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What's in a Name? Measuring Prominence, and its Impact on Organic Traffic from Search Engines

Author

Listed:
  • Michael R. Baye

    (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)

  • Babur De los Santos

    (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)

  • Matthijs R. Wildenbeest

    (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)

Abstract

Organic product search results on Google and Bing do not systematically include information about seller characteristics (e.g., feedback ratings and prices). Consequently, it is often assumed that a retailer’s organic traffic is driven by the prominence of its position in the list of search results. We propose a novel measure of the prominence of a retailer’s name, and show that it is also an important predictor of the organic traffic retailers enjoy from product searches through Google and Bing. We also show that failure to account for the prominence of retailers’ names–as well as the endogeneity of retailers’ positions in the list of search results–significantly inflates the estimated impact of screen position on organic clicks.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael R. Baye & Babur De los Santos & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2012. "What's in a Name? Measuring Prominence, and its Impact on Organic Traffic from Search Engines," Working Papers 2012-09, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:iuk:wpaper:2012-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Armstrong, 2017. "Ordered Consumer Search," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(5), pages 989-1024.
    2. Mark Glick & Greg Richards & Margarita Sapozhnikov & Paul Seabright, 2014. "How Does Ranking Affect User Choice in Online Search?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 45(2), pages 99-119, September.
    3. Michael R. Baye & Babur De los Santos & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2015. "Searching for Physical and Digital Media: The Evolution of Platforms for Finding Books," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy, pages 137-165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Andre Boik & Shane Greenstein & Jeffrey Prince, 2016. "The Empirical Economics of Online Attention," NBER Working Papers 22427, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Novarese, Marco & Wilson, Chris M., 2013. "Being in the Right Place: A Natural Field Experiment on List Position and Consumer Choice," MPRA Paper 48074, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Boik, Andre & Greenstein, Shane & Prince, Jeffrey, 2019. "The persistence of broadband user behavior: Implications for universal service and competition policy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1-1.
    7. Michael R. Baye & Babur De los Santos & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2016. "Search Engine Optimization: What Drives Organic Traffic to Retail Sites?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 6-31, March.
    8. Raluca M. Ursu, 2018. "The Power of Rankings: Quantifying the Effect of Rankings on Online Consumer Search and Purchase Decisions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(4), pages 530-552, August.
    9. Anindya Ghose & Panagiotis G. Ipeirotis & Beibei Li, 2014. "Examining the Impact of Ranking on Consumer Behavior and Search Engine Revenue," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(7), pages 1632-1654, July.
    10. Harris, Mark N. & Novarese, Marco & Wilson, Chris M., 2022. "Being in the right place: A natural field experiment on the causes of position effects in individual choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 24-40.
    11. Sviták, Jan & Tichem, Jan & Haasbeek, Stefan, 2021. "Price effects of search advertising restrictions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    product search; position; internet; search engines; prominence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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