Why Paid Search Advertising Still Rules

I have many clients, in fact all of my clients who have tried it, that have been very successful with paid search advertising, which, let’s face it, has become synonymous with Google Adwords. Still they can't help from wondering if a really cool rich media ad with a racing car that runs across the screen or a banner ad with a dancing leprechaun will somehow be more effective. I tell them, based on both click-through rates and conversion rates that this kind of online display advertising is unlikely to be more effective and now there’s research on user preferences that also supports this point of view.

A new study from Adobe indicates that the overwhelming majority of people prefer television ads and other forms of off-line advertising to ads in online media such as banners ads, social media ads and online apps. Over half (54%) said banner ads don't work, just 3% said they prefer to view ads in social media and literally 0% said they like ads in mobile apps. Whew!

Needless to say this should give businesses and their marketing providers pause. Just like banner ads when they were first introduced back in the day (and they have yet to live up to the hype) ads on social media and mobile apps have failed in delivering on the heavily-promoted promise.

But with online space occupying more and more of people's time and attention, what's the best way to reach that very large and responsive audience? I would say search marketing, particularly paid search -- yes, those stodgy, boring text ads on search results pages. They may not be as interesting as the dancing leprechaun or the race car that flies across your screen obscuring the the text you're trying to read, but they consistently perform better with both click-though rates and conversion rates.

Paid search combined with a strong local search presence on Google+ Local will get you seen by the critical audience of mobile users whose searches are expected to dominate activity within the next two years. Click here and here to learn how we can help you succeed with search marketing and if you really want a dancing leprechaun, we can give you one of those too.