Efficient Frontier Releases Q1 Search Engine Performance Report

Data Shows Improvements on all Metrics for Google, 23% Increase in
Travel Spending
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Efficient Frontier, the worldwide leader in providing Search
Engine Marketing technology and services to leading advertisers and
agencies worldwide, today released the Search Engine Performance
Report: Q1 2008.

Google showed gains in all of the metrics analyzed in the report.
In Q1 2008,Google accounted for 77 percent of total search spend,
gaining 3.3 percentage points in share of search spending from Q1
2007. Return on investment (ROI) on Google improved by 24 percent,
click-through rates (CTRs) improved by 19 percent, and cost per click
(CPC) rates increased by 11 percent in the period between Q1 2007 and
Q1 2008, suggesting that large-scale advertisers are benefiting from
Google's quality updates and can continue to afford its higher CPCs,
particularly given the increase in ROI.

Advertisers on Yahoo! Search and MSN adCenter saw year-over-year
ROI improvements of 33 and 29 percent respectively, but did not see
increases in CTR or CPC. Yahoo! captured 18 percent share of total
search spending in Q1 2008, losing 3.2 percentage points since Q1
2007, while MSN maintained volume at 5 percent of search spend.

Amid recessionary fears and the mortgage fallout, search
advertisers in the travel, retail and automotive verticals increased
their search budgets over 2007. Travel search spending was up 23
percent in Q1 2008 versus Q1 2007, and automotive and retail increased
spending by 10 and 6 percent respectively.

"Google's efforts around improving the quality of search results
appear to have increased the value of the search channel for the
leading advertisers that we work with in all major verticals," said
James Beriker, President and CEO of Efficient Frontier. "Our ability
to drive increasing volume while improving ROI on each of the major
search engines demonstrates the effectiveness of leveraging highly
evolved algorithms, scalable bid management technology, and an
experienced team of search marketers in these volatile and competitive
marketplaces."

Efficient Frontier analyzed nearly 18 billion impressions and more
than 310 million clicks to determine how shifts in the search
marketplaces impacted overall spending and campaign effectiveness. The
Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008 was completed based on data
from a fixed sample of Efficient Frontier's U.S. clients from Q1 2007
through Q1 2008, and includes data from large search engine
advertisers across multiple verticals as well as findings on search
engine spend, CTRs, CPC and ROI.

Next week Efficient Frontier will release its first European
Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008, which will cover trends in
the United Kingdom and European search marketplaces.

To download a copy of Efficient Frontier's Search Engine
Performance Report: Q1 2008, please visit
http://www.efrontier.com/efficient-frontier/resources/research/getRes
earchQ108.html (Due to its length, this URL may need to be
copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the
extra space if one exists.)

About Efficient Frontier

Efficient Frontier is the market and technology leader in
providing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) solutions for leading global
advertisers and agencies. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier
pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory to SEM and today
combines its core algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive
strategic and tactical services to manage more than $500MM in global
search spend. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and
agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain
optimal return on investment and ongoing campaign growth and
efficiencies in highly competitive and volatile search marketplaces.
The company has 200 employees and is headquartered in Mountain View,
CA with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong
Kong and India, and licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia.
Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from
Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please
visit www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog
at http://blog.efrontier.com/.

Efficient Frontier
LeeAnn Prescott, 650-567-1008
ef-pr@efrontier.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008