Most companies don't use the appropriate metrics to evaluate either their search marketing employees or search marketing programs, according to the "iProspect Search Marketer Performance Study," commissioned by Isobar's iProspect and conducted by JupiterResearch, reports ClickZ. Only four out of 10 search marketers are evaluated based on business goals, such as ROI or total sales generated, and most are measured against immediate metrics such as site traffic volume or search engine ranking, according to the study.

iProspect president Rob Murray attributes the shortcoming to the inability of many marketers to tie conversions - offline conversions, in particular - to search marketing activities. The study found that on average less than two in 10 are evaluated on the offline results of their SEM efforts.

Search marketers also are likely not showing companies that search marketing drives offline behavior, writes DM News, and quotes Naga Krothapalli, director of algorithmic search at iProspect: "Despite research that confirms the effect search marketing has on offline transactions, organizations are not considering this factor…. If organizations do not recognize offline transactions generated by online searches, they are most likely under-investing in the search marketing channel."