Internet Marketing and Social Media Consultants

comScore is reporting a significant jump in the number of online auto insurance quotes that were obtained through customer utilization of search engines and the subsequent clickthrough to the insurance provider.

8.9 million search-referred quotes were provided in 2007, up 36% from 2006. Perhaps what is more significant is that the total number of quotes provided only increased 15%, so there is a noticeable trend in the direction of search engines becoming a prime portal for users looking for insurance quotes.

“In 2007, more than a quarter of all online auto insurance quotes were referred by a search engine,” said Kevin Levitt, vice president of comScore. “With cost-per-clicks rising, especially for the most competitive generic terms, search marketers need tactical competitive intelligence to optimize their search spending.”

Another interesting bit of information reveals consumers increasing reliance on search engines in their purchasing decisions. While in 2007, 14% of people said that after seeing an ad, they would find the company in question through a search engine, that number increased 8 points to 22%. This means that if a customer sees an ad for Geico, instead of going directly to their website or calling for a local representative, they are increasingly likely to plug “geico” into Google or Yahoo in order to find the site.

The results of this study not only affirm the increasing consumer reliance on search engines, but also the importance of companies maintaining their brand identity through search engine marketing techniques. The last thing Geico wants when somebody puts them into Google is for an ad from Progressive to beat it to the top. A search engine optimization campaign to maintain product identity then becomes even more important as users eschew going directly to the site and head straight for the search engine.

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