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Pay-per-click search engines

How they work

Pay-per-click search engines allow companies to bid on keywords that relate to their sites. Companies submit their site's descriptions and titles, along with a list of keywords to the engine. They also specify the amount of money that they're willing to spend on each keyword.

After a pay-per-click search engine processes the company's request, their results start showing up when someone searches for a keyword that the company paid for. Depending on how much money others paid, rankings for a particular keyword maybe very high or low.

For example, if you choose to pay $.20 for the keyword "puppy food," while others pay only $.19, your site would rank first. If, on the other hand, you pay $.02, you may rank low.

For most pay-per-click engines, companies pay only when a visitor clicks on their web site from the search results (clickthrough) . Most engines specify a minimum amount of money needed for a company to open an account.

Aren't the results irrelevant?

Many think that paid rankings will decrease the relevance of search results by allowing any site with money to rank high for any keyword. Pay-per-click engines understand that they will lose searchers, and eventually advertisers, with irrelevant results, and therefore, make relevance a priority. However, pay-per-click engines will provide results with commercial, not informational information. Relevance doesn't guarantee the quality of the site.

Many pay-per-click engines utilize editors to review incoming requests for bidding. These editors are responsible for making sure that the submitted keywords relate to the site's content.

Pay-per-click engines, however, are mostly commercial. Most non-for-profits don't have the resources for advertising. As a searcher, choose another search engine if you're looking for noncommercial information . Non-profit organizations should think twice before bidding at a pay-per-click search engine. Chances are their audience won't be using it.

Should I use pay-per-click engines?

This decision is individual for every company. You should check keywords and prices for your site before answering this question.

Pay-per-click engines may prove to be cheap advertising for your web site. The most popular pay-per-click engine, Overture.com , is one of the Top 10 search engines. Overture.com attracts many searchers and advertisers. Since search engine optimization may be a long, expensive and fruitless process for some sites, Overture.com presents a perfect opportunity for a high ranking on a Top 10 search engine. Traffic generated by pay-per-click engines is usually more targeted than from other engines (this is because webmasters can control keywords they are found under).

Note: Overture.com also distributes its top 3 results on Altavista, MSN, Yahoo, Lycos, Hotbot and other major search engines. If you're in a top 3 position at Overture, watch your campaign carefully. Because of so much exposure, these listings can get more clickthroughs than you expected.

Another highly regarded pay-per-click program is Google's AdWords Select . Google uses both customer's per click dollar amount and click-through rates to rank the ads. Google also offers many useful tools, such as an automatic discounter, which lowers your bid amount every time there's a gap.

Joining the pay-per-click landscape is the former directory LookSmart.com . LookSmart recently converted all of its directory customers into pay-per-click customers. Those who wish to submit to LookSmart, must pay a $49 registration fee and then purchase keywords.

More benefits of pay-per-click

Another benefit of pay-per-click engines is instant traffic. Achieving high rankings may take a long time, but with pay-per-click engines people find you immediately after you set up your account and your bidding request is approved.

If you're considering using a pay-per-click engine as part of your online advertising campaign, visit our next section and read more about specific engines and procedures.

An Overview

Pay-per-click engines

• Work by letting companies bid for keywords
• Can be relevant for commercial content
• Provide instant traffic