eBook Chapter 1: How do display ads affect consumer activity in the big search engines, and how will search engine marketing affect display?

You know the household names of the search engine giants, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, and savvy marketers are likely aware of the importance of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing as a part of the marketing mix.

However, you may not be aware of the relationship between search and display advertising, so you might not realize the benefits of using them alongside each other. The “2007 Dealer eBusiness Performance Study” conducted by The Cobalt Group identified three main phases that car buyers go through when shopping for a vehicle. The pre-selection phase is the launch pad where prospects begin by using all available resources and filtering information. Today’s consumer uses search engines, in combination with online and traditional resources, to narrow down their model choices and find dealerships. In fact, 83% of car shoppers begin with web-based sources to research cars, while 79% use web searching for more information on dealerships.
As a result of search trends and exposure to online marketing, certain behaviors develop among Internet users that have an impact on the correlation of search marketing and display ads. Studies have shown that almost a third of all users will click on a display ad after conducting a search, demonstrating that search has an impact on display advertising.