As many expected, Yahoo and Google officially announced a non-exclusive advertising agreement.
The news puts an end to lingering talks involving Microsoft and their intentions to acquire Yahoo…read the Microsoft press release here.
In case you missed it, back in April, Yahoo confirmed that it was running a limited test of Google Inc.’s AdSense for Search service, which delivered relevant Google ads alongside Yahoo!’s own search results. Apparently, the test was successful!
Yahoo’s press release points out revenue projections from the deal, which they expect to generate $250m to $450m during the first 12 months.
Google’s press release makes an interesting point that both companies will work on integrating their instant messaging clients.
For marketers, many expect better performance from Yahoo campaigns resulting in more visitors and higher conversions.
Of course, now the real test begins…stay tuned.
In it’s never ending pursuit of catching up to Google, Microsoft has formed a new agreement with HP to become the default search engine provider. This move replaces the deal HP signed with Yahoo less than two years ago.
What makes this news particularly interesting is that Microsoft has experienced a search query loss of 2.1% from November to December of 2007. Microsoft Live Search tool bar will now come pre-installed on all HP computers. According to the press release, “this is the most significant distribution deal for Live Search that Microsoft has ever done.” This move also marks a smaller-scale and less dominating way to grow as opposed to Microsoft’s previous $44.6 billion hostile take over attempt to buy Yahoo earlier this year.
As online marketers, it means greater search engine inventory and market share, which has traditionally been low. We will be keeping our eye on Live.com’s search results on our clients’ accounts over the next couple of months.
It is no surpise to me that more TV, Print, and Radio dollars are being reallocted to online.
Why?
Advertisers care more about what works; online advertising is quantifiable, and reduces risk.
The Pay-per-click models continue to attract advertisers as the cost is only in the click, not the impression. And with the new forms of user driven content centric advertising online, a sustaining and profitable platform will evolve.
The facts speak for themselves; this new study from Outsell reinforces the trend…
With the short term understanding and business intelligence that can be extracted from a Paid (Pay-Per-Click) Search campaign, Search Engine Optimization performance (SEO) campaign performance can be maximized. At the root of all search marketing campaigns, a keyword exist. Understanding which keywords result in conversions (whether it is a new account, lead or transaction) and the return on the click spend, can begin to identify ways to maximize campaign performance.
Continue reading ‘Paid Search Maximizes SEO Performance’
One can only conclude that with the anticipated growth of paid search, that the channel must be working. The fact that marketers can easily quantify the return and justify the investment supports the projections.
So on to the numbers…
Continue reading ‘Paid Search to Grow 41% in 2006′
