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Market Intelligence: Don't Search... Find What You Need!
› › ›  ClickZ

BY Keith Pieper | 3-5-1998

I know, you’re probably thinking, just another set of stupid links. You’re probably thinking all the good stuff isn’t free. And you’ve heard the line -- the information is there, it is simply a matter of finding it.

Yeah, you’ve probably used these links before. But it’s not necessarily the link itself, but how you use that link. In other words, using the hyperlink with a dash of hyperthink.

You have just entered the world of my personal bookmarks. Welcome to my computer and the way I use it to find what I need.

Think I’m kidding?

I’ve become known as the person who can find things. I had a colleague ask for assistance in finding the market share of a very large client in a very large market. He had spent 20 minutes looking for the data. I found the information in two minutes. For the most part, where you look isn’t as important as how you look.

Basic Business Information

The most basic of business information you can find is from Dun & Bradstreet. D&B can provide you with very basic company information, and sometimes very interesting information, on public and private companies. It's actually one of the few sources for private company information. The kind of information that costs $20 per company profile, but has it’s weight in gold.

Hard-to-Find Information

Hoover's Online provides similar information to D & B, but is expanded and more enhanced. The free service provides snapshots of companies, where the subscriber service is more detailed.

If D & B doesn’t help, consult Hoover's. Hoover's is also one of the few firms providing private company information.

IPO Central is an extension of Hoovers and provides easy access to companies about to go public and all relating government documents.  Cyberstocks is another Hoover property which aggregates all internet related company profiles onto one site. All of these sites are searchable.

Industry Information

One of the best free resources that provides an industry overview by sector (SIC code) is iMarketInc. A few pages can break out your industry by state, specialty, revenue and employees. And you can search by SIC code or alphabetical industry name. A great way to assess the true size and dynamics of your market.

Internet Advertising/Commerce News

There is, of course, ClickZ...but you already knew that.

As the best source for specific internet ad news and information, (as well as other internet marketing news like commerce), Advertising Age has a very free and very active interactive news section. The search engine is a little weak, but it is possible to find what you are looking for after a few tries.

The Web Marketing Info Center by Wilson Internet Services is an excellent resource for many internet marketing related topics, but primarily commerce topics. Until a few months back, the site’s newsletter and archives were free. Now, like many other sites, there is some free information, but the juicy stuff is by subscription. Dr. Ralph Wilson’s newsletter and site is a great resource for following up on possible stories you may have missed in the news - he manages to track them all!

[Editor's note: And do check out Microscope and Who's Marketing Online, as well. Both are excellent sites for information about online advertising (the former) and marketing (the latter). (And remember that you read the shameless plug for both ClickZ Corporation-owned publications here!)]

Start-Up News and Information

Herring Communications is one of the best sites for finding news and information on private, start-up and venture capital backed companies. Many times through the search, you can find revenue goals, customers, and strategies. Red Herring makes finding the "hard-to-find" information easy to find.

Future Development Speculation

Ever wonder what your competitors or partners might be up to next? The best indication is often what domain names they have reserved. The problem is, the "who is" database search at InterNic is a little cumbersome to use.

Thankfully, I found Ask Reggie, a super easy tool that searches the InterNic database. Simply search for a domain name you know the company owns, then click the company name on the result page. Reggie very nicely searches and lists all the domains owned by that company.

News Searches

There is one tool I have been using as my comprehensive news searcher for over a year - Excite’s Newstracker. Simply create categories with keywords, click on them, and the Newstracker searches over 300 publications for those combinations. It's quite customizable and a very easy way to stay on top.

Another tool I use for technology-specific news is, of course, News.com. News.com is the definitive source for tech-only news and provides search functions for their entire archive.

Statistics

Finding those little gems of stats and info can sometimes be hard, especially when several research firms publish conflicting conclusions.Estats by Eland is a great resource that aggregates all those numbers in one location and provides their own composite figure based on everyone else. I’m not sure of their methodology or credibility, but my gut says their composite figures are good. Cyberatlas is another good stats site, but has recently shifted to de-emphasize numbers and more overview and commentary.

Consumer Trends

There is one publication family that can not be overlooked - American Demographics/Marketing Tools. This publication provides high-level consumer trend analysis for all kinds of market sectors. One of the few free, searchable sites with credible consumer trend information.

The Last Straw

Finally, if you want to scour the net to find those little hidden nuggets of information, there is one search engine that has delivered for me time after time - HotBot: SuperSearch. HotBot’s SuperSearch is one of the few search engines that allows searching the net with a fine-tooth comb.

With it, I can search specific domains or physical locations. I used HotBot’s SuperSearch to research a competitor once, wherein I found the resume of their top senior engineer. In it, she referenced several non-commercialized new products in development. You never know what you’ll find after tinkering around a bit!

Other Great Resources

Finally, I can’t forget other great sites like former WebWeek - Internet World and Internetnews.com for other daily news. Frankly, the Internetnews.com search engine stinks, so I use a domain restricted search through HotBot SuperSearch.

NUA Surveys is a great aggregation of summaries of data and studies that are popular and not so popular - dating back to 1996.

Finally, AdResource.com is a great tool for internet media and web publisher research.

These are my tools, my tricks, my tips -- the actual sites and strategies I use to find what I need to about your company. Use them wisely and keep me posted on other great resources! I'm open to your suggestions! 

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Keith Pieper is Market Strategist for MarketAdviser.com, a Boulder, Colorado-based Internet business intelligence company providing niche market research studies and consulting services to Internet-related companies. Keith has written over 60 commentaries on ClickZ since its founding in 1997, and has been featured in numerous other trade publications. In addition to his writing, he has worked with numerous Fortune 500 firms and Internet startups in research, strategic planning, product development and advertising, most recently providing research and strategic planning for MatchLogic, an advertising technology subsidiary of Excite.

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