Is the Search Alliance Paying Off for Search Marketers?

Dr. Niraj Shah’s session “Is the Search Alliance Paying Off For Search Marketers?” answered questions that attendees had on their mind with the Yahoo! and Bing alliance. Below is a summary of Dr. Shah’s presentation but if you are the attending SES NY conference be sure to stop by 1011 in Americas 1 for a copy of this white paper.

o Stats of Paid Search Performance Relative to Google

• CTR was roughly equivalent to Google but declined from November
• CPC was consistency below Google; trending downward trend post-transition

o Stats Search Conversion Rate and CPA

• Conversion rates dipped during transition but ended 2010 13% higher
• Cost per action (CPA) increased during transition but finished 17% lower

o How do we wrap this up? Where do advertisers go with this information?

• Early movers can gain an edge.
• Instead of now having to manage across three engines you can narrow down. Saving time and becoming more efficient.
• Favorable CPC’s and cheaper clicks and conversions.
• Improved reach and volume drivers greater consistency and manageability
• Favorable CPC and conversion environment (for now)
• Strong performance characteristics imply a higher ROAS than before

o Best practices for search alliance success

• Identify coverage gaps between Microsoft Advertising adCenter and Adwords
• Pay attention to geo-targeting and match type settings when transitioning campaigns
• Bid adCenter keywords at the Match-type Level
• Adjust budgets to account for increased volumes
• Set alerts to identify and expand high performing terms

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