The new math of search valuation
There’s been a bit of semantic confusion about the validated VortexDNA results.
What we have proven, and a third party has independently verified, is that a user is 14% more likely to click on a link with a high VortexDNA relevance score than on a link with a low one.
We made the mistake in our original press release of translating that directly into a 14% increase in clicks. That 14%, though, is relative to the clicks the search engine was already generating. In Google’s case, the math works out to a 3% increase in clickthroughs.
We’re sorry for any confusion caused by our original release. You can read the updated release here or just email us if you’re interested in learning more: kaila@vortexdna.com.
In the meantime, there’s been lots of conversation in the blogosphere about how to value the search market. Don Dodge values each percentage point of search market share at over $100 million in revenues and over $1 billion in market cap. Emre Sokullu builds further on Don’s math to come to the conclusion that Google makes $1 per month for every Internet user in the world.
Our release references Jonathan Thaw from Bloomberg, who indicates that a 10% increase in clickthroughs will be responsible for an additional 5% revenue growth for Yahoo. Using Thaw’s rationale, we extrapolated that a 14% increase in relevance would result in a 3% increase in clickthroughs for Google, or an additional $300 million in revenue.
What’s your perspective on the value of relevance?
