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Best of the BotsShopping for Shopping Bots
By James Maguire
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| In the throes of the holiday frenzy, a good shopping bot is virtually essential. Overcrowded stores, irritable sales clerks, endless Muzak versions of Jingle Bells -- you can avoid them all with the help of an efficient shopping bot. | |
| We shopped for Web shopping sites to see which has the most effective bot. To be included in this survey, a shopping site must utilize a bot that searches the Web far and wide, not just its own inventory. Also, the site must use a generalized shopping bot that finds the best deals on a wide array of products, not just, say, computers or airline tickets. |
BidFind |
| Remember, though, there are no "pure" comparison shopping sites. Many sites have arrangements with merchants to display the retailers' goods in a search. So buyer beware: The results given by a shopping bot may be skewed toward merchants that have agreements with a specific site. | |
| Even so, shopping bots are good for consumers. By providing large amounts of information quickly and easily they put shoppers in a position of power. When several retailers sell the exact same item for different prices, it's easy to see which offers the best deal. | |
| To find bots that most empower the shopper, we chose a single item to shop for across all the sites: a digital video camera. What better way to record the movements of frantic shoppers hustling through holiday crowds? | |
Take a look at what we found.
