For the second month in a row, search engine keyword prices dropped, this time an average of 9 percent, to $1.50 in August from $1.65 in July, led by declines in the mortgage, telecom and consumer services categories, reports MediaPost, citing Fathom Online figures. Only the automotive category posted an increase, with the price of clicks rising 13 percent, from $1.49 to $1.68, the highest they have been since Fathom began keeping track in September 2004.

Mortage-related keywords fell to an average of $3.81 per click, down from April's high of $6.49. Average prices for telecom/broadband-related search terms dropped 13 percent, from $1.72 in July to $1.49, the lowest reported by Fathom. Telecom/wireless keywords declined 10 percent, to $1.03.

Consumer-services-related keyword prices fell 12 percent, from $1.12 to $0.99. Retail and investing keywords each fell 6 percent, and travel/hospitality keywords dropped 3 percent.

Fathom tracks keyword prices for 500 generic (non-brand) keywords across eight categories for the top five positions on selected search engines. Pricing fluctuations of the eight categories cannot be considered representative of the entire search industry, according to Fathom.