Information is abundant on the Internet. Individuals, companies, and governments all over the world are storing their information online. Further, society is constantly updating our progress using social media which adds more data to the Web in a faster fashion, and therefore, a lot of unnecessary “noise” is created. This makes finding accurate, relevant information a challenge as one needs to sort through millions of search results for a key piece of data. It really is like finding a needle in a haystack.
At Whittaker Associates, it is our forte to find accurate data about companies, their executives, and their corporate behavior. This helps us identify the best industry and company leads for our clients. And it’s why access to up-to-date information is so vital since the playing field can change so rapidly for companies.
Most companies have a website, but very few of them regularly update the information contained on it. In addition, many websites only update with positive changes and events regarding the company. Negative happenings, such as layoffs or plant closures, are hardly mentioned. However, knowing where to look for articles and gaining access to news sources allows us to see a company’s whole picture, both the good and the bad, and make more informed decisions about the health of a company. Social media has also proved helpful in finding current information. Many times, an executive will change his or her place of employment and job title on a social media page before a company’s website is updated to reflect the change.
The challenge of finding accurate information will only grow further because of the demand for real-time data. Therefore, as more hay is added to the haystack, we need to discover newer, faster ways to pinpoint (pun intended) the location of the needle!