web usage of the individuals who install the toolbar. Until the July 2007 release of "Sparky," the Firefox version of the toolbar, The Alexa Toolbar was only available for Internet Explorer.

Fast Facts

1. Originally released: July 17, 1997
2. Firefox version released: July 16, 2007
3. Alexa.com is run by Amazon
4. Only 14% of the toolbar's users are in the U.S.¹
5. To improve accuracy, Alexa filters out the information received from most of their toolbars¹

Privacy Concerns

Because the Alexa toolbar collects the browsing history of its users, there has been some concern about potential misuse of this information. The Alexa Toolbar privacy statement says that Alexa collects and stores personally identifying information, but they do not use this information in a way that reveals any person's individual identity.²

Sunbelt Software, makers of Windows security software, consider the Alexa Toolbar to be a potential privacy risk.³ McAfee SiteAdvisor recommends using caution when downloading from Alexa, and the Windows anti-spyware tool, Windows Defender, labels the Alexa Toolbar a Trojan.^{4 5}

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