Cool idea - add text ads to your site search

"Are we done with the interview now? Got five minutes?" asked
Seth Brenzel at Atomz after we chatted for my new Case Study on
his marketing. "Let me show you something."

It was *so* cool.

Seth's testing adding his own relevant text-ads at the top of his
own site's search results. It's like taking the paid listings
you're putting on outside search engines such as Google, and
putting them on your own site's search function too.

Three data points make me suspect this will be a successful test:

#1. A certain segment of the Net population invariably use sites'
search functions to navigate. They don't use your nav bar or
your lovely merchandise graphics. They skip that stuff and go
straight for your search box. If the results don't please them,
they bail on your site.

#2. Most sites' search results alone aren't all that great. It's
like the marketer assumed everyone would use regular navigation
and search is an afterthought. The chances visitors will find
useful results can be slim.

#3. About 22% of all clicks generated from search results on
Google and Yahoo are from searches clicking on paid text
listings. That means almost one out of every four searchers is
happier to click on the sponsored link instead of the actual
search results.

Put those three facts together and you've got a strong case for
sticking little text-listings in your own site's search results.
I know we'll be testing it in a few weeks ourselves.

P.S. Link to Case Study on Seth's lead gen marketing:
http://library.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?ContentID=2276