About Hitwise

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

Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK

Analyst Weblog

Petrol prices searches reach an all time high

May 28, 2008

UK Internet searches for ‘petrol prices’ reached an all time high last week in advance of yesterday’s fuel protests in London and Wales. As the chart below illustrates, searches for the term have been increasing since Christmas, and have shot up in line with prices at the pump and the level of public and political interest in the issue. Searches for ‘diesel prices’ have also increased, although they remain significantly lower than ‘petrol prices’

UK internet searches for petrol diesel fuel prices 2005 2006 2007 2008 chart.png

Popular search terms containing the phrase include ‘european petrol prices’, ‘compare petrol prices’, ‘french petrol prices’ and ‘cheapest petrol prices’, highlighting both the concern over the high cost of fuel, and the desire to make international comparisons. 68% of people searching for the term ‘petrol prices’ are going to www.petrolprices.com, a website that allows people find the cheapest fuel in their location. The site has increased its market share of UK Internet visits by 270% this year, and last week the site was the 16th most visited in our Automotive category.

The chart below illustrates the representation of visits to www.petrolprices.com compared to the online population as a whole for the 4 last weeks. As you can see, the concern about high fuel costs seems to be highest in the Midlands, the South West and Wales. This is interesting from a political perspective because there are a lot of marginal seats in these areas, particularly the Midlands.

UK Internet traffic to Petrol Prices by region may 2008.png