A latest Google study has declared that paid search ads give you a 89% incremental lift in traffic. Now this is much more than traffic one expects from organic search. This study has been conducted by Quantitative Management Team at Google, and claims that paid search ads are much more effective This study also lays to rest any claims that the Paid search ads cannibalize organic traffic.

It is an age old concern that the advertisers have faced- whether search ads cannibalize their organic traffic. They often wonder that if they stopped investing in PPC, then would they make up for the traffic loss by organic clicks? Well, Google decided to answer the question, and came out with such astonishing results.

The focus of the study was that if search ads were paused, then would this lead to an increase in the number of clicks on organic results- so that the loss in paid traffic would be made up? After a study of over 400 cases across USA, UK , Germany and France. These campaigns were taken up between October 2010 and March, 2011, and they compared the data for traffic when the search ads were on – and also when they were paused. Then they estimated the incremental impact of paid search ads on total search volume- which comes to a staggering 89%. This means that 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused.

So, if you were thinking that you can let go of PPC, now that you rank high on organic search (with the same keyword), then Google advises you not to do that.

This study, and data are all good, but has some issues too, that are quite noticeable:

Firstly- the study is done during the holiday season, when traffic soars. Will the incremental impact be the same for all seasons?

Secondly- OK, how can you trust Google, when they say, it is statistically proven to buy their Ads

So, what's the conclusion? Well , the study says that your organic search results are not affected by paid search campaigns. So, you know now, that you are not wasting money on PPC Ad campaigns (if you were thinking you could get the same results with organic search).

However, take the report with a pinch of salt. If still not sure, then you can do the experiment yourself. Stop the paid Ads and see the impact for yourself (if not worth taking the risk, then wait for the next conclusive study)

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PPC Ads Do Not Cannibalize Organic Traffic- Google Study!

Pay Per Click or PPC advertising campaign is considered to be the quickest-affordable and the most effective way of online promotions. They require a proper strategy to be formatted so that they capture the audience's attention and pull them towards your business. This keyword based form of advertising is highly effective, but will it work for you? Should you also take up a PPC campaign? If these are the questions on your mind, then, here are a few pointers on When should you invest in Pay Per Click Campaign:

1. WHEN your budget is limited. PPC is the most affordable form of advertising (Print/TV/Outdoor Ads).You pay for the number of clicks you generated (traffic to your site). You can modify the content at will, and also stop your campaign as desired (you won't be charged for it). The best part is that an ad only costs you money when people click on it.

2.WHEN you know your exact keywords: Remember that PPC may get expensive for the more popular keywords, as you will have to bid for them. If many businesses have the same keyword, then the search engines will rotate all ads and determine who gets the most exposure and the best spots. For a less common keyword, a small PPC campaign will work well. If you want to experiment with a certain keyword, before leaping into full blown paid advertising with it, then too, investing in PPC is advisable.

3.WHEN you want to get the targeted traffic to your site immediately. SEO and SMO take their time in generating traffic. But PPC works faster. It is recommended if you wants forms filled out or SALE items sold. If displayed for the right audience, PPC is pretty quick to direct traffic to the site. For instant results, it is often recommended.

4. WHEN your website or blog is ready for the traffic you get after PPC. PPC will drive traffic very quickly, and you need  to be ready with a fully functional site. You need to ensure that your landing page provides all related information to the keywords targeted with your PPC ads, so that visitors find what they came looking for.

5. WHEN you know  your conversion goals. If you have set some goals regarding sales or leads, then you should invest in PPC, as it helps you in achieving precise goals. If you are sure that your product is completely ready to meet the audience's demands and requirements, then you may sign up for PPC.

6. WHEN you know your audience exactly: PPC  campaigns can be very specific. It is advisable to invest in PPC if you are ensuring that only the most relevant traffic reaches your site They can target according to demographics, time and age, income, gender etc. For example, a PPC campaign can be run for college students during the working hours of the retailer. Your different ads can be displayed at varying times during the day, and the audience response can show you, where you are going wrong and right.

7. WHEN you want an improved Return On Investment: You must invest in a PPC Campaign when you want more for your money. This ad-campaign is fairly effective and allows for management that is intuitive in an ever-changing marketplace. So, you are making money in every case.

These are the top most reasons, that you may choose to sign up for a Pay Per Click or PPC ad campaign. You may also save your expense by agreeing to pay the affiliate, only if they get you a certain number of clicks. So, if are identifying with the checklist above, do go ahead with a PPC campaign.

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When to Invest in Pay Per Click (PPC)!

The IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) and IMRB's joint report Internet said that 71 million people claimed to have used Internet in 2009. Internet penetration in India's rural areas is expected to grow by 96% in 2011. Around 69% of the rural users are currently aware of the Internet as opposed to 16% (last year's projection). The rise in the Internet users in India is also expected to reach up to 98% by the end of 2011.

Similarly, the search engine marketing industry in India has been rapidly growing in the last few years. The estimated revenue (of the Indian SEM industry) in 2007-08 was USD 112.5. It saw an increase of 50% year-on-year. The population of active Internet users also saw a 19% increase from September 2008 (42 million) to September 2009 (52 million). Another latest InMobi report says that “the Indian mobile ad market has increased by 1.5 billion ad impressions between October 2010 and January 2011.” This is a 27% increase in just 90 days. Mobile advertising in India is also expected to reach $2 billion by 2014.

The online marketing statistics in India, according to the IMRB 2010 reported:

• 74% of India’s online population views and 51% clicks sponsored links in search engines.
• 51% of those who view the sponsored links in search engines them
• 51% of the same population views and 28% of them clicked sponsored links in other websites.
• In the Indian PPC scene, Google AdWords users has increased by a staggering 96% in 2010.
• Out of 3 Internet users in India, 1 clicks on sponsored links.

Given the above facts of the spread of Internet and the growth of SEM in India, particularly the PPC and affiliate marketing, it is obvious that your online business has more prospects of further growth in the days to come. However, you have to ensure that you keep receiving relevant and constant traffic to your website. PPC ads allow you get immediate and comparatively economical visibility on search engines, meaning – you reach more potential customers faster without spending higher budget or more time on website optimization.

However, setting up a PPC ad campaign and managing it throughout requires time and effort, not to forget – the right skills. It typically involves extensive keyword research and generation, building unique strategies, managing your bids, monitoring traffic and a deep understanding of market trends and more. Delving in to these areas will distract you from your core business. Therefore, many opt to employ in-house or hire professional PPC managers and let them do the job.

To ensure that you get the best possible PPC ad campaign running with high ROI, it is important that you set certain parameters while looking for a manager for your new PPC ad campaign or to determine the competency of your in-house team from time to time. One reason for this is that the search engine marketing and particularly the pay per click or PPC is an ever-evolving field that demands a constant upgrading of the knowledge and skills of PPC managers and specialists. There are some few qualities you can look for in your PPC manager to determine their proficiency.

• Competent PPC managers are good in observing and analyzing numbers and their effects on the campaign.
• PPC is a constantly evolving field. The moment someone or a search engine comes out with a new technique that beats the current trend, it automatically becomes the new trend. It is your PPC specialist's duty to accept, learn and apply the new trends and techniques, correctly.
• Successful PPC managers takes risks and experiment with new techniques. They recognize an advantageous opportunity as soon as they see one.
• Good PPC managers also typically have an uncompromising attitude. They spot the snag in a campaign quickly and dig deep until they find the roots to the issue and try to fix it in all ways they can before they raise the white flag.

Other characteristics such as hardworking, expert in utilizing the various marketing tools, good keyword research skills etc., goes without saying. Online marketers who are interested in PPC ads and affiliate marketing can learn directly from the top players in the current market scene at the Click Asia MasterClasses on the 25th of April, 2011 at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi.

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PPC Advertising In India – Past Perfect, Future Promising!

In this economic contingency, there is no such area that is not affected by the financial shakeout. How can Search Engine Marketing be left out? The effects are ofcourse, negative. According to The Wall Street Journal SEM weakened 8 percent in Q4 2008.

'Advertisers who spend less than $50,000 on search ads cut their spending by 23% year-over-year, while advertisers that spend more than $200,000 on search per month cut spending by 9% during that time. Purchases by advertisers who spend between $50,000 and $200,000 were relatively flat.'

PubMatic’s display AdPrice Index saw prices worsened by almost 50% from Q4 2007:

As far as online advertising is concerned, the circumstances are even worse:

'Finance and automotive advertising continued to deteriorate. Search-ad spending among financial advertisers fell 20% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007. Search spending from automotive advertisers declined 15% during that period.'

We all will soon come to know as to how accurate these predictions are as Google will soon announce its Q4 earnings on January 22 and Yahoo! on January 27!

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Recession In SEM- Search Spending Declines 8 Percent in Q4!

This toolbar will allow the user to display some of the basic key performance indicators.

These performance indicators would be displayed at the bottom of the browser.

This is what the semvironment blog has to say on the issue:

• Double Click this toolbar for your stats to update – it may take 60 seconds to update depending on the size of your account. The data you see will be for today only.
• Right click to see the tool menu and drill down into your account level statistics.
• Clicks: Total number of clicks accrued today
• aCPC: average Cost Per Click today
• Cost: Total spent today
• Conv: Total number of conversions accrued today
• C/C: Cost per Conversion today

Requirements:

• FF 2+ preferred while we're confident this works from 1.5-3.0.*
• AdWords Client Center
• AdWords API Tokens

Tip: Your statistics might take 60 seconds or more to load depending on the size of your account. If you still do not see data, you may need to restart FF and test your credentials again.

How to Install This Firefox Addon:

Upon download, Firefox should automatically recognize the extension and install it.

If you get any errors:

Right click the logo, click 'save link as…', after saving you can scan it with any Anti-Virus program, then open Firefox. In FF, click file -> Open File -> Find the file and open it -> Install

Here are some of the interesting comments that are being posted on Sphinn:

"Thanks for the tool! It's perfect for guys like me who have to know the status of the campaign 24/7. Can't beat FREE! Any other brilliant ideas like this comming?"

"very cool firefox plug in. I installed and tried going through it to understand it. I dont think i can use it tho because i'm not using a ppc management software. But this seems like a really neat idea. I like it. I am excited to learn more about it."

How To Use PPC Management for Firefox:

Login Email: Your Client Center login email address

Password: Your Client Center login password

Developer Token: AdWords API Token found in your Client Center (My Account->AdWords API Center)

Application Token: AdWords API Token found in your Client Center (My Account->AdWords API Center)

Client Email: The email address of the account in your Client Center that you want to see stats for

Save your credentials, then test! Load is kind of a pseudo button for now…

Tip: You might need to restart FF after saving your credentials for the tool to work properly!

Here is the link to the official website of Firefox Addons.

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Now PPC Management Via Firefox!

At the Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog, Noah Belson of the Yahoo! Content Quality Analysis team has posted what is to be described as a detailed definition of a good click-through rate.

It is a well known fact that, the click-through rates are campaign dependent and the results vary from campaign to campaign. The CTR is also keyword dependent, meaning that every campaign's CTR would differ and would be entirely dependent on the keywords used. The placing and the rating of your advertisement also directly affect your click through rate.

However, click through rates are just one indicator of your advertisement's success or failure. One other factor that establishes the success of your campaign, is conversions. A CTR is as good as the conversions it leads to. Without sufficient conversions, CTR is just another statistic amongst a crowd of data and indicators.

According to Noah, “This being the case, your click-through rate should really be viewed as only one indicator of your ad’s performance. It’s best to try and balance your evaluation of those rates with a just-as-critical look at your conversion rates (number of clicks converting into sales or other actions you want people to take). While it might be easy to generate a bump in your clicks, you also want those extra clicks convert into sales.”

To turn your CTR into satisfactory conversions, you need to keep the following factors in mind:

1. Competition:

Using generic keywords leads to immense competition and also diminishes the scope of attaining clicks, thereby reducing the conversion rate considerably. Hence you should make use of topic specific keywords that would increase the chances of more clicks and reduces the competition as well.

2. Placement:

It is always advisable to maintain your advertisement quality as high as possible. This will ensure that your advertisements rank higher, thus placing them in the top search results. This will lead to increased traffic to your web site. Also, you should keep your bid on keywords as competitive as possible.

3. Quality of the Advertisement:

Keep in mind that, quality always surpasses quantity. Hence, you should make every effort to create highly relevant advertisements, comprised of essential keywords. A relevant and quality advertisement, appeals to users on a broader spectrum.

4. Testing Your Advertisement:

You should always check the quality of your advertisement as throughly as possible, thus leaving no room for error. Create multiple versions of the same advertisement and then go through all of them. This will help you establish the weak points of your ad and you would also get to know, if you've missed something.

Implementing the above suggestions would be the smartest thing to do, as your advertisement would be more user oriented and would also increase the possibility of higher click through rates and conversions.

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A Good Click-Through Rate!

A recent study by Clickforensics revealed that the Click fraud phenomenon showed a hike of 15% this year compared to the last year. Not only the increase, but the trend too is alarming.

Apparently, this type of a cyber fraud can be found all over the world but in some countries it is rampant. India ranks at number one by contributing 4.3 percent, followed by Germany with 3.9 percent and South Korea with 3.7 percent, as the Clickforensics study reveals.

Apparently, there are adverts appearing in the classified sections of Indian newspapers with work from home job offers, “Got a PC and Internet connection? Earn Rs. 1,000 /day!,” and more like these.

“With her baby on her lap, Maya Sharma (name changed) gets down to work every evening from her eighth-floor flat at Vasant Vihar,” narrated a Times of India story. “Maya’s job is to click on online advertisements. She doesn’t care about the ads, but diligently keeps count – it’s $0.18 to $0.25 per click.”

Nearly every click out of three on Google or Yahoo ad is fraudulent. Although there are efforts by most search engine marketing companies which make use of a time-limit filter between clicks, considering the large number of surfers who browse the Internet from offices, which are normally centered around a single IP block, there's more ice beneath, than on the top of the iceberg.

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India Ranks Number One For Click Frauds!

Goliath Google's latest SEC filing points to a possibility that its future revenues could be hurt while trying to contain "accidental clicks" on Web advertising. The effect could be felt on Google’s near-term advertising revenues.

This year's filing entails the familiar language that the company would continue to take steps to enhance the relevance of the ads displayed on Google as well as its Network members' web sites. Furthermore, these steps would get translated into removing ads that generate low click-through rates or that send users to irrelevant or otherwise low quality sites, in addition to terminating Google Network members whose web sites that don't meet its quality guidelines.

As far as the accidental clicks are concerned there would be efforts to curtail them and that these steps would affect the near-term revenues. "These steps could negatively affect our near-term advertising revenues." states Google's filing. "Both seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional retail seasonality have affected, and are likely to continue to affect, our business."

The language about accidental clicks is being considered new to Google's filings.

Moreover, Google has altered the clickable area around the text-based ads to include just the title and URL. This measure is expected to reduce the number of accidental clicks and increase advertisers' return on investment.

Efforts had also been made earlier to reduce accidental clicks on AdSense, see: AdSense Changes Text Ads To Help Reduce Accidental Clicks.

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Google's Efforts To Combat Accidental Clicks Could Harm Its Revenues!

Won't it be just wonderful that every click that we get on our sites would turns into a customer. Afterall we work hard only to get more customers. Every visitor is a potential customer, so it is important that every click that we get must turn into a customer.

But 'how' that is the question. YSM here has offered ten landing page tips to turn your visitors into customers:

Ten tips to convert your clicks:

1. Tell them why they should buy from you

Clarity of your value proposition is the most important factor in determining whether a customer buys from you or not. Ask yourself the question: "Why should I buy from this site?"

2. Keep 'em with you

Protect your landing pages from the #1 threat to conversions: site flow disruption. After identifying a unique and compelling Value Proposition, you must ensure that you express it throughout your sales process in a clear, consistent and compelling way. Eliminate site flow disruption to help maximize conversions.

3. Don't try to say too much

Don't clutter your landing page with unnecessary details. Instead:

• Clearly state your key message using as few words as possible

• Use summary descriptions, sub-headings, bulleted lists and short paragraphs

• Adopt a standard one-column format for easy reading.

4. Make it simple

Improve the user experience with a site that is easy to navigate. A simple page layout that employs a clean visual and straightforward design is best. Here's how:

• Design your site with a clear hierarchy with color and contrast for easily legible text

• Use meaningful and high-quality graphics (don't clutter with too many)

• Use breadcrumbs to let visitors know where they are on your site

• Employ a clickable logo that takes the visitor to your homepage

• Use color to distinguish between visited and unvisited links.

Just as important, make sure you don't:

• Employ horizontal scrolling

• Direct links to new browser windows

• Have flash-based content unless required.

5. Call them to action

Focus on one primary action per screen (don't stuff too many products onto one screen). Make the call-to-action button clearly visible without having to scroll; don't bury it under pages of information. Consider using tabs or a pop-up box to consolidate information.

6. Get specific

Provide product details and a large product image while displaying incentives—such as free shipping and warranty information—high on the page and close to the product. Don't discourage visitors by asking them to register on your site.

7. Flaunt what you've got

What differentiates you from your competitors? Free shipping (both ways?), discounts, a 365-day warranty, price protection, privacy, customer service, etc.? If you've got it, flaunt it!

8. Search yourself

Make your site easy to navigate by helping potential customers find what they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible. A search feature box should be simple and visible with a type-in field, not a link. To help increase conversions, make sure your search results link to product pages.

9. Rally the believers

Credibility is a true testament: people don't buy from websites, people buy from people. Thus, testimonials from devout customers—or even a letter from the CEO/Editor—persuades the unbelieving.

10. Let them make the choice

"Why should I buy this specific product?" Almost every e-tailer forgets about this, but it's the question that's key to Mr. or Ms. Customer's mind. Prove to him or her why they should buy this over the competitive product by offering reviews, ratings and comparisons.

Further if you wish to learn more on how to increase your sales, read YSM: 5 Fantastic Tips To Augment Online Sales This Valentine!.

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Ten Ways To Convert Your Clicks

As spending in the search marketing industry is on the rise, so are the click frauds and at rates which by no measures can be called as small, reports Click Forensics. Every time the results are made known it shows the deteriorating state of affairs in the SEM as far as click fraud is concerned, see: Click Fraud On The Rise: Click Forensics Findings.

While the Click Fraud Rate for Content Networks has grown to a staggering 28.3 Percent, in the year 2007 Yearly Click Fraud Rate has shot up to 15 Percent vis-a-vis 2006.

The Key findings from data reported for Q4 2007 include:

• The average click fraud rate of PPC advertisements appearing on search engine content networks, including Google AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, was 28.3 percent in Q4 2007. That's up from the 19.2 percent average click fraud rate for the same quarter in 2006 and 28.1 percent for Q3 2007.
• The overall industry average click fraud rate rose to 16.6 percent for Q4 2007. That's up from the 14.2 percent click fraud rate for the same quarter in 2006 and 16.2 percent for Q3 2007.
• The 2007 industry average click fraud rate grew by 15 percent over the industry average click fraud rate for 2006.
• Q4 2007 click fraud traffic from botnets was 15 percent higher than click fraud traffic from botnets in Q3 2007.
• In Q4 2007, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside North America came from India (4.3 percent) Germany (3.9 percent) and South Korea (3.7 percent).

"Click fraud activity continues to grow especially on made for ad sites, parked domains and on the content networks,… Advertisers, publishers and search engines need to take notice because content networks are becoming the fastest growing source of click fraud. Ensuring their quality is essential for the pay per click advertising market to continue its growth." said Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics. "

Click Fraud Index monitors and reports on data collected from the Click Fraud Networkâ„¢. The network is comprises 4,000 online advertisers and agencies. The data collected is considered statistically significant in the industry.

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Click Frauds Surge Ahead By 15% From Last Year!

The report from Ad Age published recently, reveals some eye-popping facts and figures about search marketing. You can read the complete report in PDF titled searchfactpack2007.pdf here.

There are a couple of interesting findings that the report brings to light:

For as much as 88.5% of the time people don't pay attention to PPC adverts, which means that the maximum click through rate can never be above 11.5% (assuming the best possible scenario, when all of them click on those ads). This fact highlights the need for a well-designed and well-executed SEO campaigns by companies for them to reach out to a majority of all those browsing the Internet.

Marketing folks have shifted focus in a big measure from outbound marketing (print and direct mail) to inbound marketing strategies. This can be concluded from the fact that the budget spend on inbound tactics has been growing. Statistically there is a 16% shift in spending from direct mail and a 20% shift from print advertising to search marketing.

As far as PPC ad campaigns undertaken by marketing firms are concerned, majority (65% of the firms) don't manage more than 500 keywords for various campaigns. Further, a big number of these companies have a very narrow range of keywords which they make use of.

A staggering number of searches are performed in the US each second, any guesses? It's 2,500 searches/sec. In the month of August last year, the number of searches performed and recorded in the US stood at 9.82 billion.

On the nature of search queries performed, out of all the keywords and phrases searched about 31% contain 4 or a greater number of words, while about 33% searches entail unique and long search phrases.

Is it possible to talk about Internet search and search marketing and not mention Google? Well Google's really big. Just yesterday we talked about how much data it processes each day. See: Google: Processing 20 Terabytes Per Day and Counting!. As far as the figures uncovered by the search marketing report go, in 2006 The big daddy of search Mr. Google hired 5,000 people, hence doubling their manpower. The revenue per employee for Google stands at $950,000!

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PPC Ads Are Ignored 88.5% Of The Time!

Ask has announced the launch of the new PPC platform on 2nd October. The news came in the limelight after a blog posted at SearchEngineWatch.

The ASL 2.0 will bring with it major improvements in cost and budget controls, and other benefits. Ask’s new PPC system is much more improved on its reporting system, as compared to the current version. Reporting data will now be available in more real time basis. The real billable clicks will get updated hourly. The new platform will be structured in Account-Campaign-Ads-Keywords, instead of the current format of Account-Campaign-Listing. With the new system, advertisers can spread the advertising budget evenly on a daily basis. Moreover, with the addition of average positioning information, it will be helpful to determine how much to bid.

• Overview of the ASL 2.0 version
• Improvements in cost and budget controls
• New ad structure improves content management
• Streamlined UI simplifies common tasks
• More flexible reporting
• Enhanced Bulk Upload tool.

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Ask To Launch New PPC Platform By October 2nd

There is an interesting article published by Forbes that highlights the ever increasing concern regarding click fraud. Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's click fraud czar on this occasion says that Google is throwing out less than 10% clicks to accommodate any invalid clicks so that advertisers are not billed for these fraudulent clicks. He explains:

“The auditing firm, Fair Isaac, for example, estimated in May that on Google's content network, 10 to 15% of clicks are fraudulent. On ads placed next to search results, they said that there was a negligible rate of click fraud, less than 1%. That implies an overall click-fraud rate of around five to 7%. The number of clicks that we proactively throw out is less than 10%. So then the question is really: How much are advertisers getting for free thanks to our detection methods?”

Forum members at WebmasterWorld are not convinced by Ghosemajumder's statements. Members believe that Google is withholding information. One of the members says that advertisers should track their conversions to ensure that they are making a profit and that Google should continue containing these concerns. Still, there are fraudsters who will exploit the system. He points out:

“The way I see it is just as it says. Advertisers bids will ultimately adjust up or down according the percentage of click fraud they are dealing with. If google is comfortable with the current fraud levels and they are taking measures to contain it, and advertisers are using conversion tracking and turning a profit, everyone is happy…unfortunately so are the fraudsters that are making off with the 10% to 25% margin allotted for click fraud.”

So there are some conflicting views regarding click fraud.

To be a part of the Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, click here.

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Google: Click Fraud is Overestimated!

Loren Baker suggests 11 more search marketing options beyond AdWords saying:

1. Search marketing role is based on the concept of search marketing share and distribution.
2. You can’t put all of your eggs in one Google basket and ignore the other 40% of the consumer market.
3. If you do not diversify your paid search campaigns beyond Google AdWords, you’re not only missing the boat – but losing your company money via inaction.

In keeping with these are many search marketing options, such as:

1. Yahoo Search Marketing:Yahoo holds an incredible share of the search marketing stage and is the top online web destination for content, travel, shopping, news, entertainment and mail. Y!SM ads are served not only in search results, but throughout the Yahoo network.
2. MSN adCenter:Microsoft’s MSN and Live.com are incredibly well trafficked networks similar to Yahoo with incredible partnerships and a search engine which is integrated into the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer. adCenter search ads can also be targeted to demographics, such as male/female and ages.
3. Ask Sponsored Listings:Ask.com’s search marketing arm is also quite strong within their search properties and also the IAC network, which includes TicketMaster, CitySearch & RealEstate.com

Now, once you’ve set up & tested campaigns in the major search properties, look to these second tier search marketing companies to expand your reach even further.

4. LookSmart:LookSmart is a publicly traded search company with strong partnerships and a very large reach; over 400 million daily searches.

5. Miva : Major partner of portals and other properties : 2 billion search queries per month

6. ABCSearch : Serves over 5 billion searches per month and provides geotargeting.

7. 7Search : Frank Watson (AussieWebmaster) of FXCM loves 7Search and raves about the ROI and conversions 7Search provides, especially in the financial sector.

8. SearchFeed : Similar to Miva, SearchFeed provides sponsored search results for a large amount of partnered portals and sites.

9. Enhance : One of the Godfathers of paid search, Enhance’s partnerships with Yahoo, Dogpile, Snap.com and Verisign may result in quality traffic for your campaign.

10. Mamma.com/Copernic Media : Much more than a meta-search engine, Mamma.com also owns Copernic Desktop Search and serves sponsored search on the very popular, controversial and conversion generating Hotbar tool.

11. AMP’s adMarketplace : Sponsored search ads integrated into Ask.com, Looksmart, Marchex and other properties and offers easy setup for eBay merchants.

Click here , to see more PPC search engines (incl. coupons) and also text link brokers.

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11 Search Marketing Options Beyond Google AdWords

In an interesting post, John Ellis points out the "Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertisers".

A brief introduction to the Seven Ways to score include:

• Separate Content from Search: "The separation provides much more insight into what is working, and more importantly what is not working."
• Control spending by adjusting bid amounts, not daily spend budget
• Create a negative keyword list
• Conversion matters, not click-through rate (CTR)
• Avoid #1
• Bid Exact, Avoid Broad
• Good Analytics

Guidelines may differ from advertiser to advertiser. However, this gives a clear headstart to effective PPC advertising.

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7 Ways To Score With PPC Advertising

According to Click Fraud Index, as high as a quarter of all clicks for high priced search terms could be fraud. The report findings show that the industry average of click frauds has gone up from 13.7 percent in the first quarter of 2006 to 14.8 percent for the same period in 2007.

The figures for the content network are higher at 21.9 percent. But the highest rates of click frauds are for terms priced above $2.00. The industry average in this segment stands at 22.2 percent.

The authenticity of the data has been questioned by Shuman Ghosemajumder from Google. In response to that Tom Cuthbert, President and CEO, has explained the nitty gritties of click fraud in a blog post.

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Click Fraud On The Rise: Click Forensics Findings

The search engine marketing industry is all set for growth owing to significant increase in spending by big advertisers. According to MediaPost, Jupiter Research has found that companies with annual revenues exceeding $50 million plan to spend 25% more on search engine marketing. While these advertisers form a significant 26% of total advertisers, another 28% of advertisers will be spending 11% to 25% more.

According to the report, these positive anticipations don’t have much to do with marketers realizing the potential of search. In fact, the higher spending is because of “keyword inflation, complex campaign management and methods of tracking the success of search engine marketing.” 

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Big Advertisers Increase Search Spending

If your PPC campaign is not exactly gold standard, how many mistakes do you think you might be making? There is a post by IgorMord at SEOmoz which lists as many as 17 mistakes that are common in PPC campaigns. Now, the interesting part is he says taht with fixing of each mistake you can earn upto 70% revenue or save thousands of dollars every month.

There is the customary mention about long term keyword and fraud detection among others. However, enough useful and easily ignored points are also mentioned in the post. For example, the number one post in paid search results is not completely desirable. In fact, number 3 is found to be the optimal space. Other relevant points are:

• Geo-targeting makes the browsers associate better and heightens CTR.
• It's not advisable to display your telephone number in the ads as not many call.
• Prevent your affiliates from advertising in your brand name as they are capitalising on your value.
• Makes the ad copy seasonally relevant. Offer discounts for holidays, spring, summmer etc.
• Integrate your PPC campaign with your web analytics software for accurate tracking.  

For detailed analysis read the whole post. There is also a good post at Bruce Clay about making your PPC campaigns pay better returns.

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17 Mistakes Common In PPC Ad Campaigns

A leading search technologies firm, FAST, has developed AdMomentum which is a private-label contextual advertising and monetization platform for online media companies, retailers and telecommunications service providers.

The service aims to do away with third party contextual advertising service providers, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN. John M. Lervik, CEO of FAST, says that:

Publishers want to maintain control of their revenue, serving their advertisers and audiences more effectively, and this has been difficult to do with third-party platforms. With FAST AdMomentum, we give that control and independence back to publishers – enabling them for the first time to fully monetize their assets without having to share revenues or risk customer disintermediation.

Calling the sevice a revenue engine, Perry Solomon, VP and GM, Media Solutions at FAST said that:

Publishers know their content, their audiences and their advertisers’ needs best – key insights necessary to compete in the online world.

The service enables customers to sell locally and nationally, multiple ranking algorithms and innovative customer interfaces. It's too early to tell how successful the service would become. However, it offers another option to customers and is not going to replace third party ad services for the simple reason that not everyone would like to do it themselves. In addition, Google has a certain expertise in targeting which might not be equalled by individuals. 

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Manage Your Ad Campaigns Without Google, Yahoo! & MSN

Microsoft adCenter has sent out a notification to some publishers stating that they will be automatically included in a Content Ads Pilot Program beginnning 1/25/07. A member at WebmasterWorld Forums stated that:

The email stated that my current settings will be changed and I will HAVE to start using the new Content Beta. With NO option to opt out, just stating that it is going to happen on 1/25/07.

I contacted AdCenter support who were no help at all. They tried to show me how to opt out, but had no clue themselves. I am 'supposed' to get a call back in one week (the day before the account will switch over).

There were other members who felt frustrated with the unprofessional attitude and absolute lack of support. It is actually a beta program which might be operative in U.S. only. Given the lack of options and channels for monetizing, the MSN content network has its bagful of unhappy customers.

I am on the content program and would love to get off of it, please adcenter, tell me how to get off. I have errors constantly, included many "unexpected errors." I have been unable to upload and download my account keywords for over 2 weeks so I must change every bid manually, which is a lot harder to do on MSN vs the competition.

However, help reached a little late when a guy from Microsoft clarified that there are options to opt out of the program.

A select number of adCenter customers are being migrated to the beta site so that we can expand our Content Ads pilot and gather feedback on the next version of the adCenter User Interface. All advertisers selected for migration will be given access to the beta site and an improved set of campaign management tools, reporting tools and navigation. We selected advertisers based upon their match to the MSN inventory we have available and to provide access to a sampling of advertisers…Once you have migrated to the beta site, you can turn off content ads. We'll be posting detailed instructions with screen shots on our blog on Monday.

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Microsoft adCenter Denies Forcing Publishers Into Content Network