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SEARCH MARKETING: Will anyone ever catch Google up?

Article Excerpt
One of the biggest problems facing search engines is Google's sheer dominance of the sector. How have the latest moves from Yahoo! and Microsoft affected this?

Google's domination of the UK paid-search market has gone unbroken since AdWords burst onto the scene in 2000. Advertisers would like nothing better than to see some healthy competition for their search budgets. But six months since Yahoo! introduced Panama, and over a year since Microsoft launched AdCenter in the UK, Google's grip is tighter than ever.

Search advertisers say that while Panama has provided a massive improvement in terms of usability when compared to Yahoo!'s previous incarnation, Google is still the major player. The idea that the fight is about who takes second place is all but tacitly acknowledged by Yahoo!.

"The US is the most mature post-Panama market," says Richard Firminger, Yahoo! Search Marketing regional sales director for Northern Europe. "There the Panama system is increasing its market share, although there's no quick win in consumer share of search. The increase in share in the US has largely been at the expense of Microsoft."

The introduction of Panama to the UK brought new technical innovation and a better level of targeting. Features such as Fast Review, which allows ad review times to be brought down to a matter of minutes rather than days, and a more intuitive interface have given advertisers a better level of control.

Ben Flux, director...

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