The Conflict over Long-tail Search  The short version Search
advertisers receive conflicting advice about which queries they
should target. Practitioners often advise focusing on the long-
tail, those specific queries assumed to identify consumers
further into the buying cycle. Alternatively, academic research
advises either targeting queries with historically high click-
through rates; or, the most-used queries. However, if you want
to maximize click-through query usage is the wrong thing to
focus on; what really matters is having your ad recognized as
the most relevant part of the search results. The likelihood of
such recognition is maximized when you target queries that are
specific enough to match few other products besides your own,
thus minimizing competitive interference. However, consumers do
seem to reward seeing lots of competitors when they are
comparing their options.  The whole story Marketing
practitioners and the academic literature contradict each other
in their advice related to the choice of