Shortly after Google released its new tool to make searching more personalised, Yahoo! responded with its own search platform - Panama.The Panama update retired Yahoo!’s old bid-per-position model, replacing it with a relevancy-focused one similar to Google’s.

This update is expected to change the dynamics of the general Search Marketing landscape, particularly in terms of keyword click costs and click-through rates. Early results from advertisers in the US are very promising:
- Search impressions increased by an average of 5%
- Clickthrough rates were raised by an average of 10%
- Cost per click (CPC) prices decreased by an average of 6%

This could not have come at a better time. With an increasing number of advertisers implementing paid search advertising in Singapore, cost per click has been rising rapidly in the past couple of years, particularly in highly competitive industries like travel and IT. With an international rollout of Panama expected within the year, marketers here can look forward to more cost effective alternatives.

A new study by Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) shows that online product searches actually begin offline.

Consumers said that they search online after exposure to ads or products in magazines (47%) and newspapers (42%), on TV (43%) and while reading articles (44%). Although the research is confined to the US, Asian consumers are likely to behave similarly.

Targeting a multi-tasking audience in a fragmenting media environment requires understanding of engagement at different levels. Whereas online search plays a critical part in consumer path-to-purchase, it does not originate in a vacuum.

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