PPC Analysis: Mobile Phones

I'm going to try and do a regular look at the the PPC situation for a number of different industries. At this stage I won't give away my sources as I don't want to throw my competitive advantage away - but I'm confident of the data.

So here goes - Mobile Phone PPC

1) How many sites are bidding on "mobile phones" in Google?
In the UK - 113

2) How many keywords do the big players use?

Retailer	# Keywords
o2.co.uk/shop	82,656
t-mobile.co.uk	54,204
dialaphone.co.uk.co.uk	38,422
CarphoneWarehouse.com	91438
virginmedia.com	55137
Orange.co.uk/shop	52781
Three.co.uk	20517
mobileexpress.co.uk	17091
mobilephonesdirect.co.uk	3713
BuyMobilePhones.net	14200
Vodafone.co.uk	28354
thelink.co.uk	18713
ThePhoneSpot.com	13508
e2save.com	38791
Phones4U.co.uk	25172
littlewoodsdirect.com	192436
Unbeatable.co.uk	134909

 

Affiliate	# Keywords
O2.getcheaper.co.uk/	4667
Top10Shops.co.uk	115332
Top20List.net	22361
vodafone-offer.co.uk	123
tmobilesale.co.uk	338

3)What are some keywords that make you wonder what the heck they're doing/
"holograms for cell phones" - dialaphone.co.uk
"samoa mobile phones" - t-mobile.co.uk
"siman cowell", "11.8 x factor" - CarphoneWarehouse.com
"tickets to the orange bowl" (the exact phrase) - organge.co.uk/shop
"n 95 respirator" - three.co.uk/store
"obsolete mobile phones" - thelink.co.uk
"female phone" e2save.com (I won't ask!)

4) Any interesting insights?
Well it looks like many use Hitwise and do gap analysis as an number seem to copy the same crap keywords into their campaigns.

5) How much international competition is there?
In the uk there are 113 competitors for the "mobile phones" phrase, Canada - 26, Australia - 30, Ireland - 31 and South Africa 18.

6) Who do I think are running the best campaigns?Purely from a keyword standpoint it's a toss up between Vodafone and Phones4U.com.