Commentary
Sponsored Clicks Increasingly Important
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 5, 2006
According to just released comScore qSearch data, and analysis and commentary by comScore, Peter Daboll, President and CEO of comScore Media Metrix, said "With the number of sponsored clicks representing a significant driver of search engine revenue... approximately 11.4 percent of Yahoo! and 11.8 percent of Google's searches resulted in a click on a sponsored ad. These click-through levels are substantially higher than those seen with traditional banner ads..."
According to the report:
- The total number of searches conducted on Google rose 36 percent to 2.7 billion in March 2006, versus year ago
- Searches conducted on Yahoo! Search totaled 1.6 billion, an increase of 8 percent over the prior year
- In March 2006, 1.4 billion searches conducted on Google included a sponsored ad, (up 50 percent versus year ago)
- 942 million searches conducted on Yahoo! Search included a paid ad (up 30% versus the prior year)
Monthly Y/Y Searches March 2006 vs. March 2005 | |||
| March 05 | March 06 | Change |
Total Searches (MM) | |||
2,013 | 2,736 | 35.9% | |
Yahoo! Search | 1,460 | 1,578 | 8.1% |
Searches with Sponsored Ad (MM) | |||
968 | 1,448 | 49.6% | |
Yahoo! Search | 726 | 942 | 29.8% |
Percent of Searches with Sponsored Ad | |||
48.1% | 52.9% | 4.8 pts | |
Yahoo! Search | 49.7% | 59.7% | 10.0 pts |
Sponsored Clicks (MM) | |||
196 | 322 | 64.0% | |
Yahoo! Search | 139 | 180 | 29.9% |
Percent of Searches with a Sponsored Click | |||
9.7% | 11.8% | 2.0 pts | |
Yahoo! Search | 9.5% | 11.4% | 1.9 pts |
Source: comScore qSearch, April 2006 | |||
And, from Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance, sponsored links by industry in March, 2006 &n bsp; &nbs p;
Online Advertising by Industry, Sponsored Link vs Image BasedMonth of March 2006 US, Home and Work | ||||||
| Impressions (000) | Share of Industry Advertising | Share of All Advertising | |||
Industry | Sponsored Link | All Image Based Advertising | Sponsored Link | All Image Based Advertising | Sponsored Link | All Image Based Advertising |
Automotive | 292,666 | 3,944,751 | 7% | 93% | 0% | 2% |
Business to Business | 2,669,459 | 4,405,573 | 38% | 62% | 4% | 2% |
Consumer Goods | 1,822,396 | 6,082,741 | 23% | 77% | 3% | 3% |
Cross Industry | 824,332 | 0 | 100% | 0% | 1% | 0% |
Entertainment | 356,356 | 6,509,298 | 5% | 95% | 1% | 3% |
Financial Services | 4,937,384 | 58,384,652 | 8% | 92% | 7% | 30% |
Hardware & Electronics | 470,721 | 4,537,173 | 9% | 91% | 1% | 2% |
Health | 911,498 | 3,427,429 | 21% | 79% | 1% | 2% |
Public Services | 2,160,902 | 10,955,344 | 16% | 84% | 3% | 6% |
Retail Goods & Services | 14,032,233 | 28,382,372 | 33% | 67% | 21% | 14% |
Software | 1,044,907 | 4,348,776 | 19% | 81% | 2% | 2% |
Telecommunications | 873,170 | 33,285,223 | 3% | 97% | 1% | 17% |
Travel | 3,148,898 | 5,666,771 | 36% | 64% | 5% | 3% |
Unclassified Text Advertising | 16,499,687 | 0 | 100% | 0% | 25% | 0% |
Web Media | 15,921,017 | 27,860,913 | 36% | 64% | 24% | 14% |
Grand Total | 65,965,626 | 197,791,016 | 25% | 75% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance | ||||||
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.