Is Search Recession-Proof?
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Written By Anthony Iaffaldano | April 15, 2008 | Share This
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At this point, I think most of the civilized world has established that the U.S. economy is heading into a recession.
The signs are starting to crop up in the advertising world: Companies are starting to make hard decisions, like Gawker which announced yesterday that it was dumping three blogs, including Wonkette, in a cost-cutting effort. Cautionary commentaries are beginning to crop up in most advertising publications, like this one, advising media buyers how best to weather the storm.
So how about search marketing? Has the panic of a down market set in yet? Not exactly. In fact, as we continue to inch towards the abyss, SEM may prove to be the most recession-proof of all ad formats.
In an article he penned for Search Engine Watch, Reprise Media’s Managing Partner
John Wanamaker famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” He would have loved search marketing, because it is one of very few kinds of media that provides visibility into the wasted half. Furthermore, it is arguably the most accountable of all advertising media. By virtue of robust reporting from search engines, sophisticated web analytics, and back-end tracking systems, advertisers can see exactly where their money is going in a paid search campaign: what keywords are converting into sales or page views, and what’s not working.
Topics: Advertising: Online, Reprise Media, SEM: Paid Search |