Back to News
From Bomb to Boom – Search Engine Marketing Firm on Rise with Online Advertising
Boston MA, Nov. 2, 2004 - A variety of market trends and world events have combined to help search engine marketing emerge in 2004 as the best way to target online consumers.
- Internet Users Size: There are 182 million Internet users throughout the US and Canada and 605 million internet users worldwide (Compiled by Nua Internet Surveys)
- Search Utilization: Of the 270 million men, women and children in the US it is estimated that 43% use search engines on a regular basis (Source: Marketing Sherpa / SEMPO)
- Top Players: The top three websites are search engines Yahoo, Google and MSN (Source: Alexa.com).
- Website Ratings: The audience size and preeminence of these properties have made search engines major media outlets, rivaling the highest rated TV shows. The beauty of the Internet is that it reaches a large percentage of its audience while they are at work doing business. The work audience has less distractions from TV and radio broadcast.
- Self Survey: When was the last time you used the Internet to research a purchase (work or home related)?
How Consumers Search for Products Online
(Source: Overture.com)
The success of search is playing out in the public markets. As the dot bombs were imploding in 2001, the search industry took a collective hit. But look at what’s happened since then:
- Yahoo stock (yhoo) up 92% over last twelve months.
- Yahoo Market Cap of $47.9 billion (Compare to McDonald's Market Cap below)
- McDonald’s Market Cap $36.2 billion.
- Google’s stock up (goog) 81% since its debut on August 19 (less than three months).
Yahoo Stock (Last 5 years)
Google Stock (Last 3 months)
The Rise of Search Engine Marketing
The boom of search advertising started in the post 9/11 economy when mainstream advertisers were forced to stretch their online advertising dollars and look for better ways of targeting Internet users. At the same time, Google and Overture were perfecting their search advertising systems, and more companies were utilizing the online capabilities to track visitors and leads. This innovation enabled analytic advertisers to draw a direct line between searches and sales leads. Search was delivering far better response and conversion rates than banners.
Advertiser awareness grew. By 2003, most mainstream advertisers had read the Internet marketing reports like the one by Piper Jaffray that placed “Search” as having the lowest cost per acquisition of any advertising vehicle. Or the 2002 Cross Media Study by DoubleClick that used Neilson/Net Ratings and MRI to estimate that “41 percent of U.S. consumers used search engines to research a purchase,” compared to 10 and 9 percent using a print and a TV ad respectively.
This new awareness encouraged online advertising agencies to move away from poor performing banners and embrace search as an additional media for online advertising. Together agencies and advertisers became more comfortable with the less glitzy yet effective advertising medium. This is witnessed in 2003 by the declining cost of banner ads (CPMs), which can be linked to decreasing click rates and increased inventory.
(source: Wall Street Journal, Nov. 2 2004)
The new awareness is not a fluke either. According to a 2004 Online Advertising report by JupiterResearch, paid search was the only bright spot in online advertising from 2001 to 2003, and the market will continue to grow by 34% to reach $2.6 billion in 2004 and $4.4 billion by 2007.
Search Engine Marketing is an Essential Component for any Company's Online Advertising Mix
As many companies have already realized, search engine optimization has become an essential component in fulfilling their online marketing needs. The search engines have become a way of life. According to a study by Fittkau & Maab, 95% of Internet users use search engines – 2/3 of them on a regular basis – no wonder Google has created such tremendous sensation after a mere 6 years in business. But growth in search engine popularity is not the only key to Backbone Media’s success. Their commitment and dedication to providing clients with custom-tailored strategies, integrated solutions and optimum results are the qualities that ultimately set this Boston search engine marketing firm apart from the rest.
About Backbone Media, Inc.
Backbone Media’s mission is to help companies reach their active buyers online and profit from their online investment. Since 1996 Backbone Media, Inc. has been helping companies integrate high impact website design with innovative and effective search engine and Internet marketing strategies. Backbone Media, Inc. is headquartered in Waltham, MA. For more information please visit www.backbonemedia.com.
Press Contact:
Cailin McDuffy
Backbone Media, Inc.
781-899-4050 x208
Read more:
Search Engine Marketing on The Rise - Part 1