Search advertising costs surge
I recently commented on the decline in traffic during the daylight savings time change in this article about domain traffic. And now the figures are out.
Prices being paid for PPC search listings rebounded 9% in March to an average of $1.75 a click, according to the most recent Fathom Online Keyword Price Index, released April 7th 2005.
The average cost of keywords generally rises steadily from September through the holidays, then falls during January and February every year. This new rise now exceeds last December’s $1.70 average bid by about 3 percent.
While some industries’ keywords went up in price more than others, none of the categories tracked by Fathom Online fell last month. Wireless keywords grew the most by 23 percent to 95 cents a click.
Consumer travel and hotels also increased by 15 percent to 93 cents a click, which is almost back to the December average of 97 cents–the highest for the category since Fathom began its index last September. Also showing large gains was finance and investing, which saw average keyword prices rise 13 percent to $1.86–the highest since September.
Prices for automobile-related keywords rose 11 percent to $1.42, and terms related to retail increased by 11 percent to 51 cents per click.
Mortgage-related keywords climbed to $5.39 a click, showing a modest 6 percent growth. But terms related to mortgages have increased consistently since last September, when their average price was $3.17.
The smallest gain came in consumer services, such as movie ticketing or hair-cutting. The average cost of keywords in that group rose by 4 percent, to $1.08–still short of the $1.36 they commanded last December.
This is a common trend each and every year, and the bids continue to rise as the traffic start to dry up due to daylight savings time (more daylight, less people spending time indoors). Pack your portfolio now, and expect for prices to continue to increase slowly from this point forward, until the huge jump you should see right before the holidays.
