Commentary

Paid Search Down, Click-Through Up

According to new research from NetElixir Inc, , the average volume of paid search clicks, during the first quarter of 2009, was down 9% compared with Q1 2008. At the same time, the average cost per click was down 7% year over year.

The average click-through rate, though, was up 7.5% in the first quarter of 2009 versus Q1 2008, and the average search ad conversion rate was up 5%, says the report.

Udayan Bose, founder and CEO of NetElixir, says  "...  Q2 this year will be slower than Q1 for search advertising... (though) the continuing pessimism about the economy is the main culprit, historically, Q2 tends to be slower than Q1, ... 12% in 2008."

The study followed online retailer clients in pet supplies, consumer electronics, flowers and gifts, housewares, and food and drug, analyzing the performance of each category on a weekly basis in Q1 2009 and compared the data with that for the same period last year.

The summary concludes with three suggestions for search planning:

  • First, anticipate: analyze keyword search data for the second quarters of 2008, 2007 and 2006, since Q1 2009 exhibited similar trends as in past years
  • Second, test: Tactical sales promotions are playing an increasing role in today's economy
  • Third, monitor competitors "These days... everyone who does search advertising needs to justify each dollar they spend," Bose says

Please visit NetElixr here for more information.

1 comment about "Paid Search Down, Click-Through Up".
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  1. Howie Goldfarb from Blue Star Strategic Marketing, April 27, 2009 at 9:22 a.m.

    It is great to see a measure of what segments are growing but it would be much more insightful for a macro-view to know the base lines we are working with. Percentage increases of a very small amount are much less significant than for a higher base line.

    For example if a Social networking Site which typically average 3 to 10 click throughs per 10,000 page views a 7.5% increase barely moves the needle.

    Gratzi Merci Gracias Danka

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About the Author

Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.