New research by comScore shows the importance of internet search is rising, driving the effect and takeup of search targeted marketing.
The most startling statistics are those featuring sponsored links, or search targeted advertising, with 1.4 billion searches conducted through Google included a sponsored ad in March, marking a 50% increase on the same period in 2005.
Yahoo! also displayed a surge in search targeted marketing, with searches featuring paid adverts rising by 30% year on year to 942 million.
Commenting on the results, Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix, said: “The number of sponsored clicks represents a significant driver of search engine revenue, approximately 11.4 percent of Yahoo! and 11.8 percent of Google’s searches resulted in a click on a sponsored ad. These click-through levels are substantially higher than those seen with traditional banner ads.”