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Paid (PPC) Search versus SEO August 9, 2007 ::: Increasingly I read and hear about people in the Internet marketing business arguing over whether paid search (pay per click ads) is more valuable than organic SEO, and vice versa. While there are some fascinating and relevant arguments on either side, research shows that marketers are quite satisfied with both.   A report from the SEMPO State of the Market Survey from about 18 months ago shows that 83% of respondents were using PPC compared to only 11% using SEO. Other reports show that the value of SEO is rising as user sophistication increases (according to Chris Boggs in the Spring 2007 edition of Search Marketing Standard). Marketing Sherpa's 2005 report showed SEO conversion rates overtook PPC rates at 4.2% versus 3.6%. That's quite the opposite of what had been found the year before.   The Direct Marketing Association reported in 2005 on a list of "online marketing strategies that produce the best ROI that PPC and SEO were rated equally according to US retailers, behind only "having a website" and "using email marketing". A more recent study by Marketing Sherpa, though, showed SEO ahead of email marketing, with PPC a close third.   One thing seems to be true: if a given web site shows up in both the organic search engine listings and the PPC ads, that seems to super-validate it as a good choice, which increases the likelihood of a searcher clicking on one of those listings.

Oct 9, 2008 at 4:15pm Eastern by Matt McGee    Google Puts New AdSense Ads Under Maps The continued success of Google Maps gives Google another growing revenue stream to tap into, and that’s what they’re doing with the placement of new AdSense ads immediately under maps on Google Maps. The ads don’t show up on all searches, but they do appear on enough searches to suggest this is more than a limited test. Amit Agarwal is seeing these ads in India, for example. Dave Shaw, who first alerted us via email, is seeing it in the UK. The screenshot above shows how the new ad placement looks on a search in Google Maps for [seattle real estate]. Moving out of a major city into a much smaller city suggests that Google needs to improve its targeting on these ads. A search for [west richland real estate] reveals an ad for a company in Richland, PA. (West Richland is a small city in Washington state.) Unlike the regular Local Business Ads that show up to the left of the map, which take you to the map “popup” for that advertiser, clicking on the ads below the map take you straight to the advertiser’s website. There’s more coverage of this on Techmeme.

TEXT SIZE Advertisement <SCRIPT language='JavaScript1.1' SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N5621.websitemagazine.com/B3286961.2;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;ord=[unique-string]?"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <a target='_blank' HREF="http://ads.websiteservices.com/adclick.php?bannerid=244&zoneid=14&source=&dest=http%3A%2F%2Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fjump%2FN5621.websitemagazine.com%2FB3286961.2%3Babr%3D%21ie4%3Babr%3D%21ie5%3Bsz%3D300x250%3Bord%3D%5Bunique-string%5D%3F&ismap="> <IMG SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N5621.websitemagazine.com/B3286961.2;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=300x250;ord=[unique-string]?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 ALT="Click Here"></A> </NOSCRIPT> Advertisement Paid Search Beats SEO Conversion Rates? ShareThis In a statement that will surely have SEO's up in virtual arms, WebSideStory, a provider of digital marketing and analytics solutions, today announced the results of a  study that shows paid search has a nine percent edge in conversion rates over organic search. I can hear the furious typing of a million outraged SEO bloggers at this very minute. Via the news release, "In a study of leading business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce sites during the first eight months of this year, paid search -- keywords bought on a pay-per-click basis at search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN -- had a median order conversion rate of 3.40 percent at business-to-consumer e-commerce sites using the company's award-winning HBX Analytics technology. This compared to a conversion rate of 3.13 percent for organic search results, defined as non-paid or natural search engine listings, during the same January-to-August timeframe, according to the WebSideStory Index, a compilation of e-commerce, site search and global Internet user trends. The study analyzed more than 57 million search engine visits. Order conversions occurred during the same session. "For both paid and organic search, you have highly qualified traffic that converts far above the overall conversion rate of about 2 percent for most e-commerce sites," said Ali Behnam, Senior Digital Marketing Consultant for WebSideStory. "In the case of paid search, marketers have better control over the environment, including the message, the landing page and the ability to eliminate low-converting keywords."