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Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK

Analyst Weblog

Category Archives: Gadgets

Fire sale sends HP Touchpad searches past iPad online

September 02, 2011

It has been a rollercoaster few weeks for HP, which followed the news that it was purchasing British software vendor Autonomy with an announcement that it is considering moving out of the PC business. The company also announced on 18... Continue reading...

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In Categories Gadgets

Harry Potter most popular ebook as Kindle books outsell paperbacks

January 28, 2011

This week Amazon announced that it is now selling more ebooks online than paperbacks. The announcement adds new perspective to the popularity of e-readers and the way we consume literature. In a company press statement Amazon revealed that: “Since the... Continue reading...

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In Categories Apple | Books | Gadgets

2010 Online: the year in review

December 21, 2010

I can scarcely believe that a whole year has passed since I was sitting here writing the 2009 review, but 12 months to the day here we are, and it’s been another fascinating year in the digital world. Once again... Continue reading...

Experian and Hitwise at ad:tech: What will be the hot products this Christmas?

September 21, 2010

If you’re visiting ad:tech in London over the next couple of days, be sure to pop over to the Experian stand (270a) and say hello to us and our Experian colleagues. At 10:30 on Wednesday I’ll be taking the stage... Continue reading...

Doubling of 3D searches adds new dimension to film and technology

September 16, 2010

Unless you’ve been under a distinctly flat and undefined rock for the past year or so, you can’t help but have noticed that the 3D era has definitely arrived. Everything is in 3D these days, from fashion catwalks to football... Continue reading...

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In Categories Gadgets | Movies | TV

New Amazon Kindle searches spike to challenge iPad mini

September 02, 2010

September has only just begun and already people are talking about Christmas. Planning committees are being assembled to organise the office Christmas Party, high street retailers are bringing out decorations and online gossip has turned to the hottest gifts for... Continue reading...

Harry Potter fever: Wizarding World theme park, Deathly Hallows, Lego game

July 09, 2010

With the unveiling in June of the Universal theme park, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the movie trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the release of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, it's fair to say that... Continue reading...

Budweiser tops the Experian Hitwise World Cup Brands Index during week 2

June 22, 2010

Budweiser, an official FIFA World Cup sponsor and sponsor of the USA team, was the brand that made the most of its World Cup involvement last week. UK Internet searches for Budweiser increased by 25% between the week ending June... Continue reading...

Apple the most searched for consumer electronics brand as iPad launches in the UK

May 28, 2010

Apple’s iPad finally goes on sale in the UK today, supported by an advertising campaign and the usual smattering of media coverage. UK Internet searches for the device have been increasing in anticipation of the UK release; for the week... Continue reading...

Apple Tablet the fourth most searched for laptop in the UK

January 26, 2010

Apple’s much anticipated – but not yet even announced, just rumoured – Tablet PC became the fourth most searched for laptop model in the UK last week. The table below is from the latest Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics List, and... Continue reading...

Last minute surge in online retail traffic before VAT increase

January 04, 2010

The UK VAT rate returned to 17.5% on January 1st and, as a result, UK Internet searches related to the change also increased. As the chart below illustrates, searches for our “VAT Increase” portfolio (which includes terms such as ‘vat... Continue reading...

Post-Christmas retail round up: online and offline traffic spikes on Boxing Day

December 29, 2009

As we’ve pointed out for the last couple of years, the post-Christmas period has become increasingly important for online retailers – and this year is proving no exception. Boxing Day (December 26th) was again the busiest day for online retailers... Continue reading...

2009 online: the year in review

December 21, 2009

The end of the year presents and excellent opportunity for reflection, and also for lists. Combining the two, I’ve decided to reflect on the last year of online activity in the UK by providing a list of our most popular... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone and iPod Touch the most searched for products this Christmas

December 15, 2009

Visits to consumer electronics websites increased by 16.5% between October 2009 and November 2009 as the gift buying season started in earnest. This was the largest month-on-month increase in UK Internet traffic to consumer electronics websites this year. Searches for... Continue reading...

Video Games searches overtake Mobile Phones following release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

November 20, 2009

UK Internet searches for video games increased by 28% last week following the release of the much hyped and anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As the chart below illustrates, Video Games overtook Mobile Phones to become the most... Continue reading...

Windows 7 Release

November 05, 2009

Experian Hitwise’s resident gadget, expert Client Intelligence Analyst Richard Seymour, takes a look at the online reaction to the Microsoft’s Windows 7 launch last week. Using the Experian Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics List, we saw that during the week ending... Continue reading...

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In Categories Gadgets | Guest posts | Retail | Richard Seymour

Microsoft Xbox 360 takes console top spot despite Sony PS3 Slim surge

October 02, 2009

Over the last couple of Christmases, Nintendo (both the Wii and DS) consoles have ruled the roost, but it looks as if this Christmas things will be quite different. The chart below illustrates searches for our portfolios of console-specific search... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone 3G S vs Nokia N97

June 18, 2009

The launches on June 19th of two 3G touchscreen phones from the most searched for mobile phone brands in the UK, Apple and Nokia, have created a buzz in the Hitwise office this week. Hitwise UK’s resident gadget expert, Client... Continue reading...

Sims 3, top transactional websites and the latest Experian Insight Report.

June 04, 2009

Not a full blog entry for once, but a list of links to some other great content from elsewhere within Hitwise and Experian. Firstly, a great new blog from Hitwise Client Intelligence Analyst Richard Seymour on the rollercoaster ride of... Continue reading...

Mobile phone recycling searches treble

May 22, 2009

Internet searches related to the recycling of mobile phones have almost trebled over the last 12 months. UK Internet searches for a portfolio of mobile phone recycling search terms – such as ‘recycle mobile phones’, ‘mobile phone recycling’ and ‘phone... Continue reading...

Celeb and entertainment searches dominate Google News

March 26, 2009

Last week we revealed that Twitter had overtaken Google News in the UK. However, although everyone’s favourite micro-blogging service receives more UK Internet visits, Google News remains the greater source of traffic for News and Media websites. As the chart... Continue reading...

Fair weather searches

March 25, 2009

Whenever the sun comes out, us Brits flock to parks, beaches and al fresco restaurants to make the most of that most precious of commodities (in the UK at least): sunshine. As you might expect, our online behaviour also changes... Continue reading...

Mobile phones are the most searched for consumer electronics product; Apple the top brand

March 18, 2009

Today we have another guest post from our UK Client Intelligence Analyst and resident gadget expert, Richard Seymour. At Hitwise we are able to look into the fascinating ways that search data can provide insights and inform decisions about our... Continue reading...

Searches for e-books double

February 02, 2009

Over the last year UK interest in e-books has grown significantly, with searches for ‘ebooks’ doubling between January 2008 and 2009. There are four main e-book readers currently available: the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, the Borders iLiad, and the... Continue reading...

Vouchers vs. sales: battle of the online discounts

January 13, 2009

Around this time last year we reported that post-Christmas sales searches had trebled; a couple of weeks ago we noted that this year the increase was just 3.2%. However, if Christmas 2007 was the year that online sales went mainstream,... Continue reading...

TVs, Computers and iPods most popular sales items

December 31, 2008

The table below lists the 10 most searched for consumer electronics products last week (which included the key sales days of Christmas Day and Boxing Day) and the week before. Searches for televisions increased by 148% last week, making the... Continue reading...

UK online retail: Christmas round up

December 29, 2008

Given the economic conditions, people are watching Christmas retail numbers like hawks. Below are the key numbers for online shopping in the UK over the last few days. Sales searches up 3.2% Combined, UK Internet searches for the terms ‘sales’... Continue reading...

Last minute surge in online Christmas shopping

December 23, 2008

There was a last minute surge in UK Internet traffic to online retailers at the end of last week. Looking at UK Internet traffic to Shopping and Classifieds websites, here are the annual increases in visits vs. the comparable day... Continue reading...

Nintendo Wii and DS account for two-thirds of console searches

December 18, 2008

Nintendo’s Wii Console, which accounted for more than one in three games console searches in November, overtook Nintendo’s Wii Fit to become the UK’s most searched-for product in November. The company’s DS Lite was also the fastest growing console online,... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone pulls away from its closest competitors

December 18, 2008

While mobile phones continue to be the most searched-for product in the UK, they have seen a 23% decrease in searches since October as consumers turn their attention to Christmas gifts such as toys, video games and games consoles. Despite... Continue reading...

Pre-Christmas peaks in online retail traffic

December 16, 2008

In our retail webinar last week I noted that UK pre-Christmas Internet traffic to Shopping and Classified websites has already started to decline from its peak on Sunday November 30th. As the data in the chart below illustrates, the week... Continue reading...

Netbooks account for 1 in every 7 computer searches

December 11, 2008

In the next instalment of Hitwise Client Intelligence Analyst Richard Seymour’s analysis of the consumer electronics market, Richard talks about another fast-growing consumer electronics area – Netbooks, the small to medium sized, light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient laptops optimized for web usage.... Continue reading...

Wii Music to be the next Wii Fit?

November 21, 2008

Wii Music, the recently launched music making game for the Nintendo Wii, has already raced into a battle with our list of top 10 games from October. This is extremely impressive as the game was only released in the UK... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 06:38 PM | (0)
In Categories Gadgets | Games

Apple iPhone the most searched for mobile phone in the UK…just

November 18, 2008

Last week we reported that the Nintendo Wii Fit video game is currently the most searched for product in the UK. In that post we also identified the Apple iPhone as the third most searched for product, followed by the... Continue reading...

Nintendo Wii Fit most searched for product this Christmas

November 13, 2008

Wii Fit, Nintendo’s popular video game, is currently the most searched-for product by UK Internet shoppers in the run-up to Christmas. During October there were more UK Internet searches for Wii Fit than the Nintendo Wii, the most popular product... Continue reading...

Supermarkets continue to grow online

October 17, 2008

While looking at the fastest growing retail sectors for this month’s retail webinar, we noticed that our Grocery and Alcohol has been doing well this year. As the chart below illustrates, its share of Internet visits has been increasing gradually... Continue reading...

Impact of the T-mobile G1 (google phone) launch

September 30, 2008

With Robin on holiday at the moment, he has asked me, Richard Seymour, the Client Intelligence Analyst for Hitwise to take the unenviable task of filling the Hitwise UK analyst blog void for the week! Luckily with the launch of... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 11:19 AM | (4) | (0)
In Categories Gadgets | Mobile phones | Shopping and Classifieds

Superbrands: demographics and lifestyle information

July 23, 2008

The Centre for Brand Analysis released its list of the top Superbrands in the UK earlier this week, with Google taking the top spot after placing third last year. By looking at the profile of visitors to their homepages, we... Continue reading...

Price comparison traffic up 37% thanks to economic downturn

July 15, 2008

With prices rising and the credit crunch biting, consumers are taking more time to find the best deals online. Last week we contributed to an Experian Footfall report which highlighted the downturn on the high street and in out of... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone, O2 and the purchasing cycle

July 08, 2008

O2 started taking orders for Apple’s new 3G iPhone yesterday, and as you would expect it experienced a spike in traffic to both its homepage and online shop. Unfortunately the surge in demand caused the carrier’s site to crash, although... Continue reading...

Blackberry benefits from iPhone hype

June 18, 2008

A lot of the iPhone launch coverage last week included references to the alternatives to Apple’s latest mobile phone. It looks like the competitor that benefited most from these comparisons in Britain was Blackberry – ironic, considering that many are... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 02:00 PM | (4) | (0)
In Categories Gadgets | Mobile phones | Search

Blog traffic reaches all time high

June 10, 2008

UK Internet visits to weblogs reached an all time high last week. As the chart below illustrates, Blogs and Personal Websites accounted for 1.19% of all UK traffic, equivalent to one in every 84 internet visits. Taking the slightly longer... Continue reading...

Online vouchers prove popular in bargain-hungry Britain

June 06, 2008

With the economy slowing and prices rising, everyone is on the lookout for a bargain. Vouchers have become a popular way of promoting discounts, particularly around Christmas time. In fact, they have become some popular that price sensitive shoppers are... Continue reading...

Game cheats: GTA4, Mario Kart Wii and Halo 3

May 20, 2008

Following the recent launches of two popular video games, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA4) and Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, we noticed an interesting search pattern. As you can see from the chart below, searches for the game itself peak during... Continue reading...

Freesat proves popular online

May 14, 2008

The launch of Freesat, the free satellite TV service provided by the BBC and ITV in the UK, proved popular with online consumers during its launch week. UK Internet traffic to www.freesat.co.uk, the service’s online homepage, increased by 627% between... Continue reading...

Mobile broadband searches increasing

May 08, 2008

It’s hard to open a newspaper at the moment without seeing an advert for mobile broadband services - from both carriers, such as Three, Vodafone and T-Mobile, and independent retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U. The advertising seems to... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone UK price drop

April 21, 2008

Last week Apple and 02 announced that they had cut the price of the 8GB iPhone by £100 in the UK until June 1st. As always with Apple, the announcement generated a huge amount of media interest – including speculation... Continue reading...

Retail price index and organic food

March 20, 2008

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has just announced the latest round of changes to the basket of goods it uses to calculate the UK retail price index (RPI). In addition to providing inflation figures, the make up of the... Continue reading...

Sales searches trebled in 2007

January 03, 2008

The number of UK consumers searching for post-Christmas sales online more than trebled during the 2007 holiday period. There were 249% more UK internet searches for the term ‘sales’ for the week ending 29th December 2007 than for the comparable... Continue reading...

Supermarkets' online share increasing

December 13, 2007

Supermarkets have increased their share of the UK online retail market in the run up to Christmas. A Hitwise custom category of the top 45 supermarket operated websites accounted for 6.6% of all UK Internet visits to Shopping and Classifieds... Continue reading...

The demographics of gadgets

December 12, 2007

We came across this interesting claim from John Lewis that it expects to sell more electrical goods to women than men for the first time this Christmas. In order to test their prediction, I looked at the demographics of our... Continue reading...

Nintendo Wii the most searched for product this Christmas, despite UK shortages

December 05, 2007

The Nintendo Wii was the most searched for product by UK Internet shoppers during November. There were thirteen times as many UK Internet searches for ‘nintendo wii’ sending traffic to the Hitwise Shopping and Classifieds category as there were for... Continue reading...

Digital photo frames more popular than cameras this Christmas

November 28, 2007

We’ve just completed our latest hot gadget list and, given the amount of coverage they have received, I wasn’t surprised to see that the Nintendo Wii is currently the most searched for console in the UK, nor that the iPhone... Continue reading...

iPhone UK launch

November 09, 2007

It hasn’t received much attention in the media over the last week so you probably haven’t noticed, but the iPhone goes on sale in the UK today. 02 is the exclusive British carrier, although the phone will be available via... Continue reading...

Apple iPhone is the most searched for mobile phone in the UK

October 31, 2007

Recent analysis* of the top search terms driving traffic to the UK's top retailers show Apple’s iPhone is the most searched for mobile phone in the UK with 11.4% of UK Internet searches for a specific mobile phone model. Apple... Continue reading...

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In Categories Gadgets

Hot Christmas gadgets: Nintendo Wii, sat nav and iPods

September 27, 2007

Christmas, of course, comes earlier every year. For retailers it starts earlier than most as they try to identify the year’s 'must have' gifts. In order to give them a bit of a hand, we’ve spent the last week analyzing... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 02:30 PM | (2) | (0)
In Categories Gadgets | Search | Shopping and Classifieds

O2, Led Zeppelin and the iPhone

September 19, 2007

Two big music stories have caught the media’s attention over the last couple of weeks. Firstly there was the announcement last Wednesday (September 12th) that the remaining members of Led Zeppelin are to reform for a one off reunion concert... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Robin Goad at 05:00 PM | (3) | (0)
In Categories Gadgets | Music | Search

Robin Goad

Research Director, Hitwise UK.

About Hitwise

Category Archives: Gadgets

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