Search must "evolve" to help advertisers
22/09/2008
Search engines need to evolve if they are to continue to help marketers through the economic downturn, says a marketing expert.
Search engines need to evolve if they are to continue to help marketers through the economic downturn, says a marketing expert.
Search engines need to make some "dramatic" changes to their results pages if they are to continue to offer value to advertisers, according a marketing analyst.
Scott Grizzle, chief marketing officer for NeXplore Corporation, said that search engines needed to move away from the traditional text-heavy format and embrace new ideas.
"Search advertising is a proven, recession-proof medium for executing measurable, performance-based ad campaigns, but plain-text search results do little-to-nothing in terms of brand-building," he said.
Grizzle advocated the use of graphics and website thumbnails as a way of refreshing search engines' approach to advertising.
His comments come after a survey by the Association of National Advertisers found that more than 50 per cent of advertisers expected their budgets to be cut within the next six months.
It also revealed that around 90 per cent of marketers were being told to cut costs on their current advertising campaigns.
Around £2.75 billion will be spent on search marketing in the UK in 2008, with paid search costs accounting for £2.42 billion worth of advertisers' money, according to research by E-consultancy.
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