Google’s Revenue per Search Overtakes Microsoft’s

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are certainly search leaders in search query volume, but the question of how they fare in terms of media spend in relation to their share of search volume is the subject of a study by RBC Capital Markets and SearchIgnite, writes MarketingCharts.

In the second quarter, revenue per search (RPS) changed dramatically, with Google beating out Microsoft for the first time in a year and Yahoo struggling to maintain its gains from Panama’s early 2007 launch, SearchIgnite said.

Overview of findings from the report:

• Search engine media spend share has stabilized in 2007, with major players Google, Yahoo and Microsoft not able to make significant gains:

• Google continues to attract a much larger share of media spend than its share of searches:
  • In June 2007, Google received 76 percent of media spend though it accounted for 60 percent of searches
  • Though Yahoo received just 18.3 percent of media spend, it accounted for 34 percent of searches in June.
• Google’s revenue per search continues to increase due to continual tweaking of quality score algorithms and minimum bid requirements:
  • In June, Microsoft’s RPS was nearly $21.
  • Yahoo edged over the $16 mark.
  • Google’s RPS surpassed $25.
• Large brand marketers continue to benefit from Yahoo’s Panama platform, although their gains have stabilized.

The report is available from SearchIgnite’s website.