Mark from 45n5 has done some research that seems to finally clear up the whole issue. I’ve posted before about this, but I haven’t put any effort into it other than putting the widget on my site and reading a few blog posts. He’s actually done something very simple that I have to admit I hadn’t even thought of: he emailed Alexa. They replied to him and very clearly stated that the Alexa Rank Widget does not affect Alexa Ranking in any way.

This does sound like a pretty final response on the issue, carrying the official weight of Alexa. I know that some people won’t be convinced and I have some doubts myself. However, I’m going to forget about the issue for now. I’ll also leave the widget on my sidebar. In light of Mark’s revelation, though, it might be better to replace it with a link or button for downloading Alexa’s Toolbar. Thanks to Mark for helping to clear things up.