A study conducted by Nielsen//Netratings and IAB has found that high-ranking advertisements on SERPs can be an effective tool for branding products. IAB commissioned N//N to conduct the survey, called the Internet Search Brand Effectiveness Research.
As evident by the title, the study tested impact of text and search advertising for leading brands from the Health, Auto, Beverage, Electronics, Retail and Finance industries. Research from the test demonstrated that sponsored text advertising in search engine result pages is an effective tool for branding objectives.
IAB’s study discovered that when test subjects were asked to name a brand within one of the tested industries, they were 27% more likely to name a brand of a company that received the top spot, as opposed to the control group who did not see the SERP listing.
Contextual ads that appeared elsewhere (non-search engine placement) caused a 23 percent lift in brand awareness among respondents that saw the ads.
“Brand advertisers, who are not yet placing search advertising, may be missing out on a share of voice opportunity for keywords relevant to their categories,” said Marc Ryan, Senior Director, Analysis at Nielsen//NetRatings. “This research suggests that the optimal media mix includes search and display ads, a combination which allows advertisers to take advantage of the push/pull dynamics of the web while still delivering on core branding metrics.”
The study was done with over 10,500 participants recruited from Survey Sample International.
There were five types of sponsored text-based advertising tested to determine their impact on branding. Two of the ad types displayed search results, while the other three were displayed on article pages of a news site. The text ads were evaluated based on their position within the search results and placement on the article pages.
Read Nielsen//Netratings full PDF report here.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
