Chapter 6. Fixed Placement

Just as the name suggests, Fixed Placement advertising means that your text link is locked into a set position among the other listings on a search results page. The major search engines frequently reserve a portion of the top links for their own advertisers. These advertisers can often buy logos or longer descriptions to set them apart even further from other text links. Each search engine varies slightly in their offering, so I've included a questionnaire at the end of this section to assist you in your media planning efforts.

As an example of a Fixed Placement program, let's look at Microsoft's consumer information and entertainment site, MSN. Figure 6.1 shows the results for "home loans" on the MSN Search service. The Featured Sites are MSN advertisers, affiliates , partners , sponsors, or editors' recommendations. Up to three advertisers are accepted per keyword, although additional web site listings may appear under this heading. The MSN editorial team works with advertisers to determine which keywords and associated landing pages provide the best possible return on investment.

Figure 6.1. Microsoft's Featured Sites listings, which appear on the results page of their MSN Search service, are an example of a Fixed Placement program.