Bryan Segal
comScore’s Bryan Segal delivered SMX Toronto‘s second session, with some comScore search industry insights.
My main take-away from his talk:
- Paid Search opportunities will get more exciting, just as Organic Search did (video, etc.), and this will cause a rise in Branding Advertisements through search, lifting the industry.
Canadian Search distribution:
- Google: 81%
- Bing 4.5%
- Y! 3.8%
- eBay 2.1%
- Ask 2%
- Facebook 1.8%
Advertising hasn’t kept up. Online takes less than 10% of advertising budget, but it’s growing.
The internet is disproportionately used for direct response advertising.
- Online: 23% Brand, 77% Direct response
- Offline: 63% Brand, 37% Brand
Search continues to surge
% of serach result page with a paid ad is decreasing.
CTR has been relatively constant
Beyond SEM. Extending the impact of search data for strategic business decisions
Consumers spend over 40% of their online time on content (and rising), only 25% on email and IM (and dropping).
Community is a relatively new and growing segment
PC search experience is finally beginning to shift towards a richer, more verticalized experience (e.g., Bing on Travel)
Y! offers new ways to engage w/ multimedia from serach results pages directly. Watch Jonas Brothers videos straight from the SERP page.
Google has heavily invested in Universal Search. Google for iPod Touch and find web results w/ deep links to destination pages, news, video, shopping, paid.
Organic becoming a richer experience.
Expect innovations in sponsorship opportunities. Some experiments are underway. On Yahoo!, a Special K search ad turns into a video. They also have photos & descriptions in product listings.
Search distribution will be critical.
Problem: Search has long been considered a direct response medium because of the perception that
- Text search ads don’t form an emotional connection
- Search is extremely trackable
- Search often occurs at the bottom of the funnel
- Search ads always have a call to action
80% of online ad dollars are spent on direct response
75% of traditional advertising is spent on branding
[Not sure why these numbers differ from the ones he started with, but they tell the same story]
Richer search marketing canvas. Organic is richer, paid hasn’t gotten there yet. Experimentation has begun.
KraftFoods.com is a branding site. 9.5m clicks kw Kraft Food. 2.6 M Paid (27%).
Gave example of how NIKE can use search cross visitation data to decide where to advertise.
Where is search heading?
- Mobile searches grew 70% over last year
- Location aware mobile-specific serach products will help drive increased usage
- Search is the top non-voice on mobile after SMS
- Social search results need to be more relevant. Social is the next frontier.
- Early signs of a real true search product at FB.
- Search is the best direct response opportunity, but it must also begin to capture brand dollars
Summary:
- Don’t get caught up in long tail analysis. Group together thematic term sets to quantify topics
- Search data isn’t just for acquisition.
- The purchase funnel is an interdependent network.
- Branding dollars are moving online
- Remember how important search is to non-search engines. Social Media impacts serach activity and offers serach marketing opportunities.
More SMX Toronto Coverage on Managing Greatness:
- Best of SMX Toronto
- Top 3 Takeaways from SMX Toronto
- Link Building Strategies and Ranking Tactics
- Social & Search: Rock Both Worlds with Data
- Search Marketing Toolkit
- Crystal Ball Panel: What’s Next in Search
- Digital State of the Nation: Search Edition
- What is Search Analytics and Why Should I Care?
- Mobile Search
- Next Generation Agency: Search, Social, Viral, Mobile and Analytics
- Optimizing Video: On Site and on You Tube
- Personalized Search
- Search and Social Media: Insight and Inspiration
Image courtesy of Elaine the Brain.
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