lexipixel - 6:57 pm on Aug 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Somewhere along the line SEM researchers seem to have forgotten that not every search is a sales lead.

People search for: song lyrics, recipes, medical advice, news of the day, homework help, special interest articles, and an endless variety of other searches -- all with absolutely no intention of spending a dime.

Taking that fact, and the following into consideration, I'd say the 16% CTR could be true "for this study", but is based on a flawed test model.

The study is based on results from Dogpile [dogpile.com] which displays sponsored results intermixed with natural results -- with only a subtle indication of which are which.

My SEO and SEM experience seems to show that users have become savvy enough to click on natural results when searching for "information", and click on sponsored links, (or "contextual ads"), when they're actively shopping or ready to buy.

Had the same study been done on Google or Yahoo, I'd say the CTR would be much lower -- my guess would be 2% to 5% CTR on "sponsored results".