Searchers are getting more sophisticated, while search engines and marketers are getting more sophisticated and all hope to work toward the best answer to any search query.
March 06, 2009
By Matthew Deegan
The results from a recent study call into question the effectiveness of paid search advertisements, and one search observer said the findings show gaps in search ad strategies that could give Microsoft Corp. an opportunity to gain on Google Inc.’s dominance within the search market.
The click-through rate on paid search ads for Dogpile.com on May 15, 2006, was 15%, according to the study, which was conducted by researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the Queensland University of Technology and published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising.
Dogpile.com — a metasearch engine that combines the search results from larger engines such as Yahoo, Google, Ask and MSN — was the eighth most popular search engine in 2006.
Sponsored and nonsponsored search results on Dogpile are listed together, and one of the researchers involved in the study was surprised that the mix of organic and paid-for results generated such a low click tally on paid links.
Steve Riegel, director of search for the Denver-based digital marketing firm Faction Media, said the study’s findings show businesses that their pay-per-click ads constitute only a fraction of why a searcher visits a search engine in the first place.
“They’re missing out on the 70% to 85% of the time that someone clicks,” Riegel told SNL Kagan.
Riegel said search engines need to become more transparent with their search data so digital advertisers understand more specifically what they are buying and consumers realize that paid search ads are not an unwelcome distraction.
“They’re in the interest of getting the best query that [searchers] are looking for,” he said.
“Searchers are getting more sophisticated, search engines are getting more sophisticated, and marketers are getting more sophisticated, and all hope to work toward the best answer to any search query,” Riegel added.
The study also found that 35% of searchers did not take action on a query at all, which indicated to Riegel that searchers are modifying their preferences midsearch. Search engines need to take that impromptu thinking into account, he said.
The study reinforced the room that Microsoft has to expand within search.
In January, Microsoft accounted for only 9.8% of Internet searches, according to comScore Inc. data cited in a report in The Wall Street Journal, while Yahoo! Inc. took 22.2% and Google dominated with a 58.5% share.
But Microsoft is reportedly testing internally a new version of its search engine, which the company claims will help searchers not just find information, but dig deeper into what they want from their queries.
From the early looks at the new search product, Microsoft is following through on its promise to searchers and advertisers alike to delve deeper and highlight brands, according to Riegel.
“This new platform where they are refining how a ‘best answer’ is generated is fantastic,” he said.
November 26, 2008
By Matthew Deegan
Search giant Google Inc. rolled out a feature Nov. 20 that has the potential to alter its search universe.
Google’s product manager, Cedric Dupont, recently told BBC News that the feature, a “SearchWiki,” is “revolutionary,” adding that in terms of search, “it’s a huge step, not a baby step.”
The SearchWiki allows users who have logged into their Google accounts to reorder, remove and then save specific Web search results and add comments to results that they feel warrant them. The next time users perform the same search while signed in to their account, that same customized version of their previous query will appear.
Despite the possibilities of such a significant break from Google tradition, the company has noticeably understated the SearchWiki’s launch.
Steve Riegel, the director of search for Faction Media, said Google is moving from a beta mode to a live test mode so the company can better understand how searchers and marketers will use the feature before it is publicized to the masses.
“It’s interesting in what it’s trying to accomplish, but it can be a hindrance for marketers and searchers alike,” Riegel told SNL Kagan.
He performed a Google query on Nov. 25 and found that 240 comments were made when he searched the term “SEO” [search engine optimization], while zero comments were left under the search term “financial services” and 49 comments were listed under “real estate.”
“What that tells me is that the audience they are appealing to right now is [search engine optimizers] and search marketers who are testing this out,” Riegel said. “I think as with anything Google does, they like to test.”
The test has shown weaknesses, he added.
From a searcher’s view, the SearchWiki can be somewhat intrusive. Tech forums and blogs have been abuzz since the launch about users’ inability to disable the feature, Riegel noted. Once searchers customize and save their search results, they cannot reset their preferences unless they log out of their account.
In addition, from a marketer’s perspective, empowering the individual user to personalize the search experience makes it difficult for an up-and-coming business to emerge through Google search and build online awareness, Riegel said.
“The only way to move into that space would be paper-click advertising on those types of terms that are searched for,” he said. Despite the kinks, Riegel said Google’s new feature may help increase the amount of time users spend on the site, a feat the search giant has not been able to achieve as well as Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN.
“People go to Yahoo and spend time with mail and all the other news functionalities, whereas Google has been more of a repository of search information,” he said. “You go, you do your search and you get off. Now with this SearchWiki, it allows people to look at the comments that others have made and add commentary and spend more time at the site. The goal would be to increase ad revenue at Google overall.”
In general, Riegel sees the SearchWiki as an opportunity to gain a qualitative aspect to their search data and understand more fully what searchers find valuable so they can monetize it.
“They can gather all these qualitative measurements,” he said, “get an algorithm from it and make adjustments accordingly.”
SNL Financial
http://www.snl.com
Reprinted from
One SNL Plaza, P.O. Box 2124
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Phone: 434.977.1600
News fax: 434.293.0407
© 2008, SNL Financial LC. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. Use limited and subject to SNL license.