Small Biz SEM Ain’t Happening According to Microsoft

According to my buds at Silicon Alley Insider MS just released some survey that shows that most small businesses with websites don’t buy search ads.

Some highlights from their analysis:

• 59% of small businesses with Web sites don’t currently use any paid search marketing
• Of those, 90% have never even attempted it.
• 70% of small business owners say they would rather do their own taxes than start a search marketing campaign
• 86% small business owners felt that they could be missing opportunities to grow their business.
• 75% believed prospective customers could be searching online for the type of service their business offers.
• 89 % feared keywords may become too expensive.
• 81% questioned if paid search marketing is the best use of their marketing budgets.
• 25% of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex.
• 21% thought it would be too time consuming.
• 25% felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign.

Read the whole thing here.

Some other blogs posting about the survey:

Search Engine Watch
Marketing Charts
SiteProNews

Of course it might be helpful if Microsoft actually released the survey (or at least a press release about it) so we could see for ourselves.  I guess we third tier bloggers are destined to forever be disintermediated.