“Paid search offers advantages that other forms of advertising just can’t,” says Wehr / Oneupweb. “When integrated with a natural search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, and overall marketing plan, it will return more for every dollar spent.”
According to the paper, as the amount of online advertising has steadily increased over the past decade, paid search advertising remains its largest single component. The numbers tell the tale:
- Paid search accounts for more than three times the dollar revenue of classified ads, the nearest online marketing format.
- Paid search claimed 48 percent of total U.S. online advertising spending in 2007.
- Paid search grew 32.2 percent in 2006, while traditional media grew just .5 percent.
Wehr explains that because it’s much more measurable than traditional media, paid search advertising can be assessed and refined more easily. PPC ads can be created faster and less expensively, and better facilitate responses to changing marketing conditions.