By the Stats: Keyword Campaigns Continue to Grow

Online searchers clicked on more keywords in fourth quarter 2005 than in the comparable period in 2004. Additionally, keyword campaigns in general got larger, and the average cost per keyword increased 114 percent during the last three months of 2005, according to the recently released DoubleClick Q4 2005 Search Trend Report.

¥ 58 percent: the average increase in the number of actively managed keywords among marketers in Q4 2005 vs. Q4 2004. To be classified as active, keywords must be clicked on, so this statistic demonstrates that online searchers are indeed clicking more than they did in Q4 2004, notes DoubleClick.

¥ 107 percent: average increase in Q4 2005 in the total number of clicks for campaigns vs. Q4 2004, demonstrating that keyword campaigns in general are getting more robust.

¥ $54.62: average cost per keyword in December 2005, vs. $25.50 in September 2005.