There are still some major omissions in the report though.

Page 6) OK… People remember what they just now looked at. How long that effect last? 2 seconds? Two days?

Page 7) It seems like they are asking people who are looking right at the search results page or immediately after looking at it and those people will experience a 8% increase in “Purchase Consideration” when two listings (Paid & Organic) are displayed in the top spots versus no listings at all.

[Shocking] But again… They don’t report how long the effect lasts.

Other test information that was omitted was the Click-Through Rates.

I believe they tested the CTR because the “Heat Maps” show an “X” where people clicked.

If there was an increase in CTR from “Only Top Organic” versus “Both Top Paid & Organic” why not report it?

That type of obvious omission makes me think that there was no increase.

Also… There is no real world data to support if the slight increase in “Purchase Consideration” experienced while or immediately after looking at the SERPS translates into actual car purchases later on or not.

“Note: All subjects (N=2,722) are 25+ and considering purchasing a new car within the next year (test brand: Honda).”

So what? A year from now… Are they going to tell us which group actually purchased more Honda cars than the other? I doubt it.

In my opinion… I see Honda car ads all over the place, all the time. I doubt that the extra brand impression seen in the SERPS will matter very much.

I think your “WTF” reaction may have been a result of missing this:
“Users performed a search for “fuel efficient car” and the search results appeared in five different variations: a Honda-branded listing in top ad position only, top organic position only, both the top organic and ad positions, side ad position only, and not at all (control group). ”

It was a rigged SERP to test positioning and the effect on response, that’s all. I don’t think they implied that Honda ranks #1 for anything, it was just a test.

Confused me for a second too! ;)

The name is also quite short, which means you can use more words in your ad’ copy.

How might Daimler-Benz perform? Or maybe Smart?

Maybe I get different search results but… I use the Firefox plugin that retrieves unpersonalized results. This is what I see.

Page Five of the report) Honda is not on the first page of Google for the phrase they tested… (fuel efficient cars). Of course you might see a small branding lift versus nothing at all.

How long after the subjects made the query were asked “When you think of fuel-efficient cars, which come to mind?” I’ll bet it was immediately after. I wonder how long the effect lasts? I don’t believe it would last very long.

Page Six) “A 2.2x Lift in Aided Brand Recall When Brand Is in Top Ad and Top Organic Listings”
- “Which of the following brands do you remember seeing in the search results page you just viewed?”

Again… Honda is not the #1 result. Not even on the first page organically for fuel efficient cars. (With or without quotes.)

Page 7) Again… More references to the phrase fuel efficient cars as if Honda ranked #1 for that term.

Page 8) Again… More references to the phrase fuel efficient cars as if Honda ranked #1 for that term.

Page 9) They talk about branded queries and refer to the phrase “Honda fuel efficient cars”… However… Honda doesn’t rank on the first page for that one either. (With or without quotes)

How can they justify making these claims?