Brand keyword advertising "ineffective", and provides “no short-term benefits”, study finds
An academic study has concluded that brand keyword ads in internet searches have “no short-term benefits”, and that “returns from all other keywords are a fraction of conventional estimates.”
The research was undertaken by ebay
The conclusion is the result of large scale field experiments undertaken at eBay, and finds that brand keyword ads are “a rather ineffective marketing channel.”
The report was highlighted via Twitter by Byron Sharp, Professor of Marketing Science & Director Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of South Australia.
"Google won't like this," he tweeted. He is the author of “How Brands Grow”.
“Results show that brand-keyword ads have no short-term benefits, and that returns from all other keywords are a fraction of conventional estimates,” the report abstract states.
“We find that new and infrequent users are positively influenced by ads but that existing loyal users whose purchasing behavior is not influenced by paid search account for most of the advertising expenses, resulting in average returns that are negative.”
The report concludes: “The results of our study show that for a well-known brand like eBay, the efficacy of SEM is limited at best.”
The report can be read in full here.