‘RU486’ – Australians Research the
Abortion Pill Online
As the House of Representatives voted on the bill that
handed power of the abortion pill RU486 to the Therapeutic Goods
Administration, Australians followed this emotive issue by conducting
their own research on the drug through the Internet.
Hitwise search
data show a dramatic spike in searches for 'RU486', which has been firmly
embedded into public awareness by the media. Searches for the scientific
drug name were higher than 'abortion pill' and 'morning after pill', for
the week ending February 11, 2006.
Hitwise Search Term Analysis
reveals which websites received traffic on the term 'RU486' for the week
ending February 11, 2006. Information sources utilised by the public were
varied, including News and Media websites, ABC Online (www.abc.net.au) and The
Age (www.theage.com.au). Websites of lobby groups featured
significantly, including National Right to Life (www.nrlc.org) and
Australians Against RU486 (www.aaru486.com.au). Government sources were also
referenced, including the Parliament of Australia website (www.aph.gov.au).
Hitwise search data indicate the
concerns of users. Variations on 'RU486' for the 12 weeks ending February
11, 2006, included: 'ru486 safe', 'ru486 deaths' and 'ru486 medical
problems'. Users were seeking informative references, with terms
including, 'what is ru486' and 'ru486 how it works'. Political terms
included, 'australians against ru486', 'ru486 debate', 'tony abbott ru486'
and 'ru486 vote'.
Demographics data indicate that women are more
likely to research health issues online. Visits to the Hitwise Health and
Medical - Information category comprised of 61.4% female Internet users,
for the 12 weeks ending February 11, 2006.
Fast Mover - Roses Only
www.rosesonly.com.au
Position on February 1:
1,229
Position on February 13: 302
Positions jumped:
927
Roses Only is an Australian online florist selling roses and
other flowers. The site was the 1,229th most popular Australian site on
February 1, its popularity peaked for Valentine's Day on February 13 when
it was the 302nd most popular Australian site. Further, on February 13,
the Valentine's Day peak, it was the 25th most popular site in Shopping
and Classifieds and it was one of the six days in February when it was the
most popular Flowers and Gifts website.
The four most popular sites
visited before Roses Only on the day before Valentine's Day were Google
Australia (www.google.com.au) (18.30%), Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au) (4.21%),
Yellow Pages Australia (www.yellowpages.com.au) (4.14%) and Interflora Australia
(www.interflora.com.au) (3.97%). The market share of
traffic contributed from these four sites for January 2006 was less than
on the day before Valentine's Day. In terms of competitive sites visited
after visiting Roses Only, Interflora Australia and EasyFlowers Australia
were 1 and 2 for January 2006 and February 13, although Interflora
Australia received around 3% more traffic on February 13.
Roses
Only's strong brand recognition is evidenced by the fact that the most
popular term typed into a search engine over the 12 weeks ending February
11, 2006 that resulted in traffic to the 'Roses Only' website was 'roses
only' representing 23.02% of all search terms. 'valentines day' was the
third most popular search term representing 3.57% of all search terms.
Hitwise for Search Marketing
The search industry has experienced explosive growth over
recent years, as online marketers recognise the value of obtaining
low-cost, qualified leads for their website through search engine
optimisation and marketing.
Hitwise has developed a range of tools
to help with search term research and analysis to ensure you are targeting
the right search engines and search terms for a successful campaign.
For example, if an online travel agency wanted to reveal new
search marketing opportunities, evaluate keywords and report on a
campaign's success, here are some of the insights that could be uncovered
with Hitwise.
- Which search engines perform best for driving qualified traffic to
websites in the Aviation and Travel - Destinations & Accommodation
industries?
- Which search engines perform best amongst my target audience?
- Which search terms have been successful in driving traffic to my
competitors?
- Which search terms have my competitors successfully used to drive
traffic that I do not currently use?
- Since implementing a new search campaign, has traffic to my website
increased?
Media
queries at Hitwise
If you are interested in using Hitwise content and
statistics in publications and presentations, we encourage you to do so.
Please source the content as "Hitwise Australia
- www.hitwise.com.au".
Additionally - if you
require assistance with statistics or content, please feel free to contact
James Borg at james.borg@hitwise.com.
About this Newsletter
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Copyright Hitwise Pty Ltd, February
2006
Hitwise Australia
Newsletter - February 2006 
Real-time competitive
intelligence
