Recommendation engine StumbleUpon has been facing some tough times lately: earlier this month we reported that eBay was looking to sell the startup less than 18 months after acquiring it (the company refuses to comment). And its traffic has been showing signs of stagnation (though the number of registered users to steadily rise). But tonight, the site is launching a new feature that may very well turn things around: a long awaited install-free web toolbar.
Update: CEO Garrett Camp says that usage of the service isn’t stagnating – the unique views have leveled off because users tend to Stumble without returning to the site’s homepage, so their hits aren’t recorded.
StumbleUpon has long been hindered by the fact that it requires a browser plugin that users have to download and install. Such plugins create a large barrier to entry, as they are time consuming and tend to be associated with malware. These problems are magnified by the fact that StumbleUpon’s purpose isn’t immediately obvious – many users have to actually try it out before they understand what it does (for the uninitiated, it uses an algorithm based on your preferences and other users to direct you to websites that you’ll find interesting).
The service’s web-based browser toolbar, which launches tonight, overcomes these issues by replicating much of StumbleUpon’s functionality without requiring an install. To access the web toolbar, you simply visit the revamped StumbleUpon homepage and click on one of the recommended links. The toolbar sits conveniently at the top of the browser window in its own frame, with a prominent “Stumble” button sitting aside a set of stars for rating the sites you come across. The service uses cookies to persistently keep track of your actions across multiple sessions (you can import this data to the toolbar if you ever choose to install it).
To coincide with tonight’s announcement, StumbleUpon is introducing a partner program for sites that will take advantage of the web toolbar. At launch, The Huffington Post and HowStuffWorks will include widgets alongside their articles that will allow users to launch a StumbleUpon browser toolbar that is restricted to their sites (a toolbar launched at Huffington Post would only stumble across Huffington Post articles). The program will likely be a big success, as it allows partner sites to increase their page views by introducing users to new content, while helping StumbleUpon reach a broader audience.
StumbleUpon will still have some obstacles to overcome – the purpose of the web toolbar won’t be immediately obvious to new users, especially those who reach it from partner sites like The Huffington Post. But the burden of the browser plugin has finally been lifted, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these additions prompt impressive growth numbers in the coming months.
Good to see StumbleUpon trying. Thought it were already dead.
I have no idea why it took them so long to adopt a web toolbar. They should have never even started with a plugin.
I’m not sure if this will be enough to turn things around for them, i guess we will have to wait and see.
Apparently it had to do with making sure pages wouldn’t break the frames. They developed a bot that will go through their database and tests for pages that won’t work right – these are excluded for users with the web toolbar.
“They should have never even started with a plugin.”
What a ridiculous statement. They did just fine starting with a plugin. So much so that they sold the company. Contrast that with Poprl which I’ve never even heard of.
Nice that they are losing the download but is it too late?
I tried to summarize their appeal and utility for my new book but found it very difficult to explain to newbies. The site’s UI is weak and their instructions are downright obscure.
Cool service and I wish them well but they need to really work on their approach if they want mainstream adoption.
I’ve always liked StumbleUpon. It does take a leap of faith to try it out, but if you’re just mindlessly web surfing, it’s pretty handy to help find things you might not ever come across.
Hope they stick around for a while….
never used it, I will try it, would be useful.
http://gatesand...s.blogspot.com/
It’s about time. Although I am rather quite fond and used to seeing my StumbleUpon toolbar in my Firefox, this is a welcomed move and will surely get some new users.
StumbleUpon isn’t dead, but Digg is. Digg sucks as much as Jesus does.
Your site sucks.
Stumble is awesome … maybe they could make a browser based version via a i-frame or something to that extent?
Uh, isn’t that what this article is about?
I’ve been using SU since it first came out and it’s the best tool I’ve found for discovering new and interesting sites. Glad to hear they are still developing new features.
Stumble upon is not dead as many would think. They still manage to bring important traffic to all type of sites.
This new approach is good for all of those sick of creating new accounts and installing something on their PC. Also this is better for the users with no option of installing Stumble Upon toolbar, like Chrome, Safari.
I like stumbleupon, but Digg more. Still can’t believe ebay owns them.
I’ve heard about the demise of StumbleUpon for a while and could never really understand it, because from a publishing point of view the traffic from SU is far superior to sites such as Digg and other social media. Maybe it’s a case of quality over quantity?
wow, I’m out of the loop and across the pond. I just found Stumble last week.. no idea it had been around awhile. Still trying to fully “get it”… but maybe I’ll stop after reading this post!
I have been using SU for a while, and I still love it.
Give me SU over Digg anyday.
my lady and i stumble Every day !!! Love it !! if folks dont like the plugin or dont know about it …then harden up !
Stumble rocks !
Stumbleupon is a good property…..
Still i can’t believe Ebay owns it….
http://www.futu...techwriters.com
mail@futuretechwriters.com
I just started using SU the other day, and you’re certainly right about one one – it’s incredibly confusing! I still don’t really know how the site/toolbar works. There’s very little documentation. If it weren’t for the the fact that SU can drive a lot of traffic to sites, I think I’d ignore it completely. However, I get a decent portion of traffic from SU, so I figured I should at least be familiar with it.
What is the matter with everyone – it really isn’t that confusing… intall it (or now go to the broweser thing) then choose the topics ur interested in and click the stumble button and stumble gives u sites that other people rated as good in those topics that u selected – then if you then also give a site the thumbs up (or down) it starts to learn what you like/dislike and gets even better at offering u stiff you will like more often than not like?!!
i’m using SU – http://cnties.stumbleupon.com/
but don’t know if digg is better ?
SU Rocks
How would the traffic statistics of the websites who get a lot of hits through Stumble be affected? Or it won’t be? I mean, the traffic will still come of course, but will it have the same information or now the referrer data will differ somehow?
Glad to see SU doing something and making some moves. I’ve never had sticky traffic from it but who is to say it’s the traffic’s fault?
I’ve been using SU for a while now and while there really is no use for it other than entertainment, I do like the toolbar. I really hate those embedded toolbars that About.com and some other sites use to keep you on their site while you surf. If that’s what SU is going to move towards I may stay away.
I just don’t understand how StumbleUpon works
I don’t see the web toolbar when I go to SU’s homepage. Would it have to do with the fact I’ve already installed the plugin?
For those of you who don’t get it:
Thumb Up = Like
Thumb Down = Don’t Like
SU Button = Stumble somewhere else
For a tech blog TC sure has a bunch of morons reading it.
SU gives us some of our best referrals – they spend more time on the site and end in more new user conversions than even google organic search. I hope they do great and keep sending us new users!
I went through the process Jason described but I keep getting sent to a registration page, even though it clearly shows me as logged in at the top of the page. can anyone from SU help?
This post is wrong. It’s not a new web-toolbar to replace the browser plugin. It’s a new marketing campaign that “demos” how the toolbar works. Totally non-functional ad. I wrote up more here:
http://www.samp...ew-hot-feature/
Next time, play with it before you post about it.
Interesting comment
The concept of Web toolbar is a concept that many non-technical guys would like to see as a solution to downloads. But the reality is not so simple. All solutions based on frames like SU (web toolbar), Browzmi will be in my opinion a failure because they do not work in all cases.
e-g: following a link kills the toolbar, the browsing history becomes “broken”…
Give me a break, the breakthrough technology is a toolbar?! Toolbar takes up precious real estate and is generally hated by most users.
Hi there. I’m Walter, StumbleUpon’s Community Manager.
If you have any questions about how our site works, please feel free to submit questions using our feedback form: http://www.stum...n.com/feedback/
An actual person will get back to you as soon as possible.
Ebay wants to sell SU now? That means only one thing: They learned all they are going to learn from SU and it s not going to make them any more money. I just hope that all the spammers they brought with them will leave too when Ebay leaves.
I cannot even imagine the web without StumbleUpon. It is the best thing to happen to the internet since search engines. It is a major part of my life now. It is by far the BEST social networking and social bookmarking site on the web IMHO.
StumbleUpon is a great tool for when you sit down and have no idea what you want to look at. Just click “Stumble!” and based on your preferences you’ll find something that you might enjoy. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than killing time entering random words into a search engine.
This web based toolbar will be a great improvement for me. I’m so tired of having multiple toolbars stuck on my browser window, especially when the toolbar only takes up half the screen, and can’t be consolidated with the others.
Stumble Upon toolbar has made my life easy. It has simplified the work I used to do manually on the website.