IZEA, the folks behind everyone’s favorite blog corruptor, PayPerPost, have launched IZEARanks, their PageRank alternative. Basically, it’s a service that lets you rank your blog and have it displayed to the public, giving you credit and authority where it is due. You install IZEA Toolkit, claim your blog, and you’re on your way. It all sounds easy enough.
Will you use it?
Personally, I can see ranking algorithms and services filling a purpose in the blogosphere, and online overall. Google’s PageRank is far from an ideal solution to value a blog’s worth, and don’t even get me started on Alexa… However, the problem with services like this is that they’re not worth anything until a lot of people are using it, and people won’t be doing that in large numbers until the service is seen as reliable, fair, and independent.
That’s a problem for IZEA, I’d say, especially in the blogosphere, with all the ruckus around PayPerPost.
IZEARanks is in alpha. Check it out, and tell me what you think.
PS. Do check out what Darren over at ProBlogger, and Paul over at Mashable thinks. Two good posts on this topic.