Search Advertising Runs into the Recession
On Thursday, the public will find out how online search advertising – the biggest chunk of the Internet ad market – weathered the rocky fourth quarter when Google reports its results for the period.
The signals from one study, set to be released Tuesday, aren’t pretty.
U.S. search advertising spending fell 8% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the same period in 2007, according to a new study from search advertising firm Efficient Frontier, which had been tracking mostly flat growth for 2008. The study - which covers an undisclosed portion the $750 million in annual spending the company manages globally - marks the first quarter of negative annual growth in the several years Efficient Frontier has been gathering such data, says James Beriker, president and CEO of the firm.
It’s difficult to predict exactly what the study might mean for earnings reports from Google and other tech giants that sell search advertising, like Yahoo and Microsoft. Google held its 76% market share from the third quarter, while Yahoo increased its market share during the quarter half a percentage point to 20%, Efficient Frontier found. Microsoft Live Search’s share dropped from 4.9 percent to 4.2 percent.
