I read this very interesting article on Read/Write Web about how Compete.com will be taking on Alexa in the web analytics market.  Compete has recently opened up a new search engine and web analytics tools for its users.  Compete used to provide web analytics privately.

The name of the web analytics software is called SnapShot and it collects data using a toolbar, ISPs, Opt-in Panels, and other Application Providers.  Alexa just uses its toolbar to collect visitor information and assign rankings.  Read/Write Web states, “As with Alexa, there is ranking, pages/visit, avg stay and comparisons (up to 3 domains in total). There’s also a People metric – an estimate of unique visitors to a site.”

Some of the limitations that Read/Write Web has listed is that the rankings are only U.S. based for Compete.com thus leading to inaccuracy and that Compete does not cater to blogs and other small websites.  Read/Write Web tested their own website along with TechCrunch and found that the estimations were defective.

Compete.com was created by Bill Gross in 2000.  Bill Gross is known for his involvement in goto.com and overture.com.