Facebook ad costs fall as traffic and lead performance improves: Report
Facebook ad performance improved in 2026, with traffic CTR rising 12.87% to 1.93% and CPC falling 14.29% to $0.60.
Topic: LocaliQ
Google Ads costs keep rising, but conversion rates improved in 2025
Google Ads is getting more expensive, but advertisers improving conversion efficiency are still finding ways to grow.
Why CPC keeps rising – and what to do
CPC is on the rise across most industries. Here's what's driving the trend and how you can protect your margins.
Social media beats SEO as SMBs’ top traffic source, survey says
Social now leads search, SMBs are frustrated by AI summaries, and most visibility still depends on the homepage.
Search Engine Land Awards 2025: Complete finalists list
We're excited to announce the nominations for this year's Search Engine Land Awards. Winners will be announced Oct. 27.
Facebook ad costs jump 21% in 2025, but still beat Google
Facebook’s 2025 ad benchmarks show cheaper traffic ads but pricier leads, still beating Google on cost.
Google Gemini is the most trusted LLM for PPC strategy
AI is becoming a go-to tool for PPC. But a test shows a 20% error rate across platforms. Advertisers need to vet their advice carefully.
Google Ads costs rise again, but conversions improve: Report
Search advertising costs climbed 13% year-over-year, but better conversion rates (+7%) are helping offset the pain for most businesses.
Facebook Ads 2024 data: Clicks and conversions up, costs down
Facebook's stable ad performance and improving metrics offer advertisers a cost-effective and reliable platform to reach engaged audience.
Search ad costs rise, conversion rates decline again in 2024
Search ad benchmark report finds advertisers are paying more for leads and clicks, while Google continues to report record profits.
Search Engine Land Awards 2023: Complete finalists list
We're excited to announce the nominations for this year's Search Engine Land Awards. Winners will be announced Oct. 23.
Content mapping: Who, what, where, when, why and how
Start content mapping and create amazing customer experiences that lead to results. Here's everything you need to know about content maps.
Search ad conversion rates down, cost per lead up in 2023
While CPCs increased, a drop in conversion rates resulted in higher CPLs in the 23 industries analyzed in this report.
New report shows Google cost per lead has increased for 91% of industries
The data was pulled from over 79K client campaigns running search ads from October 2021 through September 2022.
Yahoo Follows Google In Building Out Local Search Marketing Reseller Program
As Yahoo has turned Gemini into a more expansive search marketing platform, it has also expanded the ways the platform is being sold. The company is expanding and adding resellers to its Preferred Partner Program. Its latest partner is small business marketing platform ReachLocal. Existing Preferred Partners include Marin, Acquisio and Kenshoo, among others. For […]
YP Joins Google’s Premier SMB Partner Program
YP is the largest of the major U.S. yellow pages publishers (and local search providers), with roughly 4,000 sales and support reps and 575,000 (mostly small business) advertisers. The company has now joined the ranks of the Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program. Also on the list are fellow publishers Dex Media, Hearst and hibu, as well […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 2, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s Matt Cutts: We Can Improve Our Algorithms For Authorities On Topics In an interesting video released by Matt Cutts, Google’s head of webspam, Matt answers the question on how Google […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 6, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Google Introducing “In-Depth Articles” To Search Results Google is rolling out “in-depth” articles this morning. We previously wrote about the test when it appeared a couple of months ago. In-depth articles […]
Facebook Launches “Social Deals” To Challenge Groupon & LivingSocial
After several months of anticipation Facebook is launching its second deals program: Social Deals. The new effort more closely resembles Groupon-style daily deals, with several twists. The original “Facebook Deals” is now being called “check-in deals” to distinguish it from the new program. Check-in deals are free to users; they’re mobile centric and operate like […]
Managing Customer Relationships, After The Click
Never before has it been easier for local business to generate leads for their businesses. There are many, many resources available to help businesses get customers in the door and on the phone. Many advertising options—online and offline—are performance-priced including pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-call. From search engines, traditional yellow pages publishers, newspapers, local ad agencies […]
Would Apple Build A Search Engine To Prevent Google From Getting iPhone Data?
Last week financial analyst Gene Munster created something of a stir when he said that there was a “70 percent” chance that Apple would build or buy a search engine for the iPhone in the next five years. Here’s a longer excerpt from the research note: We believe Apple could utilize data unavailable to Google, […]
Does CityGrid From Citysearch “Answer” The Local SEO Problem?
At one time local startups could reliably count on Google organic traffic to help build their own traffic and brands. Indeed, this is how Yelp gained visibility in its early days. And larger publishers, such as yellow pages sites, have relied heavily on SEO, as well, to drive traffic to their advertisers. However, recently that’s […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 23, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Yahoo Paying Luggage Fees At Two Bay Area Airports Peace on earth, good will toward holiday travelers. That seems to be Yahoo’s modus operandi today: The company is paying the baggage […]
Do SMBs Still Need The Middleman To Advertise?
Having worked in the local search space for a while, I am often asked how is it that SMBs are so slow in adopting self-serve systems in their online advertising. And indeed, in the age of Internet advertising, when anyone can purchase keywords on search engines, is there really a need for a middleman anymore? […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 8, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Analytics To Speak Bing Soon The Google Analytics Blog announced that they are currently adding support for Bing in the search referral reports. I actually noticed Bing showing up in […]
Borrell Shines Light On “Local SEM” Churn
Google just completed its now annual local reseller symposium. A terrific event last year, I was unable to attend this year but heard from one attendee that there were many fewer resellers there than a year ago. Print yellow pages, newspapers, webhosting firms, stand-alone local sales channels (e.g., ReachLocal, Yodle) and a range of others […]
SEMPO Partners With Yellow Pages Publisher Yellowbook
SEMPO announced an educational partnership this morning with yellow pages publisher Yellow Book, a division of the UK based Yell. According to the press release put out, the SEMPO Institute “will be providing distance learning education for Yellowbook’s media consultant sales team.” I believe this is the first such relationship between SEMPO and an individual […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 20, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 16, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Names Marchex First ‘Google AdWords Authorized Reseller Technology Platform’
As we’ve seen several times recently, there’s a chasm between consumer usage of search and SEM by small business advertisers (SMBs). Google developed its authorized reseller program to address this issue in part and create a network of third party relationships that could help it gain more traditional small business (SMB) advertisers, which it had […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 9, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
SEM Firm ReachLocal Closes Massive Funding Round
ReachLocal, an SEM firm offering simplified Internet and local search services directly and indirectly to the small business market, has closed a massive $55 million round of funding. This adds to previous rounds raised by the company. Reach is building out sales offices in cities across the U.S. and a local sales force to sell […]
BT Formally Launches Small Business Search Marketing Product
Like many other directory publishers and telecom companies before it, the former British Telecom (now just BT) has formally introduced a fixed-fee simplified search marketing offering for small businesses in the UK. Called BT Web Clicks, the offering has been around for many months but was just announced yesterday. Five pricing tiers are available, which […]
SEM for SMBs: A Critical Layer For Local
Just like the category of local search itself, the phrase “local search” has many different aspects and dimensions. It is generally used to refer to a cluster of consumer behaviors or destination sites whose ultimate goal is to help people find businesses offline, in their local communities. But as the readers of this site know […]