Advertising.com: Conversion Rates for Paid Search Listings More than Double as the Holidays Approach

Although the report is intentionally vague so as to protect its participants' identities, Advertising.com released what appears to be good news. Conversion rates for paid search listings were compiled for three "major retail advertisers" during the 10 weeks leading up to December 9, and the rates climbed by 143, 368, and 107 percent for the different advertisers - an average of 165 percent.

Nearly one-third of the 27,000 online sales that resulted occurred in December, and only about a week of December was involved in the study, so that does provide some evidence as to the seasonal nature of the listings' performance. The study, in its ambiguity, leaves room for a few questions. For instance, were more listings purchased in December, thus explaining the surge in sales this month?

One intriguing possibility is that pre-December shopping is more of a looking exercise, where clicks inside December are much more likely to result in a purchase. If true, this would require some interesting research to determine if the pre-December advertising was an important component in the purchases.