Comparing Compare

What are comparison sites and how can they help you?

Type into Google 'compare' and you will be overwhelmed by the quantity of comparison sites that will be returned. Comparison sites are fairly young, first making their appearance in the late 1990's as a result of the internet boom. Comparison websites were slightly different in the late 1990's as software had to be installed in addition to your internet browser to be able to use the service.

Thankfully this has changed and today all you need is an internet browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera to be able to use a comparison site. In the pioneering years the goods that were compared were limited. Today you can find a comparison service for almost any goods you could ever need, if you don't believe us then just type 'compare+the product you wish to compare' into Google and see for yourself!

So that was a brief history of comparison sites but what can a site like this do for you today? We will now examine this in detail.

A comparison site does exactly what it says on the tin - it compares. The aim of a comparison site is to compare the main providers of a given product, such as airport parking, and give you a fast and accurate result displaying which of these organisations gives the result that is right for you. It is worthy of note that most comparison website's do not actually sell the products themselves and act very much as the 'middle man' so, when dealing with queries, it is better to contact the actual seller that the comparison site has provided. Any reputable comparison site will provide these details and if they do not then steer clear!

When it comes to using a comparison site what can you expect and how long will it take? Let's examine this now. Firstly you need to put your requirements into the electronic form/grid on the comparison site based upon the service you require, this form should be clearly visible on the site. The website will do the rest for you and in around 10-20 seconds there should be a list of results based upon the criteria you entered. This will allow you to choose which is the best for you based upon price, availability and location (in the case of airport parking anyway!)

We will now look at what Compare Airport Parking does, the competition it faces and how it stands up to other comparison sites in the market. The choice in airport parking comparison sites is growing and Compare Airport Parking faces competition in several forms. The most notable competitors are Simply Parking, Airport Parking Shop and Parking4Less. Compare Airport Parking gives a completely impartial comparison between the 6 main providers of airport car parking in the UK. We are so confident of our service we will let you judge if we provide the best service in our market against our competitors, we have even provided links to them we are so confident!

With so many choices available how do you know which comparison site to use? The answer is simple - it is difficult. Looking at the companies that a comparison site compares is one way of deciding if they are worth using. The website should list how many companies they compare and who they are, usually the more companies they compare the better. However they may compare smaller companies whereas sites such as compare-airport-parking.co.uk compare the leading car park suppliers in the UK giving prices that you would find individually on each suppliers website, this should always be taken into account when deciding which comparison site to use.

So what is the future for comparison sites, are they just a 'fad' or do they really have 'staying power' in the market? It is nearly 10 years since the first comparison sites made their tentative steps into the market place and they still remain strong to this day. A recent study into the impact of comparison sites by the Resolution Foundation indicated that the comparison market appears to be growing at approximately 30% annually, and in the fiercely competitive world of car insurance around 10% of all motoring insurance policies are sold via comparison sites.

There is an interesting article on Wikipedia regarding Comparison sites, if you would like to take a look then please visit, Comparison Sites