Online Sources for Competitor Information.

Competitor information gathering is a key aspect of business planning. Information can be collected from either published or unpublished sources. Unpublished information will often be verified based on material from published sources. Published information is more likely to be factual and includes financial, stockmarket, press, market and industry, product, trademark and patent sources. Much published information is now available online but the specific skills of a dedicated competitor analyst are required to best utilize these information sources. The traditional online hosts such as FT Profile, MAID, Data-Star, and Dialog each host databases that can be used to obtain competitor intelligence. Typical databases include those from Dun & Bradstreet, Reuters Textline, the Derwent World Patent Index, Kompass, Investext, and others. The Internet has recently become an important source for competitor information, containing competitor promotional material as well as items from independent sources. Internet search engines such as Digital's Alta Vista can locate information of interest on both the World Wide Web and Usenet. (Author/SWC)