Marketers prepare for 'blended search'; Strategies shift as search result pages begin displaying more than text links.

B to B, September, 2007 by Krol, Carol

Byline: CAROL KROL

Two major search engines have introduced so-called "blended search'' interfaces that expand the content of a search results page beyond text links to many kinds of content, such as maps, video, images, audio, news and blogs.

This one change, say observers, will drastically increase the complexity of developing search marketing strategies.

It may also mean an increase in spending.

"The cost to do fancier keyword ads will go up,'' said Shar Van Boskirk, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "If you want to do a keyword that has video in it, those will certainly be more expensive than just a text-based ad.''

More inventory, lower prices

But Van Boskirk said that search ad pricing could actually...

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