Why are search dynamics so strong when compared to traditional media?
Search demand stays strong because it’s demand expressed by the user. If a marketer spends money on a TV ad, they have no idea if anyone is listening, or, if they are, do they care? It’s a gamble based on a rather cloudy mix of rating points, consumer confidence indexes, market research and a number of other fuzzy variables. Compared to that, search volumes are hard and crystal clear numbers: real people expressing intent by searching for things. Short of a customer giving you their credit card and telling you to charge away, there are few more concrete signals of consumer intent. The path from a search click to a customer conversion can still be tricky, but it’s an arrow straight and short path compared to the one that starts from watching a TV ad or reading a magazine. --Gord Hotchkiss
