Our research examines the impact of competing ads on click performance of an ad in Sponsored Search. We use a unique dataset of 1267 advertiser keyword pairs with differing ad quality related to 360 keywords from a search engine to evaluate the click performance. We find that competing high...

We develop a model of vertical differentiation in the Internet search engine market. A key property of the model is that users who try out one engine may be dissatisfied with the results, and consult another engine in the same session. This residual demand allows lower quality engines to survive...

The Internet search engine market has seen a proliferation of entrants over the last few years. While Yahoo! was the early market leader, there has been entry by both lower quality engines and higher quality ones (such as Google). Prior work on quality differentiation requires that low quality...

We investigate consumers' choice behavior for Internet search engines. Within this broad agenda, we focus on two interrelated issues. First, we will document whether consumers develop loyalty to a particular search engine. If loyalty does indeed develop, we seek to understand what is the...

Traditional advertising, such as TV and print advertising, primarily builds awareness of a firm's product among consumers. On the other hand, sponsored search advertising can target consumers in a later stage of the purchase process because they self-identify themselves by searching for a...

We study the bidding strategies of vertically differentiated firms that bid for sponsored search advertisement positions for a keyword at a search engine. We explicitly model how consumers navigate and click on sponsored links based on their knowledge and beliefs about firm qualities. Our model...