Hitwise tracks "air conditioners" related search terms during a national heat wave.
As a recent heat wave has hit the United States, online users are searching for ways to cool off. According to Hitwise data based on a sample of 10 million U.S. internet users, the share of internet searches for the term "air conditioners" was up 48 percent compared to the same week last summer (week ending July 29, 2005 versus July 30, 2005). The share of searches for the term "swimming pools" peaked the week of June 3, 2006, an increase of 96 percent compared to the same week last summer (June 3, 2006 versus June 4, 2005). So where are people going from there? Sears.com received the largest volume of traffic among online users who searched for the term "air conditioner," receiving 12.34 percent of visits. CompactAppliance.com was next receiving 6.50 percent of visits, and CircuitCity.com came in third, capturing 6.44 percent of visits.
Hitwise is the world's leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories. By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as search marketing, affiliate programs, online advertising, visitor segmentation, content development and lead generation. Hitwise collects internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in mega panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the United States, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.