Latest DoubleClick Performics Search Trend Report Extracts Q1 Search Trends from 50 Programs

June 7, 2007; 03:15 AM
DoubleClick Performics (http://www.performics.com), the performance marketing division of DoubleClick, unveiled the DoubleClick Performics Q1 2007 Search Trend Report, the latest release of the quarterly index launched in 2005 designed to track the evolution of search engine campaigns within a dynamic market environment and provide a stable basis for comparative benchmarking and analysis. The Q1 2007 report documented many trends, including sharp decreases in Yahoo! search costs and continued growth of search campaigns driven in part by advertiser reinvestment.

“For some time now, DoubleClick Performics has advocated the investment of search spend into branding initiatives,” said Stuart Larkins, vice president of search for DoubleClick Performics. “And we expect advertisers will apply this strategy to Yahoo! as they get more familiar with the new algorithm.”

Other key findings included:

• The prevalence of expensive keywords increased significantly, spiking growth in both average cost per click (CPC) and average cost per keyword (CPK). On average, campaigns featured six times as many keywords with a CPC of $1 or more in Q1 2007 than in Q1 2006.
• Advertisers, on average, increased their number of active keywords by 54 percent over Q1 2006.
• Average CPC grew more than average CPK, as these additional keywords with a higher CPC did not receive as many clicks as other, less expensive keywords.
• In direct revenue-based campaigns, transactions grew 38 percent; sales grew 28 percent.
• Despite rising sales and transactions, overall ROI fell by 43 percent, in part due to rising costs and advertisers increasingly using search as a branding channel.
• While Yahoo! transactions and sales are down, advertisers purchased fewer clicks and spent less overall to acquire them.
• Despite an overall drop in Yahoo! CPCs, average rank improved since the Panama platform was put in place; the new platform appears to be doing a better job of showing more appropriate search results to the right audiences.

Methodology

The DoubleClick Performics Search Trend Report represents 50 actual paid search campaigns managed by DoubleClick Performics' SEM experts using DART and DoubleClick Performics' proprietary platforms. The index itself was established in August of 2005 as a means of providing industry benchmarks among search engine marketing campaigns, using data going back to early 2004.

Initial membership in the index was determined based on the size of advertisers' campaigns in the first three months of 2004 and put into effect in April of that year. New campaigns have been added only when campaigns previously in the index have deviated significantly in traffic, again based on campaign size for the current month and the prior three months.

DoubleClick Performics manages approximately 280 active campaigns across a wide range of industry categories. The Performics 50, while composed exclusively of DoubleClick Performics campaigns, is intended to reflect the larger universe of marketers engaged in paid search engine advertising.

About DoubleClick Performics

At DoubleClick Performics we are constantly thinking forward about search and affiliate marketing. We do not merely anticipate the future of digital performance marketing; we are committed to the innovation and insights that create it. Our comprehensive suite of services provides advertisers with world-class solutions that combine technology, intelligence, experience and service that cannot be found anywhere else.

Focused on affiliate, paid search and natural search marketing, DoubleClick Performics has been dedicated to understanding the impulses and actions of the online consumer since 1998. DoubleClick Performics ensures that our clients’ marketing investments are more efficient and more effective, and our integrated approach to service delivers superior results across multiple channels.