Adgooroo: More search marketers turn to LiveSearch

Consumers may still be logging on to Google in record numbers but search marketers may be changing their tune. According to AdGooRoo, nearly 20% more search marketers logged campaigns with Microsoft Windows LiveSearch in Q3 2008 than in Q2.

by Kristina Knight

This is the largest quarterly increase that AdGooRoo has seen since beginning to track the search marketplace in April 2007. Year over year, LiveSearch's advertiser base has grown by more than 30% according to AdGooRoo information.

"That they've been able to retain advertisers in the face of an uncertain economic environment is a sign of both excellent customer service as well as positive return on investment," was written on the AdGooRoo Blog.

Some of the increase is likely users coming back to LiveSearch's adCenter platform after a near-mass-exodus earlier this year. In April about 14% of advertisers dropped the search engine because of difficulties with the adCenter interface; now that those bugs have been worked out and advertiser services such as account management and billing have been improved, marketers are likely ready to try the search engine again.

Google, meanwhile, posted only a 3% increase for the quarter; Google's advertising coverage dropped by it's lowest levels in both August and September. This could be because of Google's algorithm change which went into effect in September

Yahoo posted a decrease in advertising users for the Quarter (2.5% decrease). This is likely because the search engine is still waiting for the United Stated government to approve or deny their advertising sharing deal with Google.

According to the latest data from Hitwise, Google still leads the way with consumers; the search giant received 71% of the US search share in August. Yahoo received 18% and Microsoft LiveSearch received 5%.