Something we come across on a daily basis is clients and potential advertisers being totally Google focussed. "I want to be on Google because more people use Google" is a typical response. Their right too - Google being the thing that it is the primary search engine of choice for most of the world. HOWEVER...

 what we tell them is that you dont need to worry what search engine you are on or what position you are in, you want the most amount of return for your money, Most of the time Google produces the best ROI for our clients but not always. For some clients we only run them or Yahoo or Yahoo and MSN as the CPCs are too competitive on Google. Most of the time for our clients we will run ppc campaigns on 2 or all of the main engines. Heres a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of each search engine:

Google Adwords

Huge traffic volume potential. Fast interface. Potentially very cheap traffic. More ability to experiment than the other 2. Helpful tools. Ability to make changes like lightning. Free use of Google Analytics. Good reporting. Flexible payment options.

  More often than not is more expensive than the other 2. Can be extremely complicated to manage properly. No access to support staff unless advertising budget is very large.

Yahoo Search Marketing

 Good traffic volumes. Usually cheap CPC's. Changes can be made quickly. Helpful staff whatever your budget. 

 Interface can be a pain to navigate around. Reports limited to 95 days. Reporting detail isnt flexible. Doesnt accept debit cards.

Microsoft adCenter (MSN)

 Support staff bend over backwards to help. Can be very good for B2B markets. Cheap CPCs.

 Low traffic volume. The interface is a nightmare to use. Reporting isnt good. Doesnt accept debit cards.

 -Andy

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