Amazon, After many years in use, it decided to close Alexa, the free service offered to study statistical data from web pages. It was created in 1996 by Bruce Gilliat and Brewster Kahle, also known for being the creator of Internet ArchiveTwo years after its birth, the giant Amazon acquired it.
Reading the headline, you might think we were referring to the virtual assistant, but that's not the case. Amazon also owns Alexa, which is responsible for analyzing traffic and ranking websites. An app also known as Alexa Rank which has served as a reference for many other websites, but which stopped working this past May 1, 2022.
The closing schedule is as follows: he May 1st Users will no longer have access to their data and tools on Amazon. However, paying customers will be able to import all data from their respective accounts and then delete them. Then, on December 8, 2022, APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) will be retired.
Why this decision to close Alexa?
Alexa reached some 400 million monthly visits and keeps track of some 30 million websites. It was widely used in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The goal was to accurately measure traffic and display data such as page views or unique visitors. Data was extracted from users using an extension added to the browser and to websites that chose to install a few lines of code. Therefore, for many users, its methodology was questionable.
However, the exact reasons for the closure are not known. Alexa, as Amazon hasn't offered any reason. According to some experts on the subject, there may be two reasons. The first, according to the news and technological aids website BleepingComputer, is that the volume of traffic on that application has decreased considerably in recent years, perhaps due to the methodology we mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The other reason, a very evident, It has the same name as Amazon's virtual assistant. So, surely, more than one user, searching for information or a tutorial to learn how the virtual assistant works, ended up finding information about this app. This could lead to confusion.
And a curious fact
It is worth noting that the virtual assistant, Alexa, was previously called Ivona and was created by a Polish company. Once it was bought by Amazon, it was renamed. While Alexa, the traffic analysis application, was named for its resemblance to the Library of Alexandria.
So, tell us, when you read the title, did you think it was the virtual assistant? Have you ever used this app for traffic analysis?
Image: The Metro
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