Petrobras : Searching for investors
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A dedicated search engine is a useful and unusual device for investors.
The Site
The Brazilian energy company Petrobras has an elaborate site with many unusual features. One of the most practical is a dedicated search engine in the Investor Relations section. Clicking the IR Search link triggers a new small window with a search field as well as the option to select a particular sub-section (including Corporate and Operational Highlights, Presentations and Events, and Press Releases).
A general search box on every page appears to use the same engine, but covers the entire site. It is not possible to refine these results by section.
The Takeaway
The Petrobras site is long on ambition – in places too long. Technology can be over-elaborate and the use of pictures alone as links is an accessibility disaster.
That said, providing a dedicated search engine for investors is a useful and unusual device. Finance professionals need to find information fast, so the more help they can be given, the better. While other corporate sites offer the ability to restrict a search to particular sections, we are not aware of any that allow filtering within a section, as this one does. The use of a separate window to show results also makes life easier, however much it conflicts with current views on ‘best practice’.
First published on 13 April, 2006