Search advertising budgets for the holiday season to date (defined as November 1-28) were significantly higher than in the comparable days last year, as retail advertisers increased their overall investment by 29% during the 4 weeks leading up to Cyber Monday, according to [download page] a December 2011 report from Kenshoo. Data from the “2011 Online Holiday Shopping Report: Early Edition” indicates that the average cost per click (CPC) for the four-week period was up 9%.
Despite the overall increase in competition on individual keyword bid auctions, return on ad spend remained steady year-over-year at $5.22 for the period, meaning that for every dollar retailers spent on paid search, they made more than $5 in sales revenue. (more…)