Competitiveintelligence in SEO is no exception, and you need to learn all you can about the Internet marketing strategy of your competitors for all these same reasons.
Under such circumstances, it is vital for the integrity of the intelligence process that competitive, "opportunities-oriented" analysis be institutionalized.
New Big Data tools leveraging technology such as Apache Hadoop can process and analyze high volumes of data at reasonable costs, creating business intelligence that companies can use for competitive advantage.
For those businesses leveraging curated content, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning will be a competitive advantage as more data and behavior points are made accessible.
Should such a competitive approach be pursued henceforth, the result will be to invigorate and improve the quality of formal intelligence community estimates and their usefulness to policy-makers and to help insulate such analyses from undue political influence aimed at eliciting a desired answer.