The average cost of purchasing search keywords fell to $1.39 in the first quarter, down from $1.43 at the end of December, according to Fathom Online. One year ago, at the end of March,
average keyword
prices were $1.75 a click. Fathom recently
cut back publication
of the index from monthly to quarterly. The agency also expanded the number of keywords it tracks from 4,000 terms in eight categories to more than 20,000 terms in 12 categories; Fathom continues to
exclude proper names and brand names from its keyword pricing index. -- Wendy Davis
