The Search Monitor Releases Its SEM Snapshot For The Cable Vertical

August 28, 2014

Orlando, FL August 28, 2014 — The Search Monitor today released its monthly search engine marketing snapshot of the Cable Providers sub-sector of its Telecom vertical. The company focused its analysis on the complex search advertising relationship between two industry giants–Comcast and Charter Communications–and their many re-sellers.

Cable companies rely heavily on authorized re-sellers to provide service information as well as offers and promotions on behalf of their cable giant partners. This relationship can be seen by searching for [your cable provider’s name] + [your metro area] + “specials”.

For example, a search for ‘Colorado Comcast Specials’ reveals that the search engine results page (SERP) is a combination of a branded ad from Comcast in first position followed by ads from its re-sellers.

While it is a common practice in telecom for searchers to see company and re-seller ads together, it’s a complex and carefully orchestrated relationship. Both parties need to agree upon campaign details such as which keywords to bid on, what ranks are off-limits for re-sellers (if any), what the copy should say, and where the links should go.

Analysis Performed

The Search Monitor used its ad monitoring technology to perform the following analysis for the report.

• Vertical: Internet and Telecom > Cable Services
• Dates Analyzed: June 15-July 15, 2014
• Metric Analyzed: PPC Market Visibility
• Engines Analyzed: Google in the US

The Search Monitor’s PPC Market Visibility metric measures the likelihood of a user clicking on an individual company’s ad and factors in the ad’s reach, frequency, and even rank. It’s a helpful measure of who the top players are and how that ranking changes over time. Further, it often signals shifts in PPC strategy, such as a big spike before a major national promotion.

Report Findings:

The report first looked at how Charter Communications’ market visibility compared to that of its resellers. It saw that Charter scored almost 60% for keywords in the Cable Services sector in July. Its top five re-sellers, meanwhile, ranged from 5% to 35%. CharterCableDeals.com had the highest market visibility score among Charter’s re-sellers.

Next, the report looked at the same comparison for Comcast. Similar to what was seen with Charter, Comcast occupied the highest score, starting at around 65% in mid-June and approaching 70% by mid-July. Comcast’s top seven re-sellers, meanwhile, scored lower for The Search Monitor’s PPC Market Visibility, ranging between the low single digits and 20%.

To see more detail from this report, or to learn about SEM trends among cable providers and their re-sellers, please visit The Search Monitor.

This press release was originally published on PRWeb.