The 2010 PPC Management and Optimization report profiles 14 PPC management and optimization vendors that have traditionally been categorized as "bid management" vendors. The report also includes the results of in-depth interviews with the vendors and 27 of their agency and enterprise customers.
The results? Only two of 14 vendors profiled in the report consider "bid management" an accurate characterization of their product offerings. The other 12 say bid management is only part of what they do because their products now provide considerably broader functionality. Although the breadth and depth of features varies from vendor to vendor, there are now three fundamental feature sets that include bid management, campaign management, and reporting.
"Historically, bid management has been focused on optimizing position and keyword costs but it has become clear that other factors affect overall ROI and competitiveness," said Lisa Morgan, the report's principal analyst. "Although position and keyword costs remain important factors, search marketers also want to drive process and integrated marketing efficiencies."