PPC Ads Per Keyword Up in Q1 2009
By Anna Johnson on April 17th, 2009The average number of ads shown per keyword on U.S. search engines hit a high of 5.5 during the first quarter of 2009, according to research by AdGooroo.
Specifically, in February, the average number of ads per keyword reached 5.5, up from a low of 3.1 in September 2008.
AdGooroo said that while this measure of ad coverage had traditionally been a good indicator of search revenues, it actually diverged significantly from the estimated growth in active advertisers during the period.
In fact, AdGooroo found a 1.3 percent drop in first-page advertisers throughout the quarter.
AdGooroo observed that an increase in the number of ads coinciding with a decrease in the number of advertisers reflected an ‘artificial’ change in ad coverage – possibly a response to slow advertising activity – but quite different to the ‘ organic growth which fueled revenues in previous quarters.’
Interestingly, AdGooroo found that Yahoo experienced a 10 percent increase in active first-page advertisers during the first quarter of 2009. At the same time Yahoo gained a four point increase in advertiser share, seemingly at Microsoft’s expense.
