Efficient Frontier, the worldwide leader in providing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) technology and services to leading advertisers and agencies worldwide, today released the Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008.

Google showed gains in all of the metrics analysed in the report. In Q1 2008,Google accounted for 77 per cent of total search spend, gaining 3.3 percentage points in share of search spending from Q1 2007. Return on investment (ROI) on Google improved by 24 per cent, click-through rates (CTRs) improved by 19 per cent, and cost per click (CPC) rates increased by 11 per cent in the period between Q1 2007 and Q1 2008, suggesting that large-scale advertisers are benefiting from Google's quality updates and can continue to afford its higher CPCs, particularly given the increase in ROI.

Advertisers on Yahoo! Search and MSN adCenter saw year-over-year ROI improvements of 33 and 29 percent respectively, but did not see increases in CTR or CPC. Yahoo! captured 18 per cent share of total search spending in Q1 2008, losing 3.2 percentage points since Q1 2007, while MSN maintained volume at 5 per cent of search spend.

Amid recessionary fears and the mortgage fallout, search advertisers in the travel, retail and automotive verticals increased their search budgets over 2007. Travel search spending was up 23 per cent in Q1 2008 versus Q1 2007, and automotive and retail increased spending by 10 and 6 per cent respectively.

"Google's efforts around improving the quality of search results appear to have increased the value of the search channel for the leading advertisers that we work with in all major verticals," said James Beriker, President and CEO of Efficient Frontier. "Our ability to drive increasing volume while improving ROI on each of the major search engines demonstrates the effectiveness of leveraging highly evolved algorithms, scalable bid management technology, and an experienced team of search marketers in these volatile and competitive marketplaces."

Efficient Frontier analysed nearly 18 billion impressions and more than 310 million clicks to determine how shifts in the search marketplaces impacted overall spending and campaign effectiveness. The Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008 was completed based on data from a fixed sample of Efficient Frontier's U.S. clients from Q1 2007 through Q1 2008, and includes data from large search engine advertisers across multiple verticals as well as findings on search engine spend, CTRs, CPC and ROI.

To download a copy of Efficient Frontier's Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008, please visit efrontier.com/resources/research/getResearchQ108.html

Efficient Frontier will soon release its first European Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008, which will cover trends in the United Kingdom and European search marketplaces.

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About Efficient Frontier

Efficient Frontier is the market and technology leader in providing search marketing solutions for global advertisers. The company provides the most powerful, most effective search engine marketing technology, together with comprehensive strategic and tactical services, to ensure that clients with large-scale, complex search marketing campaigns are able to achieve the highest possible return on investment. The largest advertisers in the most competitive markets use Efficient Frontier to achieve unprecedented levels of search marketing efficiencies, scalability, risk reduction and campaign growth. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, CA with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France and India and licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia. For more information, please visit www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.

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