NOTE (Jun 2008):  This PPC Review List is based on data that is about two years old.  Some performance characteristics may have changed but it is still useful to note how ROI is related to PPC performance.  I still recommend tools to measure campaign performance.  Google Analytics now offers great tools for that work.

This Pay Per Click Reviews List is the compilation of real customer data from pay per click advertising on several ppc networks. There are many methodologies that could be chosen for pay per click reviews. The most important metric is Return on Investment (ROI). It is very important that you read some of the information regarding each pay per click search engine as some pay per click networks provide great ROI across the board while others only yield results for very targeted niches in less competitive categories. It must be kept in mind, therefore, that what works for some may not work for all niches. The pay per click reviews list is a broad stroke of the ppc networks as some ad and keyword combinations may yield dramatically better ROI results on the same pay per click search engine.

Pay Per Click Reviews List

When it comes to a PPC network the choice is not to choose only one but to choose all that provide positive ROI. Start with low investment, high ROI networks and build. If you are profiting from keyword ads then the more ad networks, the better.

7Search – Great ROI for both competitive and niche keyword categories. Highly recommended.

Enhance Interactive – Extremely poor ROI for competitive keywords and below average ROI for niche keywords. Not recommended except for experimentation with highly targeted keywords and measurement of ROI.

Miva – Good ROI for both competitive and niche keywords. Recommended.

Google – Acceptable ROI for highly competitive keywords and great ROI for niche keywords. The ROI results for the competitive keywords overshadow in this case and make it seem as if the network provides virtually no ROI. Benefit of advertising on a 1st tier network like Google, even with a “break even” ROI is exposure. The more “eyes” you get on your site, the more likely you’ll have repeat visitors. Google is a network you may be willing to take a small loss on in some categories just to build traffic. You can certainly lose money on Google so measure ROI but it is highly recommended once you get more comfortable tracking ROI in some of the less expensive pay per click search engines.

Kanoodle – Poor ROI across the board. Not Recommended.

Looksmart – Poor ROI for competitive keywords but great ROI for niche keywords. The key in this case is cost per click. Recommended with the noted caveat.

Yahoo! Search Marketing – Formerly called Overture, it has great ROI for competitive and niche keywords. You must be cautious here. Some competitive keywords can have $10 CPC prices or higher to get in top 10. Be willing to still bid on competitive keywords and accept 2nd or 3rd page placement and ROI is still pretty good provided your ad text is compelling for the keyword and your site relates. Niche keywords can even have high costs as Yahoo! Search Marketing has the largest distribution but ROI results are even better. Yahoo! Search Marketing is another 1st tier network you want to be on for exposure and establishment of a viewer base. Be willing to break even on some keyword categories if it is toward that end. A highly recommended pay per click search engine.

Search123 – Low cost per click make the network appealing. Acceptable clickthrough and good ROI make this network Recommended.