The new and improved Alexa Toolbar

Not that long ago we released version 9 of the Alexa toolbar, which had a number of cool new features. But like most things there was room for improvement, and we were lucky enough to get some very constructive feedback on how to make the toolbar better. We listened, and today I am happy to announce a new version of the Alexa toolbar that incorporates many of those suggestions.

Highlights of the improvements include

• the toolbar no longer opens links in new windows
• the toolbar highlights fresher information in the form of Hot Pages and Hot Topic
  
• the visual footprint is reduced
• improved performance and stability

One of the biggest changes visually is the toolbar now features the Alexa Hot Pages and Alexa Hot Topics. Clicking on either icon will take you to Alexa's What's Hot page, where you get a real time view into what is popular on the web right now. You can get lists of hot pages and hot topics by clicking the small arrows next to the respective icons, or go directly to the top page or topics by clicking on their names.

Other features of the toolbar remain in icon form. For whatever site you are on you can visit the Alexa site information page for it, see its rank and related links, visit it in the past using the Wayback Machine, or write a review.

If you are a toolbar user and want to upgrade, or if you are interested in checking it out, all you need to do is visit the Alexa toolbar download page and follow the instructions there. Sorry, the toolbar is only available for Internet Explorer at the moment. If you are a Firefox user then you should check out Sparky, the Alexa Firefox addon.

And if you want your input to be part of the next toolbar release, then visit our Alexa toolbar help forums and let us know what you think.

What's Hot?

Do you enjoy keeping up with what's hot on the web right now? Then you really need to check out the new What's Hot feature at Alexa.


What's Hot improves upon our existing Hot URLs. Now you can not only see, in real time, which pages on the Internet are the most popular, but also what topics people are interested in. Right now I am seeing kate gosselin, ted kennedy, and michael jackson (among others), although the list will obviously be different when you look because it is updated every 5 minutes.

Knowing what topics are popular is good, of course, and knowing what they are in real time is better. But there are plenty of other places on the web to see lists of what people are currently buzzing about. The question is, what if I want to know why something is popular as well? Well, if you click on a Hot Topic, we'll send you to a list of pages that people are visiting right now to make that topic hot. Instead of scratching your head and wondering what a popular word or phrase means, you can dive straight into the action.

We also still have the Alexa Hot URLs, although they have been renamed "Hot Pages." We renamed them because we wanted to emphasize that it's the content, not the URL, that is popular. As always, the Alexa Hot Pages let you know what is popular and interesting on the web right now.