Only two days until we stuff ourselves with turkey and all the trimmings. To hold you over, let me offer you some tasty search engine marketing stats to snack on from Performics’ Search Trend Report DoubleClick Q3 2005. Ain’t that a mouthful?

The index is a subset of the more than 150 search campaigns currently under management with Performics and includes a mix of e-commerce and lead-based campaigns. Performics does not release the names of the advertisers included in its Performics 50.

Here are the key findings. Eat up!

*Cost-per-keyword (CPK) rose gradually in the third quarter, from approximately $28 in July to approximately $32 in September.

*CPK vs. CPC: While CPK within the Performics 50 showed a gradual rise from July through September, click prices rose more sharply.

*There exists a separate class of first-ranked keywords that hold the top spot almost exclusively for certain paid search terms. Dubbed pure first place (PFP) keywords, these terms behave differently than other top-ranked terms, and earning this distinction has become increasingly difficult in 2005.

*Lower ranking keywords convert increasingly well: The percentage of total conversions originating from keywords in a second place or lower ranking rose by nearly four percent from July through September, but keywords that maintain top position the majority of the time still drove 70 percent of conversions in September.

*The role of lower ranked keywords: Lower ranked keywords (fifth place or lower) drove far more impressions than conversions, suggesting an increased use of lower ranked keywords for branding or other non direct purposes.

Check out the complete study.

Now get out your pants with the elastic waist and let me know about your SEM campaign. lisap@revenuetoday.com.