If all you are doing is Google paid search you could be leaving a significant amount of your potential market share untouched. There are hundreds of minor search engines out there and we’ll tell you later on in this article how to find them. But first, let’s talk about the big three.

The big three (Google, Yahoo!, and Live Search), make up about 97% of all paid clicks worldwide and of that, Google accounts for more than half. 

Google: If you can make it there… you can make it anywhere!

Attempting to jump into all of the big three PPC advertising networks at once is probably more than most businesses can handle at first. The good news is, strategies that work on Google are likely to work just as well elsewhere. So, when you are in the process of developing your first PPC advertising program, your best bet is to work with Google only. Again, what works in Google can be applies elsewhere. Once you have your PPC ad campaigns in Google tweaked and looking the way you want, then start thinking about trying the other networks. Google has the easiest interface to use and allows you the most flexibility to test ideas. Google lets you test the most keywords in the simplest fashion. So, you get a lot of information and feedback you can use to set up with the other search engines more effectively later on.

Don't leave 40% of your potential market untapped

Frankly, the other two of the big three are simply a lot more complicated and harder to use. For example, MSN only lets users enter 100 keywords per campaign!

But it is important that you follow through setting up on Yahoo! and Live Search at some point. Once you've done the hard work (Google), you'll want to leverage the time investment you have already made. Also, why would you want to leave 40-50% of the search market untouched? Hint: A lot of people never follow through on the other networks, so there is less competition for some of keywords. You might just find some cost-efficient opportunities.

But wait, there’s more!

As mentioned above, there are lots of small and niche-based search vendors out there. A great resource for finding these is available at http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com  which lists more than 600 sites accepting paid placement advertising, although not all PPC.  Another vendor to check out is http://www.epilot.com which has built a network of over 300 search engines.

None of these options alone will deliver a large volume of clicks or traffic. But, they may deliver those clicks and traffic significantly lower prices. The challenge is managing your time!