Just in case you were wondering which search engines had users with money in the bank (and I know you were), comScore Networks, Inc. reports that in the month of June, MSN searchers were 48% more likely to buy online than the average Internet user. Googlites were 42% more likely.
Which Engines Provide Consistent Buyers?
Editor’s Note: The latest research suggests that MSN and Google have searchers with more money and that are more likely than the average Internet user to buy online. In addition, more specific and complicated search terms seem to have a higher conversion rate, even if the vast majority of purchases are latent-occurring weeks or months later. Will this information influence your search marketing strategy? Discuss at WebProWorld.
The increased likelihood of AOL users to make an online purchase was nearly nonexistent, reporting a 3 percent better chance than the average user. Yahoo users were 31% more likely and AskJeeves users were 17% more likely.
“That’s important to the value of the consumer and the fact they have money in their pockets, which is noteworthy,” says James Lamberti, vice president of search solutions, at comScore Networks Inc.
Another area interest is how those buyers are spread out demographically. According comScore, men were most likely to search using Google. Google’s audience in June was found to be 51.5% male. Yahoo! was 49.7% male, MSN 49%, AOL 48.1%, and AskJeeves was only 46.3% male.
“The percentage differences aren’t that great, but when you talk about 48.5% of Google users being female vs. 52% at AOL, that’s a pretty big difference when you are talking about the entire Internet population,” says Lamberti.
Googlites seemed to launch more sophisticated searches as well, more often typing in complex search queries. The simpler, more broad search terms occurred more often with AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!.
Lamberti adds that search term specificity is a key indicator of the likelihood of making an online purchase.
However, likelihood to buy doesn’t mean that customers buy right away. A separate study showed that in the consumer electronics category (cameras, TVs, etc.), 85% of purchases were made off line an average of 5 to 12 weeks after the initial search. Only 15% made a purchase during the first search session.
Overall, in the same category, 25% of searches converted to a purchase, but 92% of these purchases occurred off line.
“These findings reinforce the importance of considering the latent impact of search engine usage when evaluating search engine marketing investments,” said Lamberti.
“Search cannot be thought of as solely a direct response marketing tool, especially in highly considered product categories where search activity can precede a purchase by as much as 60 to 90 days.”
As for search terms, 70% of all searches began with generic search terms (camera, mobile phone), while branded search terms (Sony, Lexmark) accounted for only 20%. The remaining 10% of search terms were product specific (HP notebook nx9010). Sixty-one percent of purchase conversions were begun with generic search terms.
“It’s critical that retailers consider generic search terms as an important part of their keyword strategy,” said Lamberti.
“Marketers focused solely on specific product terms known to convert directly will fail to address the vast majority of consumers in the buy cycle.”
