Do Paid Search Ads Work?

March 19, 2013 in Daily Bulletin

Companies spend millions advertising their brands and products on search engines such as Google and Bing. Research from eBay suggests that the money is wasted:

  • In an experiment eBay turned off its paid search listings across a third of the United States.
  • It found no appreciable drop in revenue. For the most part those who were going to search for a product on eBay were going to find eBay regardless of whether or not they saw an ad for it.
  • Overall the research concludes that for every dollar spent on search engine ads, anywhere between zero and 25 cents of revenues is generated.
  • The researchers note that paid search listings might be useful for less well-known companies.

Read more about the study, its caveats, and its methodology over here.

Source: Slate