A new comScore study sponsored by Google attempts to quantify what many retailers already know: that search advertising is a powerful driver of offline sales. Of the 83 million Americans tracked by
comScore who searched at one of the top 24 search engines in November and December, 25 percent purchased an item related to their query. Of that number, a 63 percent majority completed the purchase
offline. According to a comScore executive, the study makes it clear "that the influence of search on offline buying behavior can often be responsible for the major portion of the overall financial
return from investments in search marketing." Of the 11 product categories in the study, offline conversions were highest in the video game and consoles category, where 17 percent of searches
converted--93 percent of which were completed offline. Toys and hobbies were the second highest offline converting category, with an overall conversion rate of 42 percent, 88 percent of which came
offline. More than 80 percent of conversions in the consumer electronics and music/movies/videos categories also were offline.
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