Conclusion

Introduction
The tools
Experience
Hiring
Conclusion

Belanger: There are two types of advertisers who may benefit from doing search in-house: the very small and the very large. For smaller marketers who may only be spending $5,000 to $10,000 a month between Yahoo and Google for their paid search media, the fees associated with a firm may prove prohibitive. Many have a fee floor for paid search services which could instantly double the budget for paid search, if in the previously mentioned range.

On the other hand, if you are a very large marketer who relies on search as a core piece of your revenue story, then management may feel better about taking it in-house. I am defining "large" here as marketers spending at least $25 million annually on paid search media. Once your search marketing gets this prominent, it might make sense to build a practice yourself. Even in these scenarios, it's always a best practice to keep a firm on retainer for strategy tips, insights and a trusted partner who can provide a needed antidote to corporate Kool-Aid.

Marckini: Fees for search engine marketing firms begin to seem a bargain relative to the costs and risks of building a capability in house. In-house solutions work for some, but do not underestimate the challenge, or the expense.

Ron Belanger is vice president, Yahoo! Search Marketing. Read full bio. Fredrick Marckini is CEO/founder, iProspect. Read full bio.