Nowadays it is commonplace to treat all the engines, portals and directories as if they offered better or worse versions of the same product to the same market. However, this is a misconception, and there are great differences between the different engines and their users. Granted, they all offer the facility to search the internet, but then all newspapers offer the news; and there is a world of difference between the readers of the Financial Times and those of The Sun.



The searcher and his search engine

Search engines are among the most popular sites on the internet. On any given day, 56% of those online use an engine. People generally trust these search engines. Engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN also have strong brand loyalty. Most searchers use no more than two different engines to search.

Although the demographics of those using paid search and those using natural search are very different, only 40% of searchers were aware of the difference between paid and natural results.

What are the major differentiating factors between the engines?

The three largest search engines are Google, Yahoo and MSN. Together they make up 85-90% of all searches, and these different engines all have different users. These users can be divided by gender, by age, by income and by frequency of internet use. This is important information for your campaigns! I shall look at each of these factors in turn.

Gender breakdown by search engine

For the big three here, there are significant differences. A study carried out recently by Hitwise showed that 55% of Google users are male, whereas 58% of MSN users were female. Ask Jeeves and AOL were also more favoured by women than by men. Yahoo searches were split roughly evenly between men and women, with slightly more male users. The percentages may seem small, but when you're talking about the entire internet population, the numbers soon add up.

Here we see a greater difference, and it indicates that women are rather more likely to click on the paid ads than on the organic, or natural, ads. In the survey, we see that just over a third of men click on the paid search, whereas women are 25% more likely to do so. This is partly explained by female reluctance to read more than one page of results.

If a significant part of your clientele is female then you should strongly consider using paid ads to sell your product or service.

Age breakdown by search engine

Here again we see significant differences. Yahoo and Google are the most popular sites with those under the age of 34, whereas those over the age of 55 tend to prefer MSN.

Buying rate by search engine

The latest survey on buying rate indicated that in June 2005, visitors to Google sites were 42% more likely to buy online than the average Internet user, versus Yahoo visitors who were 31% more likely to purchase; MSN users who were 48% more likely to purchase; AOL users, 3%; and Ask Jeeves users, 17%.

However, studies also indicate that these engines are used in different ways. Users of portal search engines such as Yahoo, MSN and AOL tended to put in simpler search queries, of just one or two words. Google users often put in more complex queries. The more general searches are typically carried out at the stage where the user is gathering information, whereas the more precisely targeted searches indicate that the user is closer to making a purchase.

So what does this all mean for your PPC strategy?

Most companies should be running campaigns on all of the major sites to determine which search engine is generating the most cost effective and best converting visitors. Ultimately, the information generated from your website is the best market research.

Second, consider your creatives. By understanding the common characteristics of your customers and writing PPC ads best targeted at the search engine's usage demographics, you are more likely to connect with your audience and improve your website conversion. Also make special note that women are more likely to click on paid ads, and are more likely to buy as well.