General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Discussionist poll #2. Digging a bit deeper.... [View all]Ms. Toad
(38,730 posts)If a year ago DU was ranked #100 and had 5,000 hits a day, the fact that it is now #180 and has 3000 hits a day (just pulling numbers out of the air) tells us about trends in a way similar to random sampling.
It is falling relative to other sites measured by the same standard (dropping from 100 to 180), and the number of hits is down. It isn't an absolute scale- but absent some indication that DU visitors changed their Alexa installation habits (or uninstalled) at a significantly different rate than viewers of other sites, it is an indication that DU traffic is down - and the site is, relatively, less popular.
In other words - the Alexa user installation base may well have changed which could easily change the number of views. But the rankings would stay the same unless DU viewers behaved dramatically differently as to their interaction with the Alexa toolbar.