Rory Hansen

We all know the 1st-tier PPC networks are Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. You might also classify Amazon in there, too. Of these top-tier pay-per-click advertising networks, I’ve used Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft AdCenter for various search marketing campaigns in the past. (I’ve never tried Amazon’s service, so cannot comment to how slick it is, or how well the traffic converts.)

There are many reasons why these networks are considered 1st-tier, the number one reason being that their respective search engines have the largest market share. But it’s more than that. Each of the 1st-tier services also have great keyword research tools, have slick interfaces for creating ads, and have really nice reporting systems.

The only real drawback? They can be a little pricey.

But what about the 2nd-tier? Have you used any of them?

Here’s a list I’ve gathered so far:

• SuperPages.com
• GoClick.com
• Search123.com
• ABCSearch
• Findology
• SearchFeed.com
• MIVA
• Enhance Interactive
• 7Search
• FindIt-Quick.com
• BrainFox.com
• Kanoodle

(Oh, and I’m sure I missed a tonne more. :-)

Personally, I’ve used 7Search before and, although the PPC cost was rather cheap (I was bidding on keywords with click-thru costs of between $0.01 and $0.03 each), the number of clicks I also got were few and far between as well. It probably took 8 months to use up the $25 initial deposit I made.

I’m trying with another 2nd-tier PPC network now, Findology. Mostly, I’m doing this because I found a promo code for an extra $50 credit on an initial deposit of $25.

(Actually, it appears that these promo codes are all over the place, because people can create them on the fly and use them as advertising bait. Hmm…. Smart actually. Someone just made a few bucks off me when I signed up using their promo code!)

Questions:

• Has anyone out there in the blogosphere used Findology before?
• What’s your opinion of the service?
• Any tips?

Feel free to leave some comments detailing your experiences. I’d really like to know how the other 2nd-tier networks compare.