CHICAGO — Internet monitoring service Hitwise Inc. introduced the latest iteration of its keyword research tool to help marketers identify new search terms that successfully draw customers to their rivals’ Web sites.
The tool, called Search Intelligence Version 3.0, debuted at yesterday’s Search Engine Strategies show.
“There’s very little competitive research out there that’s this deep, and it allows you to refine your search marketing campaigns based on what’s happening in your competitive set,” said Andrew Walsh, president/CEO of Hitwise, New York.
Hitwise daily monitors the interaction of more than 25 million Internet users with half a million Web sites across 160 industry categories. The latest search tool is designed to boost its offerings at a time when search is playing a critical role in driving traffic to retailers.
Consider the tool’s features. First is the custom categories function — the ability to define the competitive set to get a sense of the competitors within the category. Another feature is charting functionality for a drill-down from all Internet sites to the specific category and then down to a Web site. The goal is to understand the intent behind the user’s search.
Finally there’s the gap analysis report, which automates the process of meshing the competitors’ search terms with the advertiser’s keywords to get an idea of what terms should be bid on.
Hitwise is confident its product fills a measurement void in the market.
“There’s a ton of tools out there to optimize the terms you have,” said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. “Hitwise is the tool to tell you the terms you don’t have.”
