Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

1-2026

Abstract

As search engines are leading revenue growth in online marketing, search marketing has become a popular area of academic research. Although search engine advertising has interested researchers for decades and much has been learned, one thing that puzzles scholars is why search engine optimization companies are tolerated rather than excluded from the market, even though they capture a significant share of the advertising market. In this paper, we shed light on this phenomenon and establish an analytical model based on organic search quality. Through analysis of the model, we were able to draw several intriguing conclusions. First, there is no strictly positive correlation between advertisers’ willingness to pay and the click price of paid search marketing. In other words, the click price may decrease as advertisers’ willingness to pay increases. Secondly, improving the effectiveness of a search engine has the potential to attract more searchers, but it may also result in a decline in the search engine’s profits. Finally, a search engine may achieve higher profits by allowing search engine optimization firms to remain in the market rather than driving them out. We discuss our contribution to search engine marketing and provide implications for search engines, search engine optimization firms, and advertisers.

Keywords

Paid Search Marketing, Search Engine, Search Engine Advertising, Search Engine Optimization

Discipline

Databases and Information Systems | E-Commerce | Marketing

Research Areas

Data Science and Engineering

Publication

Journal of the Association for Information Systems

Volume

27

Issue

1

First Page

297

Last Page

343

ISSN

1536-9323

Identifier

10.17705/1jais.00961

Publisher

Association for Information Systems

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00961

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