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• Author: Holt, Valerie
• Position: Easy access to invaluable company information - Brief Article

Spy on Your Competitors Via the Web

At best, business marketing is an evolving science, and should perhaps be labeled an elusive art form, even a game of cat and mouse. Competitors gather information wherever they can find it, and scheme to apply this knowledge skillfully. The information now available on the Internet, and the speed at which it's delivered, increase the rate at which a company must compete to stay alive.

Information about one's competitors is now available literally at the click of a mouse. In the old days, companies relied on sales teams to gather intelligence about competitors through sales calls and trade shows. Strategists waited for news and analysis from the daily, weekly and monthly news services to compile competitive intelligence. But now, financial news and analysis is available on the Internet nearly the moment it is created.

"Getting information about our industry and getting it in such a timely manner was not a part of my world three years ago," says Laura Kvinge, spokesperson for Salt Lake City-based Campus Pipeline. "There is no way we could do what we do on a...