New Study Reports that Search Sites Provides Twice the Conversion Rate When Compared With Other Acquisition Sources
"The Dow Jones story: Search Sites Better At Getting Shoppers To Buy: Study, reports on new research from WebSideStory that shows search engines (both paid and organic listings) provide more than twice the conversion rates than other forms of Internet advertising and marketing.
However, direct navigation offered the highest conversion rate. The sites used in the study cover five product categories.
From the article:
The study defines conversion rate as the percentage of visitors to a site who view an ad or clicking on a search result and purchase a product or service.
Numbers
Search
Search Sites had a conversion rate of 2.3%, meaning that for every 100 consumers clicking on a search result or advertisement, 2.3 people made a purchase.
Other Forms of Internet Marketing
Banner ads, affiliate marketing links, comparison shopping search sites* and other online marketing efforts had a conversion rate of 0.96%.
* Note, that shopping engines are not considered in the main search category.
Search Bypass: Direct Navigation/Bookmarks
Direct to a company's web site (including via a bookmark) offered a conversion"
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Lack of Search Marketing During Christmas Season Hurt FTD's Bottom Line, Head of Marketing Replaced
"From the statement (full text here): The consumer business's order growth for the 2005 Christmas season was below expectations [because of] our decision not to pursue high-cost order volume associated with online search,' FTD president/CEO Michael J. Soenen said in a statement. 'In anticipation of continued competitiveness in the online search environment and to better manage the consumer segment business going forward, we have made management changes within this segment including the replacement of our head of marketing.'"
Bill: Ouch!
"From the statement (full text here): The consumer business's order growth for the 2005 Christmas season was below expectations [because of] our decision not to pursue high-cost order volume associated with online search,' FTD president/CEO Michael J. Soenen said in a statement. 'In anticipation of continued competitiveness in the online search environment and to better manage the consumer segment business going forward, we have made management changes within this segment including the replacement of our head of marketing.'"
Bill: Ouch!
Marketers Find Google Ads Slightly More Effective Than Yahoo & Well Above MSN
"Advertisers Say Search Ads On Google Better Than Yahoo, MSN from MediaPost reports on an Outsell survey of 1,200 advertisers last November that found 71 percent found search ads on Google were effective, compared to 62 percent on Yahoo and 49 percent on MSN. But those most likely to find Google as 'extremely' effective had slightly smaller average budgets than Yahoo and MSN spenders."
Full Story
"Advertisers Say Search Ads On Google Better Than Yahoo, MSN from MediaPost reports on an Outsell survey of 1,200 advertisers last November that found 71 percent found search ads on Google were effective, compared to 62 percent on Yahoo and 49 percent on MSN. But those most likely to find Google as 'extremely' effective had slightly smaller average budgets than Yahoo and MSN spenders."
Full Story
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Piper Jaffray: Online Ad Market To Surge More Than 30%
"In addition to increased demand for online ad inventory, the repor noted an increase in demand for Web analytics and development services. 'A number of agencies suggested that the demand for increased Web development began about a year ago, and we are at the start of a new Web development cycle,' Rashtchy wrote, citing the desire for increased conversion rates on retail sites and the desire for more interactivity now that broadband penetration has increased as major causes for the heightened interest."
"In addition to increased demand for online ad inventory, the repor noted an increase in demand for Web analytics and development services. 'A number of agencies suggested that the demand for increased Web development began about a year ago, and we are at the start of a new Web development cycle,' Rashtchy wrote, citing the desire for increased conversion rates on retail sites and the desire for more interactivity now that broadband penetration has increased as major causes for the heightened interest."
Monday, January 23, 2006
MediaPost Publications - Online Spending Up 33% In '06 - 01/23/2006
"ONLINE CONSUMER SPENDING EXCLUDING TRAVEL for the first three weeks in January came to $5.5 billion--up 33 percent from $4.1 billion last year at this time, according to new data from comScore Networks. Travel spending came to $3.5 billion for the first three weeks of the year, marking an 8 percent increase from 2005. "
"ONLINE CONSUMER SPENDING EXCLUDING TRAVEL for the first three weeks in January came to $5.5 billion--up 33 percent from $4.1 billion last year at this time, according to new data from comScore Networks. Travel spending came to $3.5 billion for the first three weeks of the year, marking an 8 percent increase from 2005. "
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Internet News Article Reuters.com
Internet users judge Web sites in less than a blink
"In just a brief one-twentieth of a second -- less than half the time it takes to blink -- people make aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site."
"In the study, researchers discovered that people could rate the visual appeal of sites after seeing them for just one-twentieth of a second. These judgments were not random, the researchers found -- sites that were flashed up twice were given similar ratings both times.
They also matched the responses given by subjects who were shown the sites for longer."
Bill - Sorry but no insight as to how to design a page.
Internet users judge Web sites in less than a blink
"In just a brief one-twentieth of a second -- less than half the time it takes to blink -- people make aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site."
"In the study, researchers discovered that people could rate the visual appeal of sites after seeing them for just one-twentieth of a second. These judgments were not random, the researchers found -- sites that were flashed up twice were given similar ratings both times.
They also matched the responses given by subjects who were shown the sites for longer."
Bill - Sorry but no insight as to how to design a page.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
When does less revelant become more read?
Check this out. Ads placed in non-catagory locations get more read than the catagory ads?
TACODA to Launch Landmark Research Study on
Behavioral vs. Contextual Ad Placement -pdf
"TACODA’s partner, Next Century Media, has conducted research for new media and traditional media for over 70 of the top 100 advertisers. TACODA and Next Century Media have begun a four-pronged research effort that will span over more than a year, to understand how it is possible for BT to outperform CT on engagement metrics even leaving cost aside.
"The accumulation of cases is too large to be ignored," says Bill Harvey, CEO of Next Century Media, "and is one of the most surprising set of findings I’ve seen in a couple of decades. How could an ad for a product engage its target audience better in a neutral editorial environment than in an environment that is all about that product category? We studied the data and came up with two hypotheses so far. One we call ‘Clamor’: perhaps the user’s eyes sometimes avoid the ads for cars, for example, in a car-related site, because there are just so many of them clamoring for the user’s attention. To investigate this further we have already begun an eye tracking study being conducted by The PreTesting Company, the leading research company in the use of eye tracking.
"The other hypothesis," continues Mr. Harvey, "so far we call ‘The Unexpected’: perhaps users who are known from their web behavior to be targets for a specific product are surprised when they see an ad for that product on a site where they wouldn’t expect to see it. We are planning to conduct a brainwave experiment to check out the Unexpected hypothesis."
"In addition we are conducting a large series of controlled campaign experiments measuring click-through, a wide range of branding communications metrics, and ROI," concludes Mr. Morgan. "And we are asking the industry to provide cases, whether anonymous or not, that can shed light on this phenomenon. The findings of this program will be shared with the industry and will have important implications for how to use contextual targeting and behavioral targeting to their greatest advantage, so as to maximize ROI for the advertiser and add to the ongoing growth of the Internet as a leading edge advertising and marketing medium."
End Quote"
Check this out. Ads placed in non-catagory locations get more read than the catagory ads?
TACODA to Launch Landmark Research Study on
Behavioral vs. Contextual Ad Placement -pdf
"TACODA’s partner, Next Century Media, has conducted research for new media and traditional media for over 70 of the top 100 advertisers. TACODA and Next Century Media have begun a four-pronged research effort that will span over more than a year, to understand how it is possible for BT to outperform CT on engagement metrics even leaving cost aside.
"The accumulation of cases is too large to be ignored," says Bill Harvey, CEO of Next Century Media, "and is one of the most surprising set of findings I’ve seen in a couple of decades. How could an ad for a product engage its target audience better in a neutral editorial environment than in an environment that is all about that product category? We studied the data and came up with two hypotheses so far. One we call ‘Clamor’: perhaps the user’s eyes sometimes avoid the ads for cars, for example, in a car-related site, because there are just so many of them clamoring for the user’s attention. To investigate this further we have already begun an eye tracking study being conducted by The PreTesting Company, the leading research company in the use of eye tracking.
"The other hypothesis," continues Mr. Harvey, "so far we call ‘The Unexpected’: perhaps users who are known from their web behavior to be targets for a specific product are surprised when they see an ad for that product on a site where they wouldn’t expect to see it. We are planning to conduct a brainwave experiment to check out the Unexpected hypothesis."
"In addition we are conducting a large series of controlled campaign experiments measuring click-through, a wide range of branding communications metrics, and ROI," concludes Mr. Morgan. "And we are asking the industry to provide cases, whether anonymous or not, that can shed light on this phenomenon. The findings of this program will be shared with the industry and will have important implications for how to use contextual targeting and behavioral targeting to their greatest advantage, so as to maximize ROI for the advertiser and add to the ongoing growth of the Internet as a leading edge advertising and marketing medium."
End Quote"
Monday, January 16, 2006
Sites Lose Shoppers With Required Registration
About one in three holiday shoppers abandoned a website without making a purchase if the sites required registration, according to Questus study. The report, was based on a survey of 425 U.S. Web users. It also noted that one-quarter of shoppers exited sites if it was difficult to use, while about one in five left if a site didn't seem trustworthy.
About one in three holiday shoppers abandoned a website without making a purchase if the sites required registration, according to Questus study. The report, was based on a survey of 425 U.S. Web users. It also noted that one-quarter of shoppers exited sites if it was difficult to use, while about one in five left if a site didn't seem trustworthy.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Search Marketers Look to Efficiency in 2006
"Advertisers may get a brief respite from price increases, if current trends persist. Fathom Online's most recent Keyword Price Index (KPI) showed that keyword prices stayed flat overall, ending December at $1.43, which was $0.03 lower than in November, and just $0.01 lower than September's KPI of $1.44. Keyword prices continued to rise in highly competitive categories like automotive, up 10 percent month-to-month; consumer retail, up 13 percent in December, and telecom wireless, up 15 percent month-to-month. Those increases were offset by 10 percent drops in finance and mortgage keywords.
Most advertisers said they plan to use to cope with rising keyword prices by improving a site's efficiency at converting, as well as boosting the efficiency of bid management programs. Only 21 percent of respondents said they could not justify any more spending based on their current ROI, while 19 percent said they could add 10 percent to their budget. Eighteen percent of respondents said they could add 20 percent more, and 17 percent said they could up their budget 30 percent more. "
Bill: I have seen our avg. cost per click increase as high as 22% in the last month.
"Advertisers may get a brief respite from price increases, if current trends persist. Fathom Online's most recent Keyword Price Index (KPI) showed that keyword prices stayed flat overall, ending December at $1.43, which was $0.03 lower than in November, and just $0.01 lower than September's KPI of $1.44. Keyword prices continued to rise in highly competitive categories like automotive, up 10 percent month-to-month; consumer retail, up 13 percent in December, and telecom wireless, up 15 percent month-to-month. Those increases were offset by 10 percent drops in finance and mortgage keywords.
Most advertisers said they plan to use to cope with rising keyword prices by improving a site's efficiency at converting, as well as boosting the efficiency of bid management programs. Only 21 percent of respondents said they could not justify any more spending based on their current ROI, while 19 percent said they could add 10 percent to their budget. Eighteen percent of respondents said they could add 20 percent more, and 17 percent said they could up their budget 30 percent more. "
Bill: I have seen our avg. cost per click increase as high as 22% in the last month.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Wired 14.01: How Click Fraud Could Swallow the Internet
"Pay-per-click advertising is big, big, big business. So are bogus hits on Internet ads. It's search giants against scam artists in an arms race that could crash the entire online economy."
Nothing new here, but this is a great article for someone looking to understand the issues surrounding click fraud, and how/why it is a real concern.
"Pay-per-click advertising is big, big, big business. So are bogus hits on Internet ads. It's search giants against scam artists in an arms race that could crash the entire online economy."
Nothing new here, but this is a great article for someone looking to understand the issues surrounding click fraud, and how/why it is a real concern.
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