Even though search continues to be the "Big Thing" in Internet ad spending, some people are starting to question exactly how cost efficient it is. New research casts doubts on whether it is getting too much credit for closing sales at the expense of branding initiatives. AQuantive's Atlas unit studied conversion data and user behavior collected by cookies and found that almost all advertisers are giving too much credit to "the last click" as being responsible for sales. Instead, it found two-thirds of customers who took actions on advertiser Web sites were reached multiple times by ads on several sites. Only counting the last click coming through a search engine like Google or MSN, leads advertisers to discount other factors that could have been responsible for what led to the action: the awareness created by ad impressions on other sites. In other words, search can be an invaluable part of an overall program, but like many communication choices, relying on a single tactic may look good in theory, but provide a bad ROI in practice.
.
I know that click's in here somewhere!
Comment Preview