Lesson 14 of 30 · 10 min
Search: harvesting intent you already created
The most efficient channel in the plan, and the most easily misread.
Search is priced per click for a reason
You pay when someone acts, not when they see you. In ArcPlanner, US search is modelled as roughly a $120 effective CPM against a 3.5% click-through rate — about $3.40 a click. The number looks alarming as a CPM and reasonable as a CPC, which is exactly why the channel is misjudged.
Brand and non-brand are different businesses
Brand terms are cheap and convert well because the demand already exists — often created by your other channels. Non-brand terms cost more and convert worse, but they reach people who do not know you. Reporting them together hides both stories.
Search cannot grow the market alone
Search volume is a ceiling set by existing demand. When a plan is search-only, growth stops once the category's searchers are covered, and further budget just raises the price paid for the same clicks.
Match type is a budget decision
Broad matching buys volume and noise; exact matching buys precision and scarcity. The right mix depends on whether the constraint is finding enough qualified demand or wasting spend on unqualified queries.
Read the query, not just the keyword
What you bought and what people actually typed are different lists. Regular query review is the cheapest optimization in media: it finds waste to exclude and language your customers use that your creative should adopt.
Takeaway
Search converts demand efficiently but rarely creates it — separate brand from non-brand before judging either.
Check yourself
No score, no signup — pick an answer to see why it's right.
Question 1
Search shows the best CPA in the plan. What is the safest conclusion?
Question 2
Why report brand and non-brand search separately?