Hitwise Adds Paid and Organic Search Data

Hitwise added access to U.S. paid and organic search data, as well as fast-moving search terms for the company’s base of 10 million Internet users. The data are provided on a weekly and a four-week rolling basis.

Weekly availability of competitive data on paid and organic search activity allows search marketers to gain insight and adjust search campaigns and site optimization as a trend arises.

“The greater depth of data is going to be beneficial,” said Heather Dougherty, director of research at Hitwise. “It’s important to be able to see how information compares to competitors’.”

The product, an upsell of Hitwise’s competitive intelligence dashboard, also allows clients to identify fast moving search terms in a category. “In the world of search marketing there is so much movement very, very quickly,” said Dougherty. “The benefit of search marketing is that you can change your campaigns more easily.”

At a time when panel-based data is subject to scrutiny by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, site publishers and others in the marketing industry, Hitwise’s 10 million U.S. market Internet users, measured from a combination of panel and ISP-level reporting, could be seen as more reflective of the actual Web audience as a whole.

“The biggest difference is going to be the sheer amount of data, the size of the audience,” Dougherty said. “[The data] can go out a lot longer into the long tail because of the larger size panel.”

Paid and organic search tools, as well as fast-moving search terms, were first made available to the U.K. and Australia earlier this year. The larger volume of data in the U.S. market required additional time before the service was made available here. A continued roll out of the service to additional markets is planned for the future.