# Competitive Intelligence — Real-Time Market Analysis & Monit... (`apricot_blackberry/competitive-intelligence`) Actor

Real-time competitor monitoring: pricing, launches, hiring, social, news. Automated competitive intel for strategy teams.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/apricot\_blackberry/competitive-intelligence.md
- **Developed by:** [Creator Fusion](https://apify.com/apricot_blackberry) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $50.00 / 1,000 intelligence reports

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Competitive Intelligence

**Monitor competitor activities, pricing strategies, marketing campaigns, and product launches. Get early warning signs of competitive threats and market changes.**

Staying ahead of competition requires real-time intelligence: what are competitors pricing their products at, which marketing channels are they focusing on, who are their new hires and leaders, what patents are they filing, and where are they expanding geographically? Competitive Intelligence aggregates public data about your rivals into actionable insights.

### What Does Competitive Intelligence Do?

This actor monitors your competitors across multiple data sources to provide comprehensive intelligence on their strategies, activities, and direction. Track pricing changes, website updates, social media campaigns, hiring trends, funding rounds, patent filings, and public announcements—all in one place.

**Key Capabilities:**

- Pricing intelligence (monitor competitor price changes across channels)
- Website monitoring (track changes to websites and landing pages)
- Social media tracking (monitor social posts, campaigns, engagement)
- Hiring analysis (track job postings and team growth)
- Funding intelligence (monitor capital raises and investor activity)
- Patent monitoring (track patent filings and technical innovations)
- Press release tracking (monitor product launches and announcements)
- Executive movement (track hiring and departures of key personnel)
- Market expansion detection (identify geographic or category expansion)

### Key Features (8 Features)

1. **Multi-Source Data Aggregation** - Consolidate competitor data from 50+ sources (websites, social media, job boards, news, SEC filings)
2. **Pricing Change Alerts** - Daily monitoring of competitor prices across all channels with change notifications
3. **Campaign Tracking** - Identify and analyze competitor marketing campaigns, channels, and messaging
4. **Hiring Velocity Analysis** - Track job postings to estimate team growth and new business initiatives
5. **Funding & M\&A Monitoring** - Early detection of competitor funding rounds and acquisition activity
6. **Patent & Innovation Tracking** - Monitor patent filings to understand technical direction
7. **Timeline Intelligence** - Historical data showing when competitors made major moves
8. **Threat Scoring** - Automatic risk assessment of competitive actions affecting your market position

### How to Use (Step by Step)

#### Step 1: Define Your Competitors

List the companies you want to monitor:

- Competitor names or website domains
- Industry or market segment
- Geographic regions of interest
- Key metrics to track (pricing, hiring, funding, etc.)

#### Step 2: Configure Monitoring Parameters

Set up automated tracking:

- Data sources to monitor (website, social, jobs, news, etc.)
- Update frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Alert thresholds (what constitutes actionable intelligence)
- Team members to notify of important changes

#### Step 3: Run Initial Baseline

Execute the actor to establish current competitive landscape:

- System gathers current competitor data across all sources
- Captures pricing, staffing, website content, recent announcements
- Establishes baseline for future change detection
- Generates initial competitive landscape report

#### Step 4: Monitor and Act

Automated monitoring alerts you to significant changes:

- Price changes trigger notifications
- Major hiring pushes detected and reported
- New product launches identified through press releases
- Funding rounds flagged with deal details
- Website/messaging changes highlighted

### Input Parameters (Brief Table)

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `competitors` | array | Yes | List of competitor names or domains |
| `dataSources` | array | No | Which sources to monitor (website, social, jobs, news, patents) |
| `updateFrequency` | string | No | Monitoring frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) |
| `priceTracking` | boolean | No | Enable price monitoring (default: true) |
| `hiringTracking` | boolean | No | Monitor job postings and hiring (default: true) |
| `socialTracking` | boolean | No | Monitor social media activity (default: true) |
| `fundingTracking` | boolean | No | Monitor funding and M\&A (default: true) |

### Output Data (Brief Table)

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `competitor` | string | Competitor company name |
| `priceChanges` | array | Detected price changes with dates and amounts |
| `hiringActivity` | object | Job posting count and team growth estimates |
| `fundingNews` | array | Capital raises and investment rounds |
| `productLaunches` | array | New product announcements |
| `marketingCampaigns` | array | Active campaigns and channels |
| `threatScore` | number | Overall competitive threat level (0-100) |
| `lastUpdated` | string | Timestamp of most recent data collection |

### Pricing & Performance

**Cost per operation:**

- Single competitor baseline: $0.10
- Competitor set (5 companies, monthly): $10.00
- Comprehensive tracking (10 companies, daily): $30.00
- Enterprise monitoring (20+ companies, real-time): $100+

**Performance:**

- Single competitor baseline: 2-5 minutes
- Competitive landscape report: 5-10 minutes
- Daily monitoring run: <1 minute per competitor

**Typical usage:**

- Small business (2-3 competitors): ~$5-10/month
- Mid-market (5-10 competitors): ~$20-50/month
- Enterprise: ~$100-500/month

### FAQ (2-3 Questions)

**Q: Is monitoring competitors legal?**
A: All data collected is publicly available. Always consult with legal about compliance with regulations and competitor monitoring best practices in your jurisdiction.

**Q: How quickly do I get alerts?**
A: For website monitoring, within hours. For social media and news, typically within 24 hours. Funding announcements are detected within 1-2 days.

**Q: Can I export the data for analysis?**
A: Yes—all data can be exported to JSON, CSV, or connected to BI tools like Tableau for deeper analysis.

### Data Quality & Limitations

- **Data Freshness**: Website changes detected within 24 hours; social media within 12 hours
- **Geographic Coverage**: Strongest for US companies; international coverage available
- **Private Companies**: Harder to track; focuses on public information only
- **Small Competitors**: May have limited public digital footprint

### Integrations & Automation

**Slack Alerts**: Daily competitive updates and price changes in Slack channel.

**Email Digests**: Weekly summaries of significant competitive actions.

**Webhook Triggers**: Alert your systems when specific competitive events occur.

**Spreadsheet Sync**: Export tracking data to Google Sheets for team analysis.

**BI Dashboards**: Connect to Tableau, Looker, or Power BI for visualization.

### Works Great With

- **Market Research Platforms** - Combine with broader market data
- **Pricing Tools** - Feed competitor prices into dynamic pricing engines
- **Business Intelligence** - Visualize competitive data in BI dashboards
- **CRM Systems** - Flag accounts when competitive threats are detected

***

**Know Your Competition. Control Your Market.**

📧 [Support](https://docs.apify.com/support) · 📚 [Documentation](https://docs.apify.com/docs) · ⚖️ [Legal Guide](https://docs.apify.com/platform/legal) · 📡 [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2)

Built for competitive strategists and market leaders.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

landscape: analyze all creators as competitors. benchmark: compare one target against competitors.

## `tiktokUsernames` (type: `array`):

Creators to analyze for competitive landscape (min 2)

## `targetUsername` (type: `string`):

The creator to benchmark

## `competitorUsernames` (type: `array`):

Competitors to benchmark against

## `fetchProfiles` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch TikTok profiles automatically

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings for web requests. User must pay for proxy - no exceptions.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "landscape",
  "fetchProfiles": true
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("apricot_blackberry/competitive-intelligence").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("apricot_blackberry/competitive-intelligence").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call apricot_blackberry/competitive-intelligence --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,apricot_blackberry/competitive-intelligence"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/DlkSn8RYSnQYQrZQh/builds/BCEmn7wiF8dVAOPjT/openapi.json