(25 Mar 2026) The Webometrics ranking of universities provides a valuable and more comprehensive open data alternative to traditional university rankings. However, as Vladimir M. Moskovkin shows mirror sites and an emergent market for predatory rankings threatens the project’s future.
“For years, the Webometrics Ranking (CSIC) relied on Google Scholar (GS) data to measure “Openness”. However, in 2025, this model reached a breaking point. As Isidro Aguillo, head of the Webometrics project, informed me: “Unfortunately, Google Scholar due to the impact of AI web scraping no longer allows automatic data extraction.”
This technical barrier forced a radical shift. The January 2025 ranking, the last of the legacy model, was archived on Figshare. By July 2025, a new methodology was born, migrating to OpenAlex and now using the ROR (Research Organisation Registry) standard identifiers.
While the top 8,000 universities were successfully mapped, thousands of others fell into a “digital vacuum” where their Openness indicator remained uncalculated due to missing identifiers... In this information vacuum, a parasitic entity emerged on webometrics.org, webometricsranking.com, and webometrics.online domains, mimicking the official brand. My analysis of their January 2026 data revealed a disturbing reality: their results are falsified and do not correspond to legitimate data.
…This highlights a terminal paradox: while the legitimate Webometrics project struggles to maintain a rigorous, fee-based audit for its survival, the predatory clones offer a “convenient lie” for free. This creates a marketplace where fraudulent data is more accessible and “virally shareable” than the labour-intensive truth.
As of March 12, 2026, I have identified 178 publications across 25 countries where news agencies and university press offices celebrated their ‘rise’ in the Webometrics ranking. The leading countries in terms of publication activity are Indonesia (94), Ukraine (17), Turkey (11), the Philippines (10), Egypt (5), and South Africa (5).”
Find out more here.
