Study Finds Half of Readers of Blogs Find Them Useful for Purchase Information

A JupiterResearch study sponsored by BuzzLogic, a social media analysis company and ad network, found that half of blog readers (defined as consumers who have read a blog in the past 12 months) find blogs useful for purchase information. Of those readers, 56 percent said that blogs with niche focus and topical expertise were “key sources.” The top categories that those readers founder were useful for purchase information include technology at 31 percent, media and entertainment at 15 percent, games/toys and/or sporting goods at 14 percent, travel at 12 percent, automotive at 11 percent, and health at 10 percent.

The study also found that same percentage of frequent blog readers (defined as consumers who read blogs more than once per month) said that they trusted blog advertising as paid search advertising. The percentage, 25, was six points higher that their trust of advertising on social networking sites. The study also found that 40 percent of blog readers and 50 percent of frequent blog readers had taken an action as the result of viewing an advertisement on an blog.

September U.S. Search Share Results

Nielsen Online yesterday released its rankings of U.S. search share for September. Overall search increased 9.4 percent year over year to 8.1 billion searches. Google had year over year growth of 20.8 percent and received 59.7 percent of searches. Yahoo! had a year over year increase of 1.5 percent and received 18.1 percent of searches. Microsoft had a year over year increase of 7.1 percent and received 11.8 percent of searches.

Click Fraud Level Remains Same As Year Ago Period

Click Forensics today reported that the overall industry average click fraud rate for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising was 16.0 percent in the third quarter of 2008, down from 16.2 percent in the third quarter of 2007. The rate was 16.2 percent in the second quarter of 2008. The rate of click fraud for PPC advertisements appearing on search engine content networks, including Google AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, was significantly higher than the overall, representing 27.1 percent of clicks during the third quarter of 2008. Botnets made up over 27.6 of the click fraud during the quarter. Click Forensics gathers the data from a network of more than 4,500 online advertisers and agencies.

Yahoo Sued By American Airlines Over Trademark Search Ads

American Airlines has sued Yahoo for trademark infringement according to a CNET News article. American Airlines claims that Yahoo is diverting business from them by allowing competitors to purchase ads next to search results for terms related to American Airlines trademarks. Yahoo’s current trademarks policy states that advertising on search terms that may be someone else’s trademark is only allowed “if the advertiser presents content on its Web site that (a) refers to the trademark or its owner or related product in a permissible nominative manner without creating a likelihood of consumer confusion (for example, sale of a product bearing the trademark, or commentary, criticism or other permissible information about the trademark owner or its product) or (b) uses the term in a generic or merely descriptive manner. In addition, the advertiser’s listing should disclose the nature of the relevant content.” American Airlines previously sued Google over the issue and reached a confidential settlement.

Yahoo Introduces ZIP Code Geo Targeting To Yahoo Search Marketing

Yahoo has introduced a number of new geo targeting options to Yahoo Search Marketing, it’s advertising service for the Yahoo search, according to a post on the Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog. Previously targeting United States based users was limited to targeting the whole United States along with Canada, individual states, or Nielson Media Research’s Designated Marketing Areas (DMAs). Yahoo has now introduced the option to target by ZIP code, city, or the United States and Canada individually. Yahoo provides a dynamic map and a search feature to assist in finding the correct ZIP codes for the ZIP code targeting option, which is currently a beta feature.

AdWords Separates Google and Search Partner Statistics

A post on the Inside AdWords blog announced that Google’s AdWords would start providing separate campaign performance statistics for advertising on Google and it’s search partners. Previously, statistics for search engines such as AOL, Ask.com, and others that display AdWords advertising with their search results were presented in performance reports combined with statistic from Google searches.

Google Releases Display Ad Builder for AdWords

A post on the Inside AdWords blog announced the release of tool for creating display ads for AdWords. The display ad builder combines user provided text, images, logo, and color selections into a flash based ad built on one of a selection of templates. The tool creates ads in variety of sizes to work with all ad placement types including video and games. Ad templates designed specifically for entertainment and media, financial services, local, retail, technology and travel are available. A number of interactive ad formats including a photo gallery, a product showcase, and a business locator are also available. The tool is currently only available for advertisers in the U.S. and Canada.

Ad Network Display Ad Rates Drop

According to a report from PubMatic display ad rates on ad networks drop in the third quarter of 2008, according to an Advertising Age article. The rate per thousand impressions averaged 27 cents down 21 percent from the second quarter. This follows a drop of 8 percent from the first to the second quarter. Small sites (under 1 million monthly page views) averaged 61 cents, medium sites (between 1 million and 100 million) averaged 31 cents and large sites (over 100 million) averaged 18 cents. According to a New York Times article, Forbes.com, ESPN.com, and CNN.com have stopped using ad networks this year in response to lower ad rates.

Yahoo Launching U.S. Ad Campaign for Yahoo Search

A post on the Yahoo! Search Blog announced that today Yahoo is launching an online and offline marketing campaign for Yahoo Search in the United States. The campaign is focused on getting people to try Yahoo Search. The posting included two sample ads, a radio ad touting virus and spyware warnings in search results and a display add touting Yahoo’s “smart suggestions” and “related concepts” features.