SES Chicago - December 7-11, 2009

July 18, 2006

Keyword Prices Continue To Fall: Down 8.6 Percent

Fathom Online released a keyword price index update that shows keyword prices fell again quarter over quarter by 8.6 percent. Prices on average fell from $1.39 on March 31 to $1.27 on June 30. Last report also showed keyword prices dropping $1.43 at the end of 2005 to $1.39 in the first quarter of 2006, but folks blamed seasonality for the price drop. The reason for this drop? Marketers are bidding smarter says Matt McMahon, VP Marketing Services at Fathom.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:25 PM | Permalink

April 17, 2006

Keyword Prices Drop Slightly In First Quarter 2006

Fathom Online releases a report that shows that keyword prices, on average, have dropped from $1.43 at the end of 2005 to $1.39 in the first quarter of 2006. The price drop was "not surprising" according to Fathom Online, stating that Q4 prices were higher due to the "seasonal nature of advertising."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:38 PM | Permalink

January 9, 2006

Fathom Online: Keyword Prices Drop in December

MediaPost has news about the just released Fathom Keyword Price Index (KPI) report for December in the article: Keyword Prices Continue Downward Spiral.

Led by drops in the cost of terms related to mortgages and consumer services, keyword prices fell to an average of $1.43 last month--representing a 16 percent drop from the $1.70 average paid by search marketers in December 2004, according to the latest keyword price index from search engine marketing agency Fathom Online.

The article includes charts with year-over-year and month-over-month numbers for eight categories. The full text of Fathom's December report is also available here.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:12 PM | Permalink

December 6, 2005

Fathom: Keyword Prices Drop in November

New numbers from Fathom from this Media Daily News article: Keyword Prices Tumble, reports that in November keyword prices fell 11% from $1.64 per click to $1.46 per click.

November marked the second consecutive month of year-to-year declines in average keyword cost. In October, the price fell to $1.45 a click--a 6 percent drop from $1.55 in October of 2004.

The article includes two charts that look at prices mont-over-month and year-over year for eight categories.

From the article: Still, revenues from search advertising have increased this year, and there is no sign that this will change. For instance, Google's third-quarter revenues reached $1.578 billion, marking a 96 percent increase from the third quarter of last year. Additionally, a new report by Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Safa Rashtchy predicts high single- to low double-digit price increases for search and branded ad inventory next year. (See "Ad Revenues To Reach $55B By 2010").

Posted by Gary Price at 12:31 PM | Permalink

November 7, 2005

Oct. 2005 Keyword Prices Stay Flat From Last Month, Drop From Last Year

Fathom Online has released figures from its latest Keyword Price Index showing that prices overall stayed about the same as last month, rising $1.44 to $1.45. The automotive category dropped 14 percent, however, while the finance category rose 15 percent. Compared to the same month last year, however, prices dropped about six percent. More details in this press release from Fathom and this MediaPost story.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:36 AM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

Search Ad Prices Up 3% In June 2005

The average price for search ads rose slightly last month, according to the latest Keyword Price Index from Fathom Online. The average price paid in June grew to $1.72, up 3 percent from $1.67 in May.

The wireless category had the greatest gain, rising to an average of $1.19 or up 19 percent from last month. No other category saw a double-digit percent rise. Only the broadband category saw a drop, dipping a slight 2 percent down to $1.97.

The chart below gives a per category breakdown, sorted by most expensive category:

Category

June 2005

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Mortgage

$4.66

$0.14

3%

Broadband

$1.97

-$0.05

-2%

Investing

$1.89

$0.08

5%

Automotive

$1.53

$0.03

2%

Wireless

$1.19

$0.19

19%

Consumer Services

$1.12

$0.03

3%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.88

$0.01

1%

Consumer Retail

$0.53

$0.04

9%

Average

$1.72

$0.06

3%

Below are figures sorted by percent change:

Category

June 2005

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Wireless

$1.19

$0.19

19%

Consumer Retail

$0.53

$0.04

9%

Investing

$1.89

$0.08

5%

Mortgage

$4.66

$0.14

3%

Consumer Services

$1.12

$0.03

3%

Automotive

$1.53

$0.03

2%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.88

$0.01

1%

Broadband

$1.97

-$0.05

-2%

Average

$1.72

$0.06

3%

More information on the latest figures and past stats should be posted by Fathom later today -- see the company's home page. If not, review the Fathom press release page. For Search Engine Watch members, the members' version of this story has a graphical look at prices over time.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:20 AM | Permalink

June 7, 2005

Search Ad Prices Down 15% In May 2005

The average price for search ads dropped sharply last month, according to the latest Keyword Price Index from Fathom Online. The average price paid in May dipped to $1.66, down 15 percent from $1.95 in April.

The mortgage category is most responsible for the plunge, Fathom says. If it weren't included, then the index drop would have been only 3.3 percent. That category in the past has also seemed most responsible for some of the rises.

Given this, the number of categories in the index "basket" may need to rise, to provide a better overall picture of the search ad price market as a whole. Alternatively, it might make sense to have one index for categories that often see significant changes versus those that fluctuate less often. At the very least, it underscores the fact that the "average" may bear no relation to what's happening within a specific industry. It's something Fathom says itself, in its latest release:

We should also stress that the pricing fluctuations measured by the KPI in May should be viewed only in the context of the eight categories reported and not as a proxy for the entire search industry.

All categories except automotive saw some degree of drop last month. After mortgages, the investing category has the biggest percent drop and change in amount paid. Other categories saw tiny changes. The chart below gives a per category breakdown:

Category

May 2005

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Mortgage

$4.52

-$1.97

-30%

Broadband

$2.02

-$0.07

-3%

Investing

$1.81

-$0.22

-11%

Automotive

$1.50

$0.10

7%

Consumer Services

$1.09

-$0.04

-3%

Wireless

$1.00

-$0.01

-1%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.87

-$0.05

-6%

Consumer Retail

$0.49

-$0.03

-6%

Average

$1.66

-$0.29

-15%

More information on the latest figures and past stats should be posted by Fathom later today, probably here. If not, review the Fathom press release page. For Search Engine Watch members, the members' version of this story has a graphical look at prices over time.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:20 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2005

Search Ad Prices Up 11% In April 2005

The average price for search ads rose sharply for the second month in a row, according to the latest Keyword Price Index from Fathom Online. The average price paid in April rose to $1.95, up 11 percent from $1.75 in March. It's the only the second month-to-month double-digit rise since the index began in September.

The mortgage category saw the most significant rise, jumping 20 percent from last month to $6.49. That places it well above the amounts paid in other categories. Broadband follows at $2.09. The only categories to show drops were automotive and travel/hospitality, slight 1 percent declines with each. The chart below gives a per category breakdown:

Category

April 2005

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Mortgage

$6.49

$1.10

20%

Broadband

$2.09

$0.24

13%

Investing

$2.03

$0.17

9%

Automotive

$1.40

-$0.02

-1%

Consumer Services

$1.13

$0.05

5%

Wireless

$1.01

$0.06

6%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.92

-$0.01

-1%

Consumer Retail

$0.52

$0.01

2%

Average

$1.95

$0.20

11%

More information on the latest figures and past stats can be found in this release from Fathom. For Search Engine Watch members, the members' version of this story has a graphical look at prices over time.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:38 PM | Permalink

April 7, 2005

Price of Search Ads Increases 9% in March

John points us to this Media Post article and chart about the latest Fathom Online Keyword Index. According to Fathom, paid search listings increased 9% last month to an average of $1.75.

The average cost of keywords--which had fallen during the first two months of the year, after rising steadily from September through the holidays--now exceeds last December's $1.70 by about 3 percent. Matt McMahon, Fathom Online's executive vice president-corporate development, attributed the upswing in keyword pricing to seasonal shifts in ad spending.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:42 PM | Permalink

March 2, 2005

Keyword Search Prices Drop Two Percent

A new Fathom report was released today and shows that keyword prices dropped two percent last month.

Despite the overall decrease, the mortgage-finance category again rose three percent from $4.93 to $5.10...The telecom-broadband sector prices also rose three percent from $1.67 to $1.72...Since January, the consumer retail and services categories dropped considerably by 12 percent and 19 percent respectively from January levels...Keyword prices in other verticals decreased by more modest amounts. Automotive keyword prices dropped four percent from $1.34 on average to $1.28; travel prices dropped by eight percent reflecting the post-holiday season...

More numbers and a chart are available here.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:03 AM | Permalink

February 3, 2005

Average Keyword Prices Drop For First Time Since September

The Keyword Price Index from Fathom Online for January showed a 3 percent drop from last month, the first decline since the index began in September. The average keyword price dropped from $1.70 in in December to $1.64 in January. The chart below gives a per category breakdown:

Category

Jan. 2005

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Mortgage

$4.93

$0.14

3%

Broadband

$1.67

$0.04

3%

Investing

$1.73

-$0.03

-2%

Automotive

$1.34

-$0.07

-5%

Consumer Services

$1.29

-$0.07

-6%

Consumer Retail

$0.52

-$0.06

-10%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.88

-$0.09

-10%

Wireless

$0.79

-$0.30

-28%

Average

$1.64

-$0.05

-3%

The mortgage and broadband categories were the only ones to rise. Mortgage is now the only category to consistently show month-to-month rises since the index began.

The wireless category saw a severe drop. After months of being around the $1.09 mark, it dropped to $0.79. Fathom speculates this might be to do a drop off in giving phones as gifts, now that the holiday shopping period has passed.

Below, a graphical look at the prices over time. Prices for the mortgage category are broken out from the others, so that you can better see trends:

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:19 AM | Permalink

January 6, 2005

Keyword Prices Rise Again, But Only Slightly

The Keyword Price Index from Fathom Online for December showed a 2 percent rise from last month, the smallest month-to-month change since the index began in September. The average keyword price rose from $1.66 in November to only $1.70 in December. The chart below gives a per category breakdown:

Category

Dec. 2004

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Travel/Hospitality

$0.97

$0.07

8%

Consumer Services

$1.36

$0.09

7%

Automotive

$1.41

$0.06

4%

Investing

$1.76

$0.06

4%

Broadband

$1.63

$0.04

3%

Mortgage

$4.79

$0.05

1%

Wireless

$1.09

$0.00

0%

Consumer Retail

$0.58

-$0.02

-3%

Average

$1.70

$0.04

2%

The only category to see a drop was consumer retail, a decrease of 3 percent over last month. Previously, this category had seen double-digit month-to-month increases.

Fathom attributes the decrease -- which seems odd in the middle of a busy consumer shopping month -- to the shorter retail cycle for online merchants:

"The online market buying season ends earlier because of the shipping window," said Chris Churchill, Fathom's CEO, in a release with the stats. "eTailors begin tapering off the keyword buying starting December 10th because they are facing fulfillment and shipping problems?a lot of business in too short a time. Similarly, online starts a month earlier (before Thanksgiving) because consumers are taking into account the shipping time. So it all makes sense and is actually a longer buying season for eTailors then for brick and mortar."

In other changes, the automotive and broadband categories saw their first month-to-month rises since the index began, while the mortgage and consumer services categories had their third consecutive month of declines.

FYI, I calculate a 2.6 percent rise from last month, which would round to 3 percent. Fathom cites 2 percent, so I'm going with that. The difference is likely due to rounding of the prices they report publicly. Working from rounded figures can produce such small discrepancies.

Past coverage of Fathom KPI releases can be found below:

Search Engine Watch members also have access to the Stats and Search Ads: Prices categories of Search Topics that recap stories on this topic over the years.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:58 AM | Permalink

December 6, 2004

Fathom KPI Finds Prices For Consumer-Targeted Keywords Rise Again

Fathom Online's Keyword Price Index for November showed a 7 percent rise from last month, with the average price per keyword jumping from $1.55 to $1.66. The chart below gives a per category breakdown, from figures Fathom Online provided to Search Engine Watch:

Category

Nov. 2004

Change From Last Month

Percent Change

Consumer Services

$1.27

$0.31

32%

Consumer Retail

$0.60

$0.12

25%

Mortgage

$4.74

$0.43

10%

Investing

$1.70

$0.10

6%

Travel/Hospitality

$0.90

$0.05

6%

Wireless

$1.09

$0.03

3%

Automotive

$1.35

-$0.04

-3%

Broadband

$1.59

-$0.19

-11%

Average

$1.66

$0.10

7%

Once again, keywords in the consumer services category showed the strongest rise, with consumer retail keywords also up. Mortgage and travel terms also had rises, though at far less a rate than the rise from September to October 2004.

The wireless and investing categories, which had seen a drop between September and October, now show a gain. Only the automotive and broadband categories have now shown two month's worth of decline, since the KPI began in September 2004.

MediaPost has some comments from Fathom about the reasons behind the increases here, As Online Retailers See Black, Search Marketers See A Tinge Of Red, in particular talking about some daily average increases following the traditional busy post-Thanksgiving shopping period.

New figures from DoubleClick also provide a look at the Thanksgiving shopping period and search marketing activity. See our earlier entry, DoubleClick Says Black Friday Was Good For Search Marketing.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:41 AM | Permalink

November 8, 2004

Keyword Prices Rise, But Only In Some Categories

Fathom Online's Keyword Price Index showed a 14 percent rise from September, with the average price per keyword jumping from $1.37 to $1.55. The chart below gives a per category breakdown.

Category Oct. 2004 Change From Last Month Percent Change Consumer Services $0.96 $0.42 78% Consumer Retail $0.48 $0.16 50% Mortgage $4.31 $1.14 36% Travel/Hospitality $0.85 $0.21 33% Wireless $1.06 -$0.03 -3% Broadband $1.78 -$0.11 -6% Investing $1.60 -$0.16 -9% Automotive $1.39 -$0.15 -10% Average $1.55 $0.19 14%

Keywords in the consumer services category showed the strongest rise, while a number of categories actually showed decreases.

In terms of actual cost (as opposed to percentage change), the mortgage category had the biggest rise, a $1.14 hike. Fathom attributes that to competition to gain new accounts when interest rates on 30 year mortgages dipped in October, in the US.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 12, 2004

Fathom Keyword Price Index Provides Bid Benchmark

Search marketing firm Fathom Online has assembled a Keyword Price Index to show average bid prices for various industries.

The index looks at the prices for the top five spots for the 500 most queried terms for an industry, as determined by Fathom. Prices include those on major and lesser-known search engines.

For September 2004, automotive had the highest average weighted price of $1.54 per click. Wireless telecommunications came lowest at $1.09. More details here: New Tracking Data Reveals Marked Disparities In Paid Search Costs, Yield.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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