Is Alexa SpyWare?

"Spyware - A general term for a program that surreptitiously monitors your actions. While they are sometimes sinister, like a remote control program used by a hacker, software companies have been known to use spyware to gather data about customers. The practice is generally frowned upon."

I recommend Alexa and have a link here on this site were you can sign up for it.

Yes..I run "Ad-Ware" from time to time and I know it list it as "SpyWare" and other programs detect and report Alexa as spyware. That does not make it spyware.
If you run a firewall it will detect, at first, everything as an attack on your computer. You learn and fine turn the firewall and you see that you have to all certain ports to be used else the Internet will not work and you might as well turn off your computer. So you see that the firewall software or hardware detects and reports everything but you use your common sense and good judgement to decide what is OK and what is not OK.

I have been using Alexa for a long time. I love it.

Some People Think That The Alexa ToolBar is SpyWare - I do NOT Agree

"Popup Manager
Surf without interruption using Alexa's new Popup Manager. Blocks most popup advertisements!"
It is an excellent popup manager but I don't care about that. I can live with the popups or use some other program for them. If you don't have a popup manager you might want it for that reason. That is not my reason.

"World's Best Search!
Quick and easy access to Web Search, powered by Google, enhanced by Alexa, is built into the toolbar."
That is one reason that I use and recommend Alexa. The Google search is excellent but it is improved by Alexa and it is right on your toolbar.

"Plus More...
Includes all of the features you have come to expect from Alexa, including Search, Site Info, Related Links and more."
Now this is the part that I love. When you go to any web site. You can click on links on the tool bar and find out how many people go to that site. You can find it ranking and see it. You can see reviews of the site. You can find the address and phone number of the site. You can what other sites are like that site.

Try this link and I think it will show you a little of what I mean: Howard's Notebook

There are other reasons that I like Alexa. For the web site owner if a person downloads a copy from your site then there will be a link on that tool bar to your site. Also if you are signed up with Amazon.Com then if a person uses that tool bar and the Amazon Link on the tool bar then you will get a commission on the stuff they buy. I have never got a commission but it is a nice feature that might work well for sites that get a lot of traffic.

So Alexa is NOT spyware. It is just one powerful help for you when you surf the Internet. If the word spyware scares you or your not wanting to use all the tools and powers of the Internet then.. forget about it. If you love to check out sites and when you find a good site you want to find other sites like it or if you want to do a search and find all the information that you need..then you need Alexa.
One small story.. Hilary had a problem with some company and she could not find any what to contact the people. She had been on the telephone calling information and trying everything. I just went to their web site. I clicked on the Alexas toolbar and I got their 1-800 phone number from the pop up.
I recommend Alexa to all of you that are not scary cats.

Comments

[adware spyware uninstall]

All software which monitors your activities is a sort of spyware. But theres a real difference wether its intentions are malicious.

[John Judge]

Hey Howard, would you still love Alexa without your Amazon Referral id howardsnotebo-20 imbedded in the download link.

[WD]

my comment about alexa....
they suck and so does any company assoiated with them,
keep trying to make a virus program worthy, ill shop with who ever i want not what alexa says i should do business with, RIGHT TO FREE TRADE
and it doesnt involve a communist spyware like alexa

[Waylen]

I have removed and reinstalled Alexa Toolbar twice. It is currently not on my computer. I enjoyed seeing the Site Rankings of the sites I have created even though I realized that it is only Alexa users and who knows how representative that is. It certainly isn't the paranoid among us!

[RR]

This guys is a fudgin troll.

Alexa good? Someone needs to smack the taste out of YOUR MOUTH!

[na]

there are no plusses that would outweight it being spyware, most notably because if you allow any spyware to be on your machine you will have lots of more in a little while, and then more and more and more and more and then one day your computer is slow as hell and google.com redirects to somewhere else where you get 'smart' answers to your searches on wether something you might want to buy is good or not or where to get it cheapest.

also your favorite sites will be missing out on their ad revenue when their ads get replaced by the 'intelligent' browser addon you so much like.

there are good sides even to BONZI BUDDY BUT OH MY GOD DOES IT HAVE A POISONOUS HEART.

[Seun Osewa]

Though it may be spyware, the point is that the Alexa it offers a lot of useful features which overweigh the spyware issue.

[Markos]

Dude, Alexa IS spyware. It records what you type into forms, what you buy online and EVERY page you go to, and then sends the info to Amazon.

Not spyware?

Dude, it does EVERYTHING a spyware does. Hell, it does MORE then most. Alexa is a tasty piece of chocolate with a maggot in it.

It looks nice, but don't eat it.

[Winston]

That was a hymn for Alexa, but no arguments against the spyware accusation. Glad you have fun with the program, it is really not bad. However I prefer to find my visited webpages not in their data base. They even do not deny it. You just have to read the installation text. Because it is what they call a browser helper object there is nothing what a firewall can do, cause you have no other choice than allowing a browser to communicate with the internet. Well, with some luck I also can make it one day from a scary cat to a tracked customer. :)

[Vaughn]

you have tomention the feature it has to track your browsing abits, what kind of sites you visit, frequency and such.
You should not recommend this software!!!
You are making a BIG disfavor to people who are not so computer and internet savy and read this blog.