SimilarWeb

Friday, Apr 23, 2010

SimilarWeb gives you instant access to sites related to the one you’re browsing. Use it as a research tool to find competitors, popular sites in your interests, and more. Vote on site similarity and personalize your results.

SimilarWeb sets you up for a simpler time on the Web. It puts any site you’ve found in parallel with its peers, making searches more relevant and work more productive.

For example, SimilarWeb tells us that Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, Dailymotion, LiveLeak, Sifted Videos, and Hulu are all worth considering as competition to YouTube. Who knew?

SimilarWeb is also great for shopping. Although I’m not surprised to see Lands’ End and REI under a SimilarWeb list for L.L. Bean, it would have taken me a bit longer to make it to Eddie Bauer, Patagonia or Sierra Trading Post on my own.

What about research? A Google search for “unusual San Francisco museums” includes a 2008 smartertravel.com article, a listing of “wacky” Bay Area museums, a tout for museum stores, and several links that all ultimately send me to the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia. These results could be perfect, in some instances. But they’re just not what I meant.

At all.

Maybe it was my mistake for choosing the word “unusual”. I already know one “unusual” (niche? specialty? unique?) museum in San Francisco. So I start on the homepage of the Museum of the African Diaspora. Among others, SimilarWeb suggests the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Contemporary Jewish Museums, the Exploratorium, and the California Academy of Science. Disco. These results are exactly what I was looking for.

You can find Similar Web results to the side of any Web page, as an animated thumbnail view, or from a simple toolbar button. See a list of results or get site thumbnails. Plus, you can take part by voting on site similarity and adding your own similar sites to a current site’s list.

It’s a great way to search the Web when conventional methods aren’t working. Try it out.

Post from Elise Allen, who loves the moment when things get simpler. See all posts by Elise Allen.

18 comments

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  1. Ben

    I can see it being useful but it’s almost like a set of ads on the side of the screen, which would infuriate a lot of people. Yet the only difference is it’s voluntary, and presumably noone’s getting paid. – interesting

    April 23rd, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    Reply

  2. Muhamad nasrul

    Tremendous. It just what I needed for as a common internet user and as an internet marketer. I don’t want to leave any verdict, all I can can say; try it!. You won’t regret. Recommended to everyone.

    April 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Reply

  3. Pingback from bow tie???

    [...] SimilarWeb Rock Your Firefox [...]

    April 24th, 2010 at 1:43 am

    Reply

  4. Matjaz

    Doesn’t install

    April 24th, 2010 at 2:03 am

    Reply

  5. markus

    This has to be the biggest joke of a review…

    “For example, SimilarWeb tells us that Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, Dailymotion, LiveLeak, Sifted Videos, and Hulu are all worth considering as competition to YouTube. Who knew?”

    Who knew? How about everyone that has used the web in the last 3 years. Who doesn’t know that those sites compete with YouTube?

    Other than your comment about unusual museums this post reads like a press release.

    April 24th, 2010 at 6:20 am

    Reply

    1. Paul Cass

      In answer to your question, most people could only name a couple of them eg Google Video, Hulu. Unless you’ve got nothing to do all day, then most people will struggle to name all of Metacafe, Vimeo, Dailymotion, LiveLeak, Sifted Videos.

      May 4th, 2010 at 4:01 am

      Reply

      1. Elise Allen

        Thanks Paul, that’s pretty much exactly what I meant. Even when you have a vague notion of a list of similar sites, and can name one or two, SimilarWeb lines them all up for you instantly. It’s much more comprehensive than anything I can do on my own, that’s for sure.

        And yes, it’s true that I’ve written press releases before (although it’s been quite a few years). That writing style still sneaks out when I least expect it, like in letters to my grandmother and notices to my landlord, and apparently reviews of add-ons. I’ll try to reel it in a bit.

        May 17th, 2010 at 7:44 pm

        Reply

  6. maithri

    It’s wonderful

    April 24th, 2010 at 8:49 am

    Reply

  7. Pingback from We are Rocking ! « SimilarWeb Blog

    [...] Check it out : http://rockyourfirefox.com/2010/04/similarweb/ [...]

    April 25th, 2010 at 6:47 am

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  8. John Besetimoala

    It’s really useful and makes it more easire for researching….:))

    April 25th, 2010 at 11:41 pm

    Reply

  9. Eric

    Regarding to finding similar websites, http://www.similarsitesearch.com does much better job.

    For example finding similar websites to MOAD.

    http://www.similarsitesearch.com/s.php?URL=www.moadsf.org

    It generates more results that are sorted according to the similarity.

    April 26th, 2010 at 7:05 am

    Reply

    1. Collin Anderson

      I tried to use the site you are talking about and it doesn’t compare at all to the quality and beauty of SimilarWeb. after trying sevrel similarity products i can say that SimilarWeb is the best tool for finding similar sites !!

      May 23rd, 2010 at 5:39 am

      Reply

  10. JARED

    the Firefox rocks all ways

    April 26th, 2010 at 6:54 pm

    Reply

  11. Garrett

    Useful idea. Makes some interesting suggestions that I might not have otherwise stumbled upon. I really don’t like the way it take over part of my screen every time I open Firefox (yes, I know I can close it easily, but the whole sidebar thing should be an option that I can choose).

    April 27th, 2010 at 6:07 am

    Reply

  12. Darkemperor

    “This has to be the biggest joke of a review…”

    You need to learn to read sarcasm.

    May 5th, 2010 at 11:51 am

    Reply

  13. sagar kaplay

    Fabulous, It’s one of the most useful add on.
    Rather than searching for the sites on Google it’s better to click on simillar site you want through this toolbar.
    Simply wonderful.

    July 10th, 2010 at 2:33 am

    Reply

  14. varun

    This is a fantastic option if you are researching and only looking to go by similar sites. This tool will help you if you want to surf similar sites and do some research……

    Brilliant!!!!

    July 18th, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Reply

  15. claude

    I use http://www.similarpages.com...
    it suggests the most accurate list of similars!!!

    March 11th, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Reply

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