Comparethemarket.com
Comparethemarket is a UK price comparison website, founded in 2006, that is part of the BGL Group. The website also offers other on-line companies the ability to provide their customers with a co-branded or white labelled comparison service.
In 2009, the company launched an advertising campaign featuring a series of meerkat characters, after which it became one of the "Big Four" price comparison website in the UK.
History
The website was set up by Budget Group in early 2006, following a decision to sell its high street business to Swinton.In 2012, Comparethemarket.com.au launched its comparison service in Australia. The Australian company's television advertisements also feature the meerkat characters Aleksandr Orlov and his Head of IT, Sergei. However, these ads differ from the UK's, with one such storyline revealing the meerkats have purchased comparethemarket.com.au.
In September 2017, it was announced the company was under investigation by the competition regulator surrounding allegations regarding most favoured nation clauses with home insurance providers.
Comparison products
Comparethemarket allows customers to compare prices on a number of insurance products including car, home, van, life, pet, travel and over 50s insurance. It has also expanded in to the comparison of items that can be switched such as energy/utilities, broadband and digital TV, as well as a range of financial products such as loans, credit cards, current accounts and mortgages.Compare the Meerkat campaign
On 5 January 2009, the company launched an advertising campaign featuring a CGI meerkat character named "Aleksandr Orlov" who pleads with viewers looking for cheap car insurance to stop confusing his meerkat comparison website comparethemeerkat.com with comparethemarket.com, due to the similarity between the words meerkat and market. As part of the campaign, Comparethemeerkat.com was created which did indeed allow visitors to compare meerkats.On 26 November 2012, the website started sponsoring the long-running soap opera Coronation Street on ITV in a three-year deal, costing around £30 million.