Must Have Affiliate Tool Launches - Compete

I've had my eye on Compete for a while now.

It does look awesome. The bit I didn't like about the demo, however, was that the first thing it mentions was credits and costs. Show us the benefits before the costs! Come'on!

Basically it's a bit like Hitwise but at the simplest level not as good, but it is far better than Alexa. Their homepage says that it allows you to:

• Discover new keywords you should be bidding on
• Find the gaps in competitors' search strategies
• Invest in terms that drive the most engaged visitors
• Track your performance against competitors and peers

You really have to visit their blog rather than the demo to find the information that will actually make you buy. Take a look at their example about Halo 3, and the differences in demand for the three main types of console.

If anyone has tried it yet, I'd appreciate your views. I don't have time at the moment to give it a thorough going over, but over the next week or so I'll give it a good test-drive.

I can't leave it now! Here's some of the output - an Alexa-type graph:



Play.com's most popular search terms:













Virgin Atlantic's top search terms:










And for HMV:










If you don't have an affiliate stiffy by now something's wrong with you!

It'll be a much cheaper method for brand name bidders to collate keywords and provides an alternative to other tools that show just what people search on based on a keyword you put in. This shows you what the sites are actually getting. It has so many advantages over the other tools!

So, what impact will this have on Hitwise? Well, not a great deal yet as the quantity and quality of the data isn't up to their standards, but I don't think it'll take them to start competing!

Sign up and start playing now!