Hoover's, Inc. today announced the launch of "The Hoover's Index," a free, proprietary monthly index of the leading public and private companies, non-profits, and associations which represent the brand leaders, up-and-comers and "buzz" creators driving the U.S. and international economies.
The Hoover's Index, which reveals monthly spikes in business search activity, is based on a proprietary algorithm that takes into account the search trends of business professionals, including both organic and internal searches on Hoover's site, as well as business searches conducted via major search engines. Movement above and below index determines ranking, instead of gross search volume.
"The high rankers in this latest edition of The Hoover's Index run the gamut from a leading B2B company and large bank, to a couple of household consumer brand names," said Tim Walker, Hoover's industry analyst. "The majority of the latest index toppers have risen in the ranks primarily because of news of mergers and all-out bidding wars."
LaSalle Bank Corporation (Index #406)
During the 17th century, the explorer La Salle traveled through a large swath of what is today the Midwest - the same region where Chicago-based LaSalle Bank has a strong presence with individual consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. LaSalle Bank made headlines in April when its parent company, ABN Amro, agreed to be acquired by Barclays in what would be the largest banking merger ever. (The price tag is around $ 90 billion.) The catch is that to aid the deal's passage, ABN Amro agreed to sell LaSalle to Bank of America at a price - $ 21 billion - that could seem like a bargain once Bank of America reaps the cost savings of owning LaSalle and starts profiting from its retail network in the Midwest. But LaSalle has other ardent suitors, foremost among them The Royal Bank of Scotland, which covets LaSalle's strong position in Chicago. At the end of April, RBS led a consortium of European banks that made a whopping counteroffer for ABN Amro - nearly $ 100 billion.
DoubleClick Inc. (Index #376)
Being a leading company in your field will get you noticed; being a leading company in your field and having Google announce that it plans to buy you will get you noticed a whole lot more. That's the tale of DoubleClick as it finds itself near the top of this month's Hoover's Index. The company provides targeted online advertising placement and scheduling services, consulting services related to online advertising, and other electronic marketing services. Google intends to pay $ 3.1 billion to buy DoubleClick, a move that should extend the leading search company's reach into more facets of online advertising, which makes up the bulk of Google's revenues.
The Gatorade Company (Index #371)
First the University of Florida Gators opened the month of April with a historic title, becoming the first college ever to win the NCAA football and men's basketball championships in the same year. Then Gatorade, which was developed in the 1960s to hydrate Gator football teams playing in the hot Florida sun, closed off the month at the top of The Hoover's Index. With Major League Baseball season having started, the NASCAR season in full swing, and the NBA and NHL playoffs underway, April is one of the busiest sporting months on the calendar - and one of the busiest times on the Gatorade advertising calendar.
Gatorade quenches the thirst for profit of its parent company, PepsiCo, thanks to the ongoing rage for energy drinks. The big soft drink makers - Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes above all - don't actually care which of their beverages you consume, as long as you do consume. If you want soda, they're happy to oblige with their signature products. When consumers showed they wanted more bottled water, it took no time for Coke to bring out Dasani and Pepsi to introduce Aquafina. And with the ongoing success of Red Bull, Coke's POWERade, and similar drinks, it's no wonder the category pioneer - the venerable Gatorade - finds itself in the spotlight.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company (Index #333)
When Enterprise says "We'll pick you up," it's not just a marketing slogan - it's a key to how the company does business. While top rivals Hertz and Avis operate mainly from airports, Enterprise has traditionally focused on customers whose own cars are in the shop or who need a rental for vacations or other special occasions. (More than 90% of Enterprise's car rental business comes from customers in their home cities, as opposed to travelers.) This emphasis stands to change thanks to a big deal Enterprise announced in April. The company plans to purchase Vanguard Car Rental Group, the parent company of the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental chains, which operate primarily out of airports. Assuming the deal goes through, the combined Enterprise-Alamo-National lineup would become the clear industry leader in the U.S. car rental business.
(As an example, a Hoover's Index of 406 means that search volume was 4.06 times higher than the average search volume.)
To see the entire list of The Hoover's Index, click "here." Additionally, for those who would like direct delivery of news about the latest developments with The Hoover's Index, the "Hoover's Hottest Companies" newsletter is available "here."
The Hoover's Index, which utilizes more than a billion data points, is compiled from a universe which includes all worldwide companies that trade on a major stock exchange, as well as private companies identified as leaders by Hoover's business intelligence experts. Hoover's subscribers can click through from The Hoover's Index to in-depth coverage of the history, operations, and executives leading each company on the list.
Hoover's combines insightful editorial expertise, proprietary data collection technologies and a smart, engaging presentation to give its customers easy access to the most enlightening business information available.
About Hoover's, Inc.
Hoover's, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover's provides this up-to-date business information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's, the company's premier online service. Hoover's business intelligence is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via Hoover's books. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
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