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The battle over pay-per-click advertising dollars is about to heat up. But can MSN and Yahoo beat Google at its own game? BY CHRIS DANIELS
For the last three years, Cossette Communication-Marketing has executed virtually all of its paid search advertising campaigns in English Canada with Google. It didn't have much of a choice, explains Nick Barbuto, director of interactive solutions, Cosserte Media in Toronto. Google was the only paid search player that allowed advertisers to target individual Canadians.
But Google's monopoly is about to end. The launch of new paid search platforms from both Yahoo and MSN this year will include versions tailored to Canadian clients. Yahoo unveiled its system, dubbed Panama, to English Canada at the end of January, and will debut the French Canadian equivalent this spring. (Yahoo's previous English-language offering Overture-which was also the engine used by MSN-was tailored to the U.S. market, although a platform aimed at French Canada also existed.) Microsoft, meanwhile, will introduce its AdCenter offering to Canada within the next three to six months. The program is currently in beta testing.
Why the sudden affinity for Canada among search providers? The answer: money. While the paid search industry is still young-Google first began offering ads on a cost-perclick basis through its AdWords program five years ago-paid search is growing at an incredible rate. The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada reports that of the $562 million spent on online advertising in 2005, search commanded a 35% share, up from just 9% two years prior. Online advertising revenues for...