Search firm Efficient Frontier has released its latest Search Engine Performance Report, and found that in Q4 07, its clients' spending jumped up by nearly 30% year-over-year. Google was the clear winner in terms of snagging most of that additional spend, with 97%, while MSN gained 6%. In contrast, Efficient Frontier's advertisers chose not to spend their extra dollars with Yahoo--as the Web giant's share of additional spend dropped by 3%. In terms of bang for their buck, ROI improved by 13% across all the engines. Individually, ROI from Yahoo improved by almost 40% from Q4 06, while …

It feels like today may be Yahoo's D-Day, what with Wall Street analysts predicting poor earnings and the rumblings about widespread layoffs growing into roars. But for you naysayers who think the Web giant should outsource its search to Google (essentially getting out of the game to focus on "something else"), Danny Sullivan thinks you're nuts. "Maybe Pepsi should just license to bottle Coke," Sullivan says. "Perhaps Avis should give up the 'We Try Harder' thing and concede to Hertz." He argues that while Yahoo faces a tough challenge in trying to wrangle more search share from …

Instead of working to optimize a site for specific keywords and then seeking to drive traffic through paid search, Tim Schaden says that running those PPC campaigns first is a better way to go. Schaden says that with paid search you can test thousands of terms--from general and branded keywords, to long tail and even competitor's phrases--and run the tests without having to wait for approval from multiple layers of management. In contrast, making changes to the Web site often requires buy-in from the IT department, marketing (for copywriters), upper level management and sometimes even the legal department. …

Google has rolled out some new views in Experimental Search, its testing ground for possible permanent features, and Jordan McCollum offers in-depth reviews and screenshots of the changes, using "The Great War" as the test phrase. First up is Timeline View, which provides a frequency chart to show the number of references to dates in the search results. Users can narrow their time window, and zoom in on a particular time period in the chart above the results. McCollum notes that this iteration of a timeline is not exactly what users may be looking for, especially when searching for …

Effective PPC management isn't just about getting campaigns up and running, it's about sustaining their success for the long haul. And for Chad Frederiksen, getting rid of dead keywords (or keywords with that fail to garner any clicks) is all part of routine campaign maintenance. With keywords and ad groups that number in the thousands, it can be easy to forget about some of the longer-tail phrases that aren't performing at all. But Frederiksen notes that having an abundance of 0% CTR keywords in your account can actually cause the platform to lower Quality Scores across multiple campaigns. …

Staying on top of everything from the paid and organic keywords your competitors are vying for, to their strategies for using social media, can be vital to understanding your own unique value proposition. Mona Elesseily also says that competitive insights can help you vault to the top of the pile, as well as retain your top spot in the face of a competitor's new marketing campaign--and she offers a review of some tools you can use to gain the advantage. Compete and Alexa both offer reach, rank and page view information for up to five sites, a must …

Now that all of the major IYP providers have rolled out some form of video product, small and medium businesses (SMBs) have a plethora of options when it comes to reaching the masses with online video. But Mike Boland notes that for the tech-savvy SMB owners who want to go it alone, blended search has made it much easier to maximize the benefits of online video content. SMB owners can create how-to videos, produce their own commercials, or even shine a spotlight on some of their favorite customers--and if the video is optimized properly, they can wind up …

Not as much as you might think it does, according to Kevin Gold. His theory is that for particular kinds of purchases and emotionally charged offers, the initial ad copy can be compelling enough to cause customers to "plow into a landing page with tunnel-vision seeking only to take the offer." Using two examples, Gold aims to illustrate that searchers often don't pay attention to the images, calls-to-action and other carefully chosen landing page elements after clicking on an ad. In one instance, the company was featured on the popular TV series "Extreme Home Makeover," and sought to …