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62 Part 1 Introduction

Top 10 generic and branded search terms sending traffic to a Hitwise
Table 2.1 custom category of the top 25 flower websites in the UK over the four
weeks ending 1 March 2007

Branded term popularity Generic term popularity
1 interflora flowers
2 flying flowers mothers day flowers
3 tesco flower delivery
4 interflora uk mothers day
5 tesco flowers flowers delivered
6 next flowers mothers day gifts
7 flowers by post florists
8 next flowers for mothers day
9 asda valentines flowers
10 asda flowers send flowers
Source: Hitwise press release: UK Internet visits to flower web sites at highest-ever peak in February, London,
6 March 2008

3 Intermediaries and media sites.
Media sites and other intermediaries such as aggregators and affiliates are often successful
Aggregators
in attracting visitors via search or direct since they are mainstream brands. Companies
An alternative term for
price comparison sites. need to assess potential online media and distribution partners in the categories shown in
Aggregators include Figure 2.2 such as:
product, price and
service information a. Mainstream news media sites or portals. Include traditional, e.g. FT.com or Times or
comparing competitors Pureplay, e.g. Google news, an aggregator.
within a sector such as
financial services, retail or b. Niche or vertical media sites, e.g. E-consultancy, ClickZ.com in B2B.
travel. Their revenue c. Price comparison sites (also known as aggregators), e.g. Moneysupermarket, Kelkoo,
models commonly Shopping.com, uSwitch.
include affiliate revenues
(CPA), pay per click d. Superaffiliates. Affiliates gain revenue from a merchant they refer traffic to using a
advertising (CPC) and commission-based arrangement based on the proportion of sale or a fixed amount.
display advertising (CPM).
They are important in e-retail markets, accounting for tens of percent of sales.

Affiliate e. Niche affiliates or bloggers. These are often individuals, but they may be important, for
A company promoting a example, in the UK, Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com receives millions of visits
merchant typically
through a commission- every month. Smaller affiliates and bloggers can be important collectively.
based arrangement either Again, the relative importance of these site types can be assessed using the services
direct or through an summarized in Box 2.1.
affiliate network.
4 Destination sites
Online value These are the sites that the marketer is trying to generate visitors to, whether these are trans-
proposition (OVP)
actional sites, like retailers, financial services or travel companies or manufacturers or brands.
A statement of the
benefits of e-commerce Figure 2.3 refers to OVP or online value proposition which is a summary of the unique
service that ideally should features of the site which are described in more detail in Chapters 4 and 8. The OVP is a key
not be available in
competitor offerings or aspect to consider within planning – marketers should evaluate their OVPs against competi-
offline offerings. tors’ and think about how they can refine them to develop a unique online experience.