Yahoo has now sold Kelkoo to a UK-based private-equity firm called Jamplant, TechCrunch reports. According to Wikipedia, Kelkoo has been profitable since the fourth quarter of 2002. The entry says:

On the site itself, it differs from the Google Product Search and PriceRunner model in that it allows retailers to bid for placement in search results. It also covers more categories than most competitors, including clothes, travel, electronics, and auctions from eBay.

In addition to being a price comparison site, Kelkoo is also one of the content providers for SmartShopper.com browser add-on.

That probably made the deal a bit more attractive to the buyer, but the price was probably more attractive. Speculation about the site’s sale has been going on for a while, and according to TechCrunch, sources with knowledge of the deal say Jamplant got it for "something less than €100 million."

"One of the priorities we have identified is to improve the performance of Kelkoo," Yahoo told the Financial Times. "Today we are starting a process to give Kelkoo more independence – while we evaluate strategic options for the long-term future of the business."

Yahoo has never released revenue figures for Kelkoo since it purchased the company in 2004 for about $575 million. Kelhoo has faced strong competition in Europe from both Google and Microsoft.

Yahoo UK managing director Glen Drury told Forbes in an interview that Kelkoo has its good and bad points saying "I think that Kelkoo and all its competitors need to really re-think the way that they’re going to run their businesses in the future."

Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standards & Poor said that Yahoo was in transition and reviewing all of its operations. He pointed out that Kelkoo has not lived up to expectations and that there was added pressure to examine strategic alternatives.

Google had the most traffic in the majority of European countries in June, with Microsoft trailing and Yahoo in third according to a study from comScore.

So along with the new Google hot trends report and analysing the top peformers within the affiliate programs, what other tools are available? I have put together a list of tools below that can help inspire & provide ideas to help identify trends, potential niches or opportunities that could provide decent traffic and monetisation opportunities for a dedicated blog or site.

Search Engines -

• Google Trends
  
• Google Hot Trends – US only. Replaces the old Google Zeitgeist.
• Yahoo Buzz – The days top 20 overall searches.
• MSN Hotlist – The days top 20 overall searches.
• AOL Hot Searches – Latest top searches with categories.
• Ask Top Searches – Top overall searches and movers.
• Lycos Top 50 – Just that.
• Dogpile – Not great.
• Search.com – Top 1000 searches.
• Metacrawler – Most popular search queries with categories.

Blog Sites -

• Technorati Most Popular – Top searches, blogs and videos.
• Ice Rocket Blog Trends – Top movies & news too.

Shopping Sites / Products -

• Ebay – List of top searches on Ebay.
• Kelkoo – Kelkoos most popular, not great.
• ShopZilla – As above, not great.
• Amazon Bestsellers – Bestsellers by category.
• Amazon Movers N Shakers – Whats hot or not anymore.
• Amazon Hot Future Releases – What should be hot.

News Sites -

• NY Times – Most popular search phrases.
• BBC – Top searches & fastest movers.
• BBC Celebdaq – Highlights hot celebs.
• Wall Street Journal – Most viewed / E-mailed.

Others -

• Alexa Top Sites
• Alexa Movers N Shakers
• Jupiter Research Most Popular – Inc most popular searches.
• Touch Local Popular Searches

Can you add to the list?

Hat tip to the Search Anyway blog, it was about time I spoke a little more about affiliate marketing.

Comments

As reported here, Yahoo agreed to buy Kelkoo, which accounts for 10% of Europe’s Internet users. In a report issued by Nielsen//NetRatings, Yahoo’s European visitors have risen from 38.6 million to 43.2 million. France showed the largest increase of users, with a 24% growth.

Full Nielsen//NetRatings report in PDF format

WebProNews | Breaking eBusiness News
Your source for investigative ebusiness reporting and breaking news.

The terms call for Yahoo to receive up to 100% of Kelkoo’s share capital. The price for the agreement reached 475 million euros, or roughly 575 million US dollars.

Speaking of the acquisition, Terry Semel, Yahoo chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Kelkoo will add depth and breadth to Yahoo!’s integrated network of services for consumers, and adds another set of powerful tools for marketers seeking to reach them.”

Kelkoo is Europe’s largest online comparison shopping service accounting for 10% of Europe’s Internet users. Kelkoo’s services enables consumers to quickly and easily find products through its product search engine, then compare prices from more than 2,500 merchants with more than 3 million products across 25 categories.

Kelkoo receives referral fee income from merchants for clicks initiating from Kelkoo’s service.

This move will expand Yahoo’s global strategy, while giving them a larger European presence. The Kelkoo acquisition will give Yahoo the opportunity to increase its overseas reach by introducing millions of new users to Yahoo Europe’s network.

WebProNews | Breaking eBusiness News
Your source for investigative ebusiness reporting and breaking news.