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Yahoo! is looking at launching 'Search Marketing Solutions' in Indian regional languages'There are plans', Yahoo! Search Marketing General Manager Sandeep Deshpande said adding that there are no definite dates for launch at this stage. "We are looking at a lot of Indian languages for search." "In the last one week, over 50 large advertising and marketing companies have tied up (for the offering)," he said.

Company executives said search marketing connects businesses to targeted customers seeking products and services, through an advertising model called sponsored search. "The Indian market is of strategic importance to Yahoo!" said Yahoo! Search Marketing Regional Managing Director Craig Wax.

Quoting comScore statistics, Deshpande said, "Of the 21 million Internet users in India, 85% visit the site at least once a month, and 64% use its search facility. However, though the industry is still in its infancy locally, we are optimistic about its scope and growth."

Yahoo's Search Marketing involves the purchase of key words relevant to an organisation's business, which may run into thousands, depending on its size and needs. With the Sponsored Search service, search result listings are placed on web sites, newsletters, blogs and other relevant online publications. Content Match involves placement of listings corresponding to content accessed by the user.

Yahoo will charge customers for every listing that is actually clicked on. Rates can vary from 50 paise per click to Rs.4 for more popular words. Also, another organisation can bid to pay a higher amount to see itself at the top of the result listing, ensuring an ongoing auction process.

It will also offer editorial assistance to advertisers, helping them select keywords appropriate to their business, and in developing titles and descriptions.

Search Engine Marketing in India

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have released a study in association with search marketing firm Pinstorm. The study is called the State of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) In India. It aims to shed light on the evolution of search marketing in the country. 40,000 marketers in India use this platform.

The study notes that you can never have too many keywords. Search engines including Google recently announced that almost half of their search enquiries have never been asked before. One needs to keep adding to the keyword list and also think of things that have not occurred to the competition. Travel sites routinely buy and deploy over three million keywords each on search marketing campaigns. Longer phrases convert better.

The study notes that buying sponsored links on a page can be effective. Many users do not distinguish between the natural organic results on the left hand side of a page and the sponsored links on the right hand side. Pinstorm studies show that between five to 40 per cent of users click on sponsored links instead of organic results.

Hence finding new search terms is important. This is what Pinstorm calls Undiscovered Gems. One way is to pay for misspelt words. Often people type in a hurry and the word is spelt wrongly though the intent is the same. Savings of as much as 90 per cent are possible using this route. Pinstrom has developed customised tools to generate these search terms and each have in house keyword databases in excess of 10 million keywords.

Advertisers and search specialist firms realise that the long tail is important in their search efforts and routinely manage portfolios in excess of 100,000 keywords for each client. Global marketers who operate in multiple languages and across countries have a presence of several million keywords. Some search specialist firms have even moved to a pay for performance model.