In direct response to Overture's official launch of its Search Optimizer tool, search marketing firm iProspect Tuesday announced that it has filed for a patent for its pay-per-click advertising
bidding agent iSEBA (iProspect Search Engine Bidding Agent). The company filed for a patent on July 22, 2004, and claimed that its product is the "only global optimization, or 'portfolio based'"
keyword bidding tool that actively manages campaigns on both Google's and Overture's pay-per-click programs.
iProspect representatives have been quick to point out that the company is making no
direct legal claims over the technology Overture Marketing Services deploys in its Search Optimizer platform, which was released yesterday. "For the most part, we had no intention of leaking the
patent request," says Bill Muller, iProspect's VP of Marketing.
Muller says that iProspect was impelled to release its patent request after news of Overture's product broke the newswire. "We
wanted to let the world know that we have a similar tool, and that Overture's tool is not the only one. [iProspect] has one of the more mature campaign management tools out there." Muller points out
that the main point of differentiation between Overture's Search Optimizer and iProspect's iSEBA is the fact that Overture's tool only allows advertisers to manage Overture campaigns, while iSEBA can
manage any campaign.
The other crucial difference is that the Overture product manages by keyword, while iProspect uses a rules-based solution. Muller likens the automated process to a stock
portfolio in the sense that each hour, iSEBA automatically switches spending from campaigns that produce poor ROI to those that are performing best.
In fact, iProspect is not the only search
engine marketing company that provides portfolio-based bidding. An example of another is search marketing services provider Efficient Frontier, whose system acts on an aggregate level, anticipating
overall campaign returns for all keywords across all search engines, and automatically choosing the most effective bid strategy.
According to Muller, the optimization services put out by large
search companies like Overture do not necessarily present a threat to third-party search optimization firms, because Overture's tool is set up on "a do-it-yourself-basis." Muller says "there will
always be a value for knowledge, experience, and professional services to advise and help clients." Cheryle Pingle, CEO and co-founder of SEO firm Range Online Media, agrees that Overture's new
product doesn't pose a direct threat to SEO firms. She says that large national advertisers, which make up a large chunk of SEO firms' clients, will want to steer clear of campaign optimization tools
set up by sponsored listings providers like Overture because the prospect of sharing the same search optimization platform would leave them naked before their competitors.
"A major retailer like
Pier 1 certainly doesn't want Crate & Barrel, for example, to know their bid," says Pingle, adding that although the names of competitors are not disclosed, "National advertisers don't want to play
that game, especially when they have shareholders." Because of this, Pingle notes that the service Overture is offering is best suited for smaller search players that are simply trying to gain
foot-traffic to their Web sites. Overture did not respond to an interview request by press time.