Search Engine Marketing : Does the Knowledge Discovery Process Help Online Retailers?

Knowledge discovery process is a term used for finding out relevant information from a large database. Majority of research is done on how enterprises can use data mining tools for discovering knowledge. However this research paper focuses on user-generated knowledge discovery process through search engine applications for decision making. Users on Internet are resorting to search engines like Google and Yahoo and finding out the desired information. Search engine companies are using web analytics to develop Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies and develop sponsored page links on the first page of the search engine. SEM companies rank web pages of companies by using complex algorithms. This research paper focuses on an analysis of knowledge discovery process and customer preferences of page location of the search pages. The paper will help Indian online retailers to use SEM as an effective tool to successfully market themselves on the Internet world. Based on the analysis of data from online shoppers, this study recognizes the key factors in effectively marketing products online and questions the current attitude of online marketers. The authors establish that the positioning of advertisements in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) plays a key role in generating traffic for the site. This paper also compares Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) frameworks and finds that the latter method is more effective. This paper highlights behavioral targeting to be less effective than the current belief. This research has both theoretical and practical consequences in terms of appreciating the effectiveness of SEM as a self-search knowledge discovery process