About Hitwise

Hitwise is the leader in online competitive intelligence. Contact Hitwise to maximize your online marketing programs.

Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - UK

Analyst Weblog

« Cancer Research UK Online Growth | Da Vinci Code and Google SERP »

Ruth Badger and Michelle Dewberry Neck and Neck on The Apprentice

May 10, 2006

Tonight the BBC will air the final episode of The Apprentice. The two final contestants, Ruth Badger and Michelle Dewberry, are as different as night and day - except of course that they are both young, accomplished business women!

I looked at Hitwise data and based on the share of UK internet searches for the two contestants - the race is too close to call. Michelle Dewberry has been called "the silent assassin" around the Hitwise UK office. No one here expected her to get this far but now she seems a real contender for the lucrative - if tough - job for Alan Sugar. The following chart shows searches for the two candidates. You can see that share of UK searches for "michelle dewberry" were far lower than for "ruth badger" until last week - when both spiked up significantly.

The chart also reveals the real star of the show - Sir Alan Sugar.

Badger v Dewberry.png

So what are consumers looking for when they search for the contestants? Seems that people are genuinely interested in learning about the contestants - and are of course looking for gossip!

Searches for "michelle dewberry" sent 46% of visits to michelledewberry.com and 12% to www.biogs.com.

Searches for "ruth badger" sent 45% of visits to www.ruthbadger.com and 13% to Female First, which is running a story claiming that Ruth Badger is a lesbian. Interest in Ruth's sexual orientation is high - with the search term "ruth badger lesbian" the third highest volume term with her name in the past four weeks.

Unfortunately, Hitwise data can't predict the winner this time - as it is up to Sir Alan. Guess we'll all just have to stay tuned...

Posted by Heather Hopkins at 05:01 AM | (0) | (0)