Unit 6

Intelligence from the Internet

 The Internet
• The Internet is the network of networks
 The Internet is a treasure chest of information
 It has become the master of all knowledge store houses

• It allows flexibility in data search and collection

 It allows access data at the right time, all the time
 Allows to one to extract relevant data

• It is the tool for better time utilisation and to access

information round the clock.
• The Internet has come to stay.
 Intelligence on the Internet

• The Internet has revolutionised the search for information.

• Data that once took weeks to acquire can now be available at a few clicks
of a mouse.

• This applies to all types of information but those seeking intelligence on

competitors have benefited due to the Internet revolution.

• The number of web sites put up by companies and devoted to news about
the activities of companies is huge.
 Intelligence on the Internet
• It is rare to find a company of any significance that does not have a
website.

• The company web sites posts the description of its

 Activities and Facilities,

 Product range

 Partners,

 Press releases, and technical papers,

 Job opportunities and contact details.

• The wealth of information available on even the most basic sites is far in
excess of that which could be obtained from printed brochures and
catalogues and directory entries.
 Intelligence on the Internet
• However, the Internet has its inherent problems.

 Those who promote the web as a vast store of free information are not far from the
truth, at least in areas where local telephone calls are free and if the measure is
volume rather than value.

 The main problem is that a high proportion of the free information on the Internet is
useless for intelligence purposes

 It takes considerable amounts of time to sift through it to get to items that are
relevant.

• The second problem is that volume rarely equates to quality.

 Research on the market for peanut butter will identify hundreds of sites but, very
few giving any statistics on peanut butter consumption.

 While a high proportion of the data available from the web is free of charge, the
most valuable information is not .
 Intelligent Information on the Net
• The web has to be seen not only as a means of accessing
intelligence but also as a method by which those who sell
intelligence can deliver it to their clients.

• Many of the more useful sources charge for their intelligence and
buying it on the web is simply quicker and more convenient than
placing an order and waiting for delivery of the hard copy.

• The only rule of the game on the Internet is to be prepared to be

surprised - both ways.

• Sometimes the simplest item of information proves incredibly

difficult to locate

• On other occasions a highly esoteric topic may be covered in great

depth.
 Intelligent Information on the Net
• Making sense of what is available on the Internet is far from easy
and many of the guides that have been written are more confusing
than enlightening.

• This is partly due to the fact that because of its diversity and scale it
is impossible to classify easily.

• The purpose of this unit is not to list all that can be found on the
Internet but to describe that which is unique to the web and its use
as a means of accessing secondary intelligence,

• Although some sites are mentioned the reader will have to look
elsewhere for specific listings of all that is available on the web.
 The Search Engines
• When managers want business information, many now routinely
look on the Internet.

• They use search engines like Alta Vista, Excite, or HotBot to find
what they need.

• But how good are these search engines -- relative to one another --
at finding management information?

• Eric T. Bradlow and David C. Schmittlein of Wharton's marketing

department set out to investigate that issue. They presented their
findings in a new study titled "The Little Engines That Could:
Modeling the Performance of World Wide Web Sea”rch Engines."
 The Search Engines
• Others have analyzed the performance of search engines in the
past. For example, in a study published two years ago in “Science”,
Steve Lawrence and C. Lee Giles studied the relative number of
Web sites that turned up in response to searches on various search
engines.

• What makes the Wharton study different, however, is that, unlike

previous investigations, it focuses specifically on management
information.

• In effect, it tries to determine which of six popular search engines --

AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Info seek, Northern Light, and Lycos --
might be most likely to find particular kinds of business information.
 Search Engines
• Bradlow and Schmittlein believe that using a search engine to find
Web pages is a little like fishing with a net.

• The results depend not only on the net's size but also the area of
the sea where it lands.

• Metaphorically, this is also true of World Wide Web search engines.

• Bradlow and Schmittlein tested their digital "nets" by searching for

marketing phrases such as "second mover advantage," "perceived
value pricing," and "umbrella branding" on various search engines,
and comparing the results.
 Search Engines

• Their conclusions show that among the six search engines, Alta
Vista and Northern Light were "the best single choices."

• For example, Alta Vista turned up 38 Web pages in response to the

search term "umbrella branding," while Northern Light returned
51,HotBot 21, Excite 7, Infoseek 4 and Lycos0.

• Bradlow and Schmittlein discovered thatLycos offers little coverage

of marketing phrases, but sometimes found Web sites that did not
show up in searches on other search engines.

• To return to the fishing metaphor, it caught some fish that other nets
missed.
 Search Engines

• If this is true, which search engine should a busy, Web-savvy marketing

manager use?
• Bradlow and Schmittlein suggest that based on their results, Alta Vista is the
best single search engine choice, since in their study it found some 50% of
the Web sites with marketing phrases.
• These are pretty good, but there is still plenty to find..
• If someone wants to use a second engine for a follow-up search, Northern
Light or HotBot are good choices.
• For those with more perseverance, any of Excite, Infoseek or Lycos may
turn up some additional sites.
• One other finding was that all six search engines together found only 89% of
the relevant Web sites, and missed 11%.
• In that regard, these little engines could do better.