The month of August sees summer in full swing and with the Olympics capturing everyones attention, especially with our athletes in such supreme form the August stats are ripe for an upset or two.

Most popular search queries

August’s search queries produced some interesting figures, with our Doris Day fans (at least I hope there’s more than one of you!) still defying all logic, rising one further place into a incredible 4th spot, pushing perennial favourites Kelkoo down into 5th. In true Top of the Pops style here are this months leading queries, with their movement on last month included in brackets.

1. pricerunner (-)
2. amazon (+1)
3. eBay (-1)
4. doris day (+1)
5. kelkoo (-1)
6. tesco (+1)
7. argos (-1)
8. play.com (+2)
9. coupons (ne)
10. john lewis (-1)

So, what to make of those. Pricerunner is holding firm at the top of the charts. Doris Day continues to recieve an alarming number of searches from you.  Coupons meanwhile make a new entry into the chart, reflected by the growing popularity of coupons both in the wider web and on the MutualPoints website.

Top of the Shops

1. Pricerunner (-)
2. Kelkoo (+2)
3. Expedia (-1)
4. nPower (ne)
5. E.On (+4)
6. Virgin Media (-)
7. Vodafone (ne)
8. British Gas (ne)
9. Scottish Power (ne)
10. Tesco.com (-3)

Pricerunner and Kelkoo are popular favourites so it’s no surprise to see them towards the top. The big theme of the month however has been energy.  I blogged on the 21st about the predicted rise in energy prices, and thousands of you have taken the opportunity to switch suppliers.  nPower, E.On, BG and Scottish Power all enjoyed strong months as you all jostled for the best deals over these difficult months.

So that’s our take on the month that was August. As always we’d love to hear from you so let us know your thoughts below.

The month of July traditionally brings some interesting trends, with the kids off from school, people jetting off on holidays and the sunshine generally tempting people out of doors, and this July on MutualPoints is no different.

Most popular search queries

July’s search queries produced some interesting figures, with our Doris Day fans (at least I hope there’s more than one of you!) still represented, indeed gaining a place, jumping above birthday boys Argos. In true Top of the Pops style here are this months leading queries, with their movement on last month included in brackets.

1. pricerunner (-)
2. ebay (+1)
3. amazon (+1)
4. kelkoo (-2)
5. doris day (+1)
6. argos (-1)
7. tesco (+1)
8. boots (+1)
9. john lewis (-2)
10. play.com (-)

So, what to make of those. Pricerunner is holding firm at the top of the charts. Doris Day has seen an odd, and rather alarming, leap up the rankings.  Argos have seen a strong showing in their birthday month.

Top of the Shops

1. Pricerunner (-)
2. Expedia (+8)
3. Vodafone (ne)
4. Kelkoo (-2)
5. Esure (ne)
6. Virgin Media (ne)
7. Littlewoods (-)
8. AA Home Insurance (-)
9. E.On (-)
10. Apple Store (ne)

Pricerunner and Kelkoo are popular favourites so it’s no surprise to see them towards the top. With holiday season in full swing its no surprise to see Expedia up at the top. Vodafone ran a great promotion early in the month and proved incredibly popular with you guys.

So that’s our take on the month that was July. As always we’d love to hear from you so let us know your thoughts below.

Pricerunner are undoubtably one of the most popular merchants on MutualPoints, having topped both the May and June Zeitgest reports.  However we’re in the unfortunate position of having to cap the usage of the Pricerunner program to ensure its long-term health.

Let me explain

Whilst Pricerunner are undoubtably popular for earning you all points it has to be remembered that Pricerunner as a business exist to deliver high quality traffic to their advertising partners, ie the shops that appear in their price comparison searches.  So if people use the program purely to earn points to redeem via MutualPoints it doesn’t deliver value to the shops advertising on Pricerunner, and this then feeds back down the chain to us here at MutualPoints.

A quick reminder

Therefore we’d like to issue a quick reminder for people to only use Pricerunner if they’re performing valid searches.  They’re a great site and we’ve had a positive relationship for a number of years now, a relationship that we’d very much like to continue for many more years to come.  That means that all links in the chain have to be happy, which includes you the MutualPoints member, us as website owner, Pricerunner as advertiser and the shops they promote.  If valid searches are performed then everyone in that chain is happy.  If searches are performed just to earn points then short-term gain may be enjoyed but it damages everyone long-term.

3 a day

So, in an effort to ensure the relationship with Pricerunner remains a strong one we’ve decided to limit the number of rewarded searches with them to 3 per day.  We think this provides ample scope for anyone performing valid searches to go about their business, whilst earning points at the same time, and ensuring the relationship we have with Pricerunner is a good one.

We hope you’ll understand the reasoning behind this decision.  Needless to say if you have any comments or questions, post them below and either myself or another member of the team will attempt to answer them.

Following on from last months top of the shops we have the monthly MutualPoints Zeitgeist for June and once again we have some interesting trends and patterns emerging from your shopping habits.

Most popular search queries

We had some, lets say, interesting queries cropping up in last months results, with Doris Day an odd favourite amongst you all. In true Top of the Pops style here are this months leading queries, with their movement on last month included in brackets.

1. pricerunner (-)
2. kelkoo (+1)
3. ebay(+1)
4. amazon (-2)
5. argos (-)
6. doris day (+1)
7. john lewis (+2)
8. tesco (-2)
9. boots (+11)
10. play.com (-1)

So, what to make of those. Pricerunner is holding firm at the top of the charts. The infamous Doris Day fans out there are ensuring the old girl is well represented, whilst John Lewis makes a leap up the chart as a result of their unfortunate decision to leave the cashback sector. Boots have made the biggest leap up the charts however with a stonking 11 point rise up the table. With summer here no doubt many have been on the hunt for suntan lotion and the like. Unfortunately Boots have shut down their online marketing program in the past week so have vamooshed from all cashback sites too. We do have Superdrug on the High Street however so you can still get your cosmetics and so forth.

Top of the Shops

1. Pricerunner (-)
2. Kelkoo (+1)
3. Betfair (+2)
4. Fashion at Tesco (ne)
5. Dialaphone(+2)
6. Insurance.co.uk (ne)
7. Littlewoods (+1)
8. AA Home Insurance (+1)
9. E.On (-3)
10.Expedia (-6)

Pricerunner and Kelkoo are popular favourites so it’s no surprise to see them heading the pack. Betfair have no doubt taken advantage of the recent Euro 2008 football tournament (I hope you all took my tip to back Spain ). The recent addition of Tesco fashion has gone down a storm, with thousands of you signing up to get fashion tips direct to your inbox.

So that’s our take on the month that was June. As always we’d love to hear from you so let us know your thoughts below.