Search Spending Expected to Rise, but What About the Clicks?

A pair of reports from eMarketer and The Kelsey Group paint a rosy picture of the search-advertising market over the next four years–with double-digit increases in spending for both Web-based and mobile search. It’s not surprising, given the instant gratification (and perceived ROI) marketers get from paid search ads.

But just how effective is search? New research from Penn State University suggests that people click on both paid and organic search links much less frequently than most marketers think: Searchers only clicked on paid search ads–even when they were supplemented by organic links–about 15 percent of the time. (The industry consensus is that a combination of both paid and organic search presence boosts an advertiser’s trustworthiness and search results page “coverage”—which increases click-through rates).

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