Compare the Market

Compare the Market is a United Kingdom price-comparison brand operated by BGL Group. It allows consumers to enter personal and product information once and compare offers from participating insurers, finance providers, utilities and other commercial partners. Its principal role is that of an online comparison and customer-acquisition intermediary rather than an insurer, lender, utility supplier or telecommunications operator. Availability, ranking and pricing depend on the providers participating in a particular comparison and on the information supplied by the customer. The brand was introduced in 2006 during the rapid expansion of internet-based price comparison in the United Kingdom. Its early and continuing focus has been on insurance, particularly motor and home insurance, while its scope has broadened to include life insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, van insurance, breakdown cover, mortgages, credit cards, loans, energy, broadband, mobile phones, business-related services and other household or financial products. Some categories have changed over time as market conditions, regulation and supplier participation have evolved. Compare the Market became especially prominent through its advertising platform featuring the fictional meerkat Aleksandr Orlov and the phrase “simples.” The campaign began in 2009 and differentiated the service in a crowded comparison-market sector. The advertising also supported a customer-loyalty proposition in which eligible customers could receive access to entertainment, cinema or other partner benefits after completing a qualifying comparison or purchase. The meerkat characters became closely associated with the brand, although the underlying service remains a digital marketplace and comparison engine. The company’s commercial model is based primarily on commissions, referral payments or other remuneration from providers when users proceed to an eligible product or transaction. Consumers may also be shown products that are not necessarily the cheapest in every circumstance, because results can reflect eligibility, coverage, features, commercial relationships and the customer’s stated requirements. As with other comparison services, the brand’s value proposition combines convenience, the ability to review multiple offers, and the potential to reduce search costs; it does not guarantee that every product in the market is included or that a quoted price will remain unchanged through the provider’s final application process. The brand has operated within an increasingly regulated United Kingdom financial-services and digital-comparison environment. Its activities have been affected by requirements concerning insurance distribution, consumer protection, advertising, data use, competition and the presentation of comparison results. In 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority found that agreements used by Compare the Market with home-insurance providers restricted competition by requiring providers not to offer lower prices through other channels. The finding and subsequent legal proceedings became one of the most significant regulatory episodes in the brand’s history. Compare the Market remains an active United Kingdom consumer brand within the privately held BGL Group. Its public identity is consumer-facing and heavily advertising-led, while its business infrastructure depends on technology, provider integrations, regulated distribution arrangements, marketing and customer-service operations. The brand should therefore be distinguished from BGL Group itself and from the individual insurers, lenders, energy suppliers and other businesses whose products may appear in its comparisons.

Compare the Market was launched in 2006 by BGL Group, a United Kingdom financial-services group that developed businesses in insurance distribution and price comparison. The brand entered a market in which consumers were increasingly using the internet to obtain several insurance quotations without contacting each provider separately. Its initial proposition was centred on helping customers compare motor and household insurance, with the comparison process supported by online forms, provider data and referral relationships. During its early growth, the brand competed with other United Kingdom comparison services for consumer traffic, search visibility, insurer relationships and advertising recognition. Comparison websites generally do not manufacture or underwrite the products they display. Instead, they combine technology and distribution with commercial arrangements that can generate commission or referral income when a customer completes a qualifying journey. This model made brand awareness and scale important, because a large audience can attract more providers and a wider provider panel can make the service more useful to customers. A major turning point came in 2009, when Compare the Market introduced the Aleksandr Orlov advertising campaign. The fictional meerkat and the deliberately simplified “simples” message gave the brand a distinctive identity in a sector where rival services were also investing heavily in television advertising. The campaign was extended through additional characters, merchandise and promotional activity. It also supported a rewards proposition that offered qualifying customers access to selected entertainment and partner benefits. The advertising platform became one of the most recognisable examples of British financial-services marketing, while the comparison service continued to expand beyond its original insurance emphasis. Over subsequent years, Compare the Market added or promoted comparisons in areas including home, life, travel, pet and van insurance, breakdown cover, mortgages, loans, credit cards, energy, broadband and mobile services. The exact portfolio and provider panels have changed over time. The brand’s broader strategy reflected the tendency of comparison businesses to use an established customer relationship in one category to encourage use in other household and financial decisions. It also increased the importance of regulatory compliance, because different products can fall under different conduct, disclosure, advertising and distribution requirements. The brand’s commercial and contractual practices came under significant scrutiny in the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into home-insurance price-parity clauses. In 2020, the CMA concluded that Compare the Market had used agreements with home-insurance providers that prevented or discouraged those providers from offering lower prices through other sales channels. According to the authority, the restrictions could reduce competition between sales channels and lead to higher prices for consumers. The CMA imposed a penalty of £17.9 million. Compare the Market challenged the decision before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, making the matter an important legal and regulatory episode in the company’s development. The episode illustrated a wider issue for digital comparison platforms: contractual terms can affect not only the platform’s relationships with providers but also the prices and choices visible to consumers elsewhere. Comparison websites must therefore balance commercial monetisation with competition law, financial-services regulation, transparency and consumer expectations. Their rankings and quotations can also depend on provider participation, eligibility criteria, product features and the information submitted by an applicant, meaning that comparison is not identical to a universal market search or a guarantee of the lowest final price. Compare the Market continues to operate as a United Kingdom consumer-facing brand within privately held BGL Group. Its identity combines a technology-enabled comparison service, insurance and financial-product distribution, household-services comparisons and a long-running advertising franchise. The meerkat campaign remains central to public recognition, while the business itself depends on provider integrations, data, regulated distribution arrangements, digital acquisition, customer service and the economics of referral-based commerce.

1. 2020CMA imposed a home-insurance competition penalty

   The Competition and Markets Authority fined Compare the Market £17.9 million over contractual price-parity clauses affecting home-insurance providers.

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2. 2009Meerkat advertising platform introduced

   The Aleksandr Orlov meerkat campaign began and became the brand’s defining advertising identity.

   Source
3. 2006Brand launched

   BGL Group launched Compare the Market in the United Kingdom as an online price-comparison service, initially focused on insurance.

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A mass-market, convenience-led comparison platform positioned around helping United Kingdom consumers compare prices and product features across multiple providers, supported by memorable advertising and customer rewards.

• Car insurance comparisonInsurance comparison

  A digital comparison journey for motor insurance. Customers provide information about the driver, vehicle, usage and cover requirements, then review quotations or results from participating insurers. The displayed options, prices and eligibility depend on the information submitted and the participating provider panel.

• Home insurance comparisonInsurance comparison

  A comparison service for buildings, contents or combined home insurance. It presents offers from participating providers based on property, occupancy, cover and claims information. The category was central to the CMA’s investigation into price-parity clauses used in agreements between the brand and home-insurance providers.

• Life insurance comparisonInsurance comparison

  A comparison and lead-generation service for life-insurance products. Results and eligibility can depend on age, health, lifestyle, cover amount, term and other underwriting information. Compare the Market acts as a distribution or comparison intermediary rather than the insurer providing the policy.

• Compare the Market RewardsCustomer rewards

  A promotional rewards proposition associated with qualifying comparison activity or purchases. Benefits have included access to selected entertainment and partner offers, subject to the applicable terms and eligibility conditions. Rewards help extend the brand relationship beyond the quotation process.

• 2009Compare the Meerkat

  United Kingdom

  Compare the Market introduced fictional meerkat Aleksandr Orlov and related characters to distinguish the comparison service from competitors. The campaign used humour, recurring storytelling and the “simples” sign-off across television, digital and promotional activity.

  Outcome. The campaign became strongly associated with the brand and was extended through merchandise, character development and customer-reward activity.

  Source

• 2020Challenge the CMA infringement decisionOther

  The CMA found that home-insurance parity clauses restricted competition between distribution channels and imposed a penalty.

  What changed. Compare the Market pursued an appeal before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

  Aftermath. The case placed the contractual design of comparison-platform arrangements under heightened competition-law scrutiny.

  CMA penalty. £17.9 million (2020)

  Source
• 2009Adopt the meerkat brand platformOther

  Price-comparison services were competing for attention in a heavily advertised category with similar functional propositions.

  What changed. Compare the Market introduced Aleksandr Orlov and the Compare the Meerkat creative platform.

  Aftermath. The characters became a long-running and highly recognisable part of the brand’s public identity.

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• 2006Enter online price comparisonStrategy

  Consumers were increasingly using internet services to compare insurance quotations, while providers sought scalable digital acquisition channels.

  What changed. BGL Group launched Compare the Market as a consumer-facing online comparison brand.

  Aftermath. The brand expanded from insurance into additional financial and household-service categories.

  Source

• 2020CMA home-insurance price-parity caseControversy

  The Competition and Markets Authority found that Compare the Market’s agreements with home-insurance providers included wide parity clauses that restricted providers from offering lower prices through other channels. The authority imposed a £17.9 million penalty, which the company challenged in subsequent proceedings.

  Source

• 2009Compare the Market introduced the Aleksandr Orlov meerkat campaign

  The brand began the advertising campaign built around the fictional Russian meerkat Aleksandr Orlov, a creative platform that became a defining part of its identity and popular culture presence.

  Campaign
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• 2006Compare the Market launched as a BGL Group comparison brand

  BGL Group introduced Compare the Market as an online price-comparison service in the United Kingdom, initially concentrating on insurance and later expanding into additional consumer categories.

  Other
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1. Compare the Market: About us
2. CMA fines price comparison website Compare The Market £17.9 million
3. Competition Appeal Tribunal: Comparethemarket Limited v Competition and Markets Authority