I fear Alexa stats are not very reliable, as they rely on folk having the Alexa toolbar installed, if every ebid member didn't had it that would push the place up the rankings. Personally I have no need of toolbars from Alexa, Yahoo, Google or anyone else, I have enough clutter on my PC without adding to it.
Your comments about being alert to the current hot topic for publicity purposes is very pertinent, staying aware of the latest trend is essential, and also when to get off the bandwagon as well.