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76 Part 1 Introduction

Comparison of top 20 web properties between the UK and US ranked in
Table 2.6
order of visits in June 2008.

UK US
1 Google sites Google sites
2 Microsoft sites Yahoo! sites
3 eBay Microsoft sites
4 Yahoo! sites AOL LLC
5 BBC sites Fox Interactive Media
6 AOL LLC eBay
7 Facebook.com Amazon sites
8 Wikipedia sites Wikipedia sites
9 Ask Network Ask Network
10 Amazon sites Apple Inc.
11 Fox Interactive Media Viacom Digital
12 Daily Mail Group Turner Network
13 Apple Inc. New York Times Digital
14 Lycos Europe Sites Glam Media
15 CNET Networks FACEBOOK.COM
16 Tesco Stores Weather Channel, The
17 Home Retail Group CNET Networks
18 Yellow Book Network craigslist, inc.
19 Sky sites Wal-Mart
20 News International Superpages.com Network
21 Expedia Inc Disney Online
22 Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group Adobe sites
23 Gorilla Nation Time Warner – Excluding AOL
24 Viacom Digital Gorilla Nation
25 Orange Telecommunications sites Verizon Communications Corporation

Source: Comscore (2008a, b) UK and European companies marked in bold

The importance of search engines

Search engines, Search engines are a key type of intermediary for organizations marketing their services
spiders and robots online, since today they are the primary method of finding information about a company
Automatic tools known as
‘spiders’ or ‘robots’ index and its products. Research compiled by Searchenginewatch (www.searchenginewatch.com)
registered sites. Users shows that over 90 per cent of web users state that they use search engines to find infor-
search this by typing mation online. Their importance can also be seen from their audience size in Table 2.2.
keywords and are
presented with a list of Search engines also offer a directory of different web sites. We see how search engines work
pages. in more detail in Chapter 9 and also how companies can market themselves on the search
engines through search engine optimization and paid search marketing. For marketplace
Directories or
catalogues analysis it is useful for companies to assess demand for products and brand preferences in
Structured listings of different countries using tools such as the Google Keyword Tool (Figure 2.12) which shows
registered sites in
different categories. the volume of searches by consumers related to clothes in the UK in a one-month period.
CPC is the cost per click charged to advertisers. Google uses this tool to encourage advertis-
ers to use its Adwords advertising service.