Internet Sources of Marketing Information
with categorized and indexed results
of the original search engines, Provides tons of results and has an easy to use search tool
good for business research purposes (subscription required)
owned by Terra-Lycos and is a secondary web search engine. It performs multi-search of Inktomi, Google, Ask Jeeves
as a project at Stanford, now it’s a verb meaning to search the internet
Corporate Websites.
When looking for information, you have to look at the company’s own website! IT can provide a wealth of information about what the company is currently doing in the marketplace. Remember that corporate websites are also designed to lure investors and often provide a great deal of investment-level information just for that purpose. Don’t expect to find any company secrets, though!
The vast majority of corporate websites have bought their own corporate domain name (e.g. Others use abbreviated versions of the company name (Procter & Gamble is and Ben and Jerry’s is
Government
The government, both federal and state levels, collects a great deal of information about companies and industries. This information has always been available in the government references section of your university library. Now, the government has done an admirable job of creating access to this information via Internet sources! Here are a few of the useful government sites.
commerce department website contains useful legislative information pertinent to the external environment.
CIA World Factbook is an excellent resource for international information.
Census bureau details economic and social descriptors.
offers statistics from more than 70 federal agencies at one location.
Library of Congress is a vault of information about a great many subjects.
Department of Labor homepage links to labor information including the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Business Publications
Because business publications focus their reporting eyes on the business world, they are an excellent source for information about companies and today’s marketplace. Almost all the major business publications have websites that include stories from the current issue as well as some archives that can be searched. A few of the sites do require a membership to search their archives.
to the type of news, articles, and information that Forbes is known for
to the Time magazine homepage and is a portal to Time Inc.’s magazines such as Fortune.com and Business2.com
world of advertising is at your mouse click with Advertising Age’s website,
of Adweek and linked to its partners Brandweek and Mediaweek
American Demographics magazine and its wealth of statistical data
publishers of The Wall Street Journal bring your business news in the WSJ tradition.
popular sales publication offers articles online. A magazine subscription is needed to search the online archives.
issues are featured in the Web version of the E-commerce magazine.
of the articles are subscription only, but there is some good free information.
than just college rankings, the online version of the U.S. News and World Report is a wealth of information.
online presents some market information for free and full text versions of the print version to subscribers.
a company name into the search box on the Companies Online site and get information about the company plus a series of links that relate to the company and its products.
Newspapers
Major newspapers have also made their presence known on the World Wide Web. Because they focus exclusively on news, they are an excellent online source of business information. While the major newspapers carry a good deal of national information, more regionalized newspapers focus on the business news in their immediate geographic region. Matching a company’s headquarters with its local newspaper may result in more information than looking only at the large national papers.
National Papers
newspaper has a user-friendly site that contains all the major business news
business newspaper is a subscription based service that has archives of its articles online. It might be a good idea to subscribe while you are in college.
news-only search engine looks through more than 250 online newspapers and retrieves all matches to your search request.
Large City Papers
The New York Times maintains its class and informative content online.
windy city’s newspaper makes it easy to search and find corporate information.
the nation’s capital, the Washington Post is rich in politically based business news
International Papers
an international flavor by searching through London’s source of business information.
you want international business information you must look at the Financial Times.
Regional Papers
Regional newspapers are listed by the state in which they are published.
General Business Sites
In addition to print media and newspapers, there are a number of websites that provide researchers and investors with very timely and in-depth business information. These sites provide news headlines and also allow the researcher to search the site using key words.
the best business information site on the Web. Great information from the business search functions plus a business directory that links the researcher to even more business information!
money.cnn.comThe financial branch of the news network provides up-to-the-minute information about the marketplace and companies.
joint venture between Microsoft and NBC television has both event news and business information.
provides business information that focuses on technology firms and advances
Compilation Sites
The following are sites that have been created and maintained as resources for business-based research.
The MichiganStateUniversityCenter for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) maintains a directory of international Web resources.
The University of Michigan’s DocumentCenter maintains a listing of Web-based statistical resources.