Chapter 1. Why Is Search Engine Advertising Important?

Web sites that lack search engine visibility are losing business. Second only to email, the most popular activity for U.S. Internet users is information search—67.3% of users perform searches, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. And an estimated 40% of Internet users are using the web to make product or service purchases. With the popularity of online searching on the climb, eMarketer calls search engine marketing “almost a no-brainer” for companies.^[1] Figure 1.1 shows the breakdown of the top five Internet activities among U.S. users.

^[1] The eMarketer charts and quotes as provided herein have been reprinted with permission.

Figure 1.1. Product/service information search and product/service purchases are among the top five most popular Internet activities.