Review: AddThis

This widget has been around since September 2006. As a reluctant user of third party services, this is the first time I have implemented it on any site. However it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore what is now the standard button for bookmarking and sharing. AddThis provides a simple service for bookmarking or sharing website content, provides some great statistics, and is free - how can you argue with that?

Signing up

From the outset everything is very easy. The sign up process is quick, and in less that 2mins had my code ready for insertion into my blog. Dead simple.

Reporting

There’s a nice simple interface and you can see how many people have bookmarked your pages, or emailed to a friend. It doesn’t offer depth of analysis, but this app is not intended to fill the role of analytics software, however it can complement it.

Customisation

Although I have not yet tried, I am told I Can customise the following:

• Button Image and Link
• Branding - provide company specific logo
• Language - localise menu language
• Service Options - change the order and inclusion of bookmarking/sharing services

Feature set

43 different social bookmarking/sharing options
Free service
Customisation available
Reporting interface

Limited statistics
Records clicks on bookmarking links, but not follow-though i.e. inaccurate statistics
shows dropdown on rollover (not click), which is unexpected behaviour

Competitors

The biggest competitor is Share This a similar product but with less market share. There are different views as to which provides a better service. Having had a brief look at both websites I believe Share This is less straightforward to implement but provides a greater range of services. David Tan has written an article on why he chose AddThis over Share This. However Vlad Zablotskyy of ‘Go Beyond’ has written a similar article expressing the opposite opinion.