Web analytics, web metrics, and how to use them to track and improve conversions

A very probing analysis on Kayak.com and SideStep.com Merger by Greg Saks at Compete.com shows what good Competitive Analysis reports should do (illuminate the pros and cons of the merger) - and this kind of report probably should have been presented before a merger was decided - the merger is not a bad idea - but this kind of report really should be part of the decision to merge, or not. 

Making decisions just of financials might not be the way to go - and I'm sure the merger is based on more than that. 

Of all Compete.com's reports that I've read, this one is probably the best as it really shows what kind of information Compete can produce for clients - this is the paid service side, not the mostly free site analytics you can get from Compete.com.

Rather than plastering all the excellent charts here - I suggest looking at the original post - but I will highlight the gold lining here - what I think is significant that Greg Saks found - the point of all this analysis:

Pro (for the merger) 

"...Key takeaways for site usage are that Kayak.com, primarily a technology platform rather than a travel content site, has become heavily dependent upon its flight category to fuel the company’s growth. Its no-frills design appeals to air shoppers looking for the quickest way to find the best flight, but when it comes to more complex travel products such as hotels and vacations, consumers look elsewhere. SideStep, while unable to solve the flight-search puzzle as elegantly as Kayak did, has much to offer its new parent company in the way of travel content and expertise outside of standalone air products. "

"....From a financial perspective the transition of SideStep.com onto Kayak.com’s technology platform may significantly improve the effectiveness of SideStep at generating leads for its advertisers without an increase in site traffic. "

"...With low user overlap between the sites, the combined entity will attract over 5 million monthly U.S. website visitors (significantly more in peak summer season), launching it past the traffic levels of sites like Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, and Hotels.com. 2008 looks primed to be the year where Meta Search has its true coming out party."

Con (why the merger might not work)

 ".....(While...Revenue per site visitor could increase notably within the air category. SideStep, though, is currently a better performer within the Hotel, Car Rental, and Vacation Package categories and any technology shifts could potentially disrupt this performance advantage."

In other words, one of the main ways this merger could work is to increase SideStep offerings to include Flights and Kayak's offerings beyond flights - but if it's only about the technology -the effort may not produce the desired results - and that's what this analysis found.