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302 Part Two Information Technology Infrastructure

Mobile Search With the growth of mobile smartphones and tablet computers,
and with about 122 million Americans accessing the Internet via mobile
devices, the nature of e-commerce and search is changing. Mobile search now
makes up about 20 percent of all searches in 2012, and according to Google will
expand rapidly in the next few years. Both Google and Yahoo have developed
new search interfaces to make searching and shopping from smartphones more
convenient. Amazon, for instance, sold over $1 billion in goods in 2012 through
mobile searches of its store (Marin Software, 2012; Miller, 2012; eMarketer,
2011).
Search Engine Marketing Search engines have become major advertising
platforms and shopping tools by offering what is now called search engine
marketing. When users enter a search term at Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any of
the other sites serviced by these search engines, they receive two types of
listings: sponsored links, for which advertisers have paid to be listed (usually at
the top of the search results page), and unsponsored “organic” search results. In
addition, advertisers can purchase small text boxes on the side of search results
pages. The paid, sponsored advertisements are the fastest growing form of
Internet advertising and are powerful new marketing tools that precisely match
consumer interests with advertising messages at the right moment. Search
engine marketing monetizes the value of the search process. In 2012, search
engine marketing generated $19.5 billion in revenue, over half of all online
advertising ($37.3 billion). Google will account for over 40% of all online
advertising in 2012. About 97% of Google’s revenue of $39 billion in 2011 comes
from online advertising, and 95% of the ad revenue comes from search engine
marketing (Google,2012; eMarketer, 2012).
Because search engine marketing is so effective (it has the highest click-
through rate and the highest return on ad investment), companies seek to opti-
mize their Web sites for search engine recognition. The better optimized the
page is, the higher a ranking it will achieve in search engine result listings.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality
and volume of Web traffic to a Web site by employing a series of techniques
that help a Web site achieve a higher ranking with the major search engines
when certain keywords and phrases are put in the search field. One technique
is to make sure that the keywords used in the Web site description match the
keywords likely to be used as search terms by prospective customers. For
example, your Web site is more likely to be among the first ranked by search
engines if it uses the keyword “lighting” rather than “lamps” if most prospec-
tive customers are searching for “lighting.” It is also advantageous to link your
Web site to as many other Web sites as possible because search engines evalu-
ate such links to determine the popularity of a Web page and how it is linked
to other content on the Web. Search engines can be gamed by scammers who
create thousands of phony Web site pages and link them altogether, or link
them to a single retailer’s site in an attempt to fool Google’s search engine.
Firms can also pay so-called “link farms” to link to their site. Google changed its
search algorithm in 2012. Code named “Penguin,” the new algorithm examines
the quality of links more carefully. The assumption is that the more links there
are to a Web site, the more useful the Web site must be.
In general, search engines have been very helpful to small businesses that
cannot afford large marketing campaigns. Because shoppers are looking for
a specific product or service when they use search engines, they are what
marketers call “hot prospects”— people who are looking for information and
often intending to buy. Moreover, search engines charge only for click-throughs

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