Nonmembers can view general company information, including background, locations, top competitors, and top officers. In one interface, CEO Express compiles links to major newspapers, news services, business magazines, international news, technology sites, and more. Corporate Information is especially useful for finding information on foreign companies, and CorpTech specializes in high-tech companies. Company Sleuth gathers inside information on public companies from various Web sites and sends email, as often as daily, to registered users on the companies they specify. Access to company information and email alerts requires free registration.
Most sites focus primarily on public companies.
Hoover's and CorpTech offer information on some private companies, and Corporate Sleuth has plans to add private companies to its menu. For the most helpful information on a private company, visit the company's official site, or try some of the search techniques listed below. SooKoo's search results are created from a process based on relevancy and the site's development team's own knowledge. The most significant way the Web has changed competitive intelligence is in the channels through which corporate information flows. Before the spread of the Internet, says Fuld's Kassler, the flow of information about a company, whether to shareholders or the general public, began with the company itself, through press releases, press conferences or public statements.