I Search the News So You Don't Have To!

By Brooke Nichols

The search marketing industry is evolving every second. So, to stay on top of the latest news, I’ve compiled another list of compelling articles from this week's news. These should make for some good weekend reading!

Microsoft acquires Fast: What does it really mean?
Microsoft's acquisition of Fast Search & Transfer last week for $1.2 billion is a development that will significantly alter the search ecosystem in the years ahead. This piece gives a look into the acquisition and what it means to the industry.

Moving Beyond Campaign Efficiency to Campaign Effectiveness
This article drives home the ever-present phrase that one of our Resolution Media bloggers is quite fond of, “never stop testing”. With talks of an imminent recession, you don’t need to lose your search programs – just make them more efficient to maximize the opportunities.

Mobile Local Search: A Perfect Storm
The Kelsey Group's U.S. mobile forecast calls for mobile ad revenues (consisting of Ad-Sponsored Voice Services, Mobile Search and Browse and Multi-Modal Applications) to grow from $33.7 million to $1.42 billion by 2011, a 116 percent compound annual growth rate. This is the time to consider the possibilities and opportunities within this growing market.

Search Engines, Wii, Gif Cards Top Holiday Shopping
Hitwise released its 2007 holiday report, which as the title of the article plainly states it covers a broad range of the season’s top trends. This is a good one to file away for next year’s holiday search planning.

Will CPA Become the Default Pricing Model for Paid Search?
Our own Search Insider, Aaron Goldman gives some insight into the potential for CPA (cost-per-acquisition) to become the default format for buying/selling paid search ads. He covers the whole gamut of constituents who would be affected by the CPA model from marketers to consumers to the search engines.