Competitive Intelligence Research on the Internet http://www.virtuallibrarian.com/research/ci.

html

Company Profiles News Primary Sources More Information

"Competitive intelligence (CI) is the process of monitoring the competitive environment. CI enables senior
managers in companies of all sizes to make informed decisions about everything from marketing, R&D, and
investing tactics to long-term business strategies. Effective CI is a continuous process involving the legal and
ethical collection of information, analysis that doesn't avoid unwelcome conclusions, and controlled
dissemination of actionable intelligence to decision makers."

Source: Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals

of this web page is not to be an exhaustive list of C.I. resources on the Web. Rather this site
should start you off in the right path for researching businesses online. Many of the tools and tricks used in
Web research are borrowed from the same places we research in paper sources. Added to the traditional
methods, dynamic speed and an open market atmosphere, the Web makes a great place for competitive
intelligence research.

Locating information about a company on the WWW can be as simple as inserting the name of the company
into the "companyname" slot of www.companyname.com. More, different, and sometimes better information
can be obtained through a variety of search engines and specialty Internet business sources.

uld Business Intelligence company has put together an excellent resource for industry searching.

Internet Intelligence Index

ahoo! allows you to search it's immense Business_and_Economy database for Company information. Type
the company name you are looking for in the search box, and check off "Search Only in Companies" button
underneath.

www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/

" DGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, performs automated collection,
validation, indexing, acceptance, and forwarding of submissions by companies and others who are required by
law to file forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its primary purpose is to increase
the efficiency and fairness of the securities market for the benefit of investors, corporations, and the economy
by accelerating the receipt, acceptance, dissemination, and analysis of time-sensitive corporate information
filed with the agency."

EDGAR

1 of 4 1/3/2010 3:32 PM
Competitive Intelligence Research on the Internet http://www.virtuallibrarian.com/research/ci.html

oovers, the ultimate source for company information. You can search by company name, keyword or
ticker symbol. "We publish information about more than 12,000 public and private companies worldwide.
Our capsules and profiles are the most engagingly written, accurate, and informative information about
companies you'll find on the Web. Hoover's Company Capsules are a free source of basic information and
useful links for all the companies we cover. Hoover's Company Profiles offer in-depth information on 2,700
companies. They cover each company's strategy, history, products and services, competitors, and financial
performance."

Hoover's Online

To really dig for information on a company it's important to cover all the angles. Researching newspapers for
current and historical articles on a business can turn up real gems. An important factor to remember in
researching news sources is to check national papers such as the New York Times, as well as regional
sources, Bergen Record (NJ paper). This allows you to understand what the big news is, and what the local
feel for the company has been. Also, a company will advertise heavily for new employment positions in their
area. Employment ads will specify what the perspective employees need to know to be hired. Those
specifications will tell the researcher which direction the company is heading, where they are developing, and
what equipment they are buying!

nfoseek an incredible database which will search the following multiple news wires and newspapers
simultaneously.

News Wires

Business Wire
PR Newswire
Reuters

National News Sources

Chicago Tribune
Fox News Network
CNN
Los Angeles Times
MSNBC
The New York Times
San Jose Mercury News
USA TODAY
Washington Post

www.infoseek.com/ follow NEWS

Primary sources are the experts in any profession. It's impossible to be knowledgeable in all fields. If you
don't know the industry you are researching find out who is an expert. Experts are conference speakers,

2 of 4 1/3/2010 3:32 PM
Competitive Intelligence Research on the Internet http://www.virtuallibrarian.com/research/ci.html

patent holders, former employees, technical recruiters, authors, reporters, and discussion lists.

vent Source lists trade shows, conventions, conferences and seminars Internationally. You can specify your
search by trade, country, date and location.

Event Source

BM Patent Server. With this World Wide Web server, IBM lets you access over 26 years of U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office (USPTO) patent descriptions as well as the last 23 years of images.

IBM Patents Server

United States Patent and Trademark Office is also available on the Web.

USPTO

Listservs and Mailing Lists are subscriber based forums which allow you to join and participate. These groups
are focused on a particular topic which is of interest to the constituents. Entering a group to learn about an
industry, company, or product news can be extremely helpful in finding out who the key players are.
Newsgroups are similar to listservs, except you do not have to join the forum in order to participate. Generally
of the two groups listservs and mailing lists are considerably more respectable sources than newsgroups.

Locating Listservs and Mailing Lists

Liszt
Tile.net
Yahoo's List of Mailing Lists
Mailing Lists How-to

ejanews is a searchable interface to over 50,000 newsgroup postings. Job postings, comments, insults and
queries can be located in DejaNews.

www.Deja.com

Be sure to choose "Discussions/Power Search

Customized news services that deliver to your virtual doorstep the latest news, sports and company
information that you specially design for your needs.

" lariNews includes general, international, sports, technology, entertainment, and financial news -- plus
special features and columns, press releases from major companies, and information about the U.S.

3 of 4 1/3/2010 3:32 PM
Competitive Intelligence Research on the Internet http://www.virtuallibrarian.com/research/ci.html

government."

www.clari.net

ointcast utilizes a unique and free desktop delivery service which allows you to track stock quotes, news,
company information, and other assorted national and international interests.

www.Pointcast.com

The Fuld Corporation

Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals

Researching Companies Online Tutorial

Investigator's Toolbox

4 of 4 1/3/2010 3:32 PM