Zunch: Spy on Your Competitors' Keyword Bids

In an SES panel yesterday, an audience member asked MSN’s Jed Nahum how he could prevent a competitor from observing and mimicking his keyword bids. The answer, of course: he couldn’t. It’s a common frustration for smart keyword bidders whose extensive work is thwarted by adversaries who sit back and watch their work, then bid $1 higher.

So I was interested to see Zunch today launched a product, dubbed Zunch Recon, to facilitate just that sort of mimicry. From the press release:

Does your business know what your competitors are up to? Ever want to know what search engine keywords your competitors are buying, what they’re spending or which affiliates are driving their business?

As part of a suite of competitive intelligence services, Zunch offers reports on Benchmarking Reconnaissance, Organic and Paid Search, Competitive Keyword Rankings and Affiliate/Linking activities. With one or all of the reports, marketers can evaluate their own strategies and budgets for search engine optimization and marketing campaigns or learn what keywords, affiliates or search engines are driving traffic to a competitor’s website. (press release)