Here is what I found for just 4 of keywords that I bid on:

Keyword - Domain Hosting Top bid - $6.02 Bid # 40 - $0.33 Had everyone bid just one cent to outbid their competitor top bid would have been $0.74. Savings to top bidder - $5.28 per click Clicks on this keyword per month - 21030 Overpayment to Overture - $111,038.40 per month **One company actually paid $2.52 more to reach position 3 instead of position 4. One cent would have worked!**

Am I going to try to get listed at top of search engines? Hell, no! Don't be fooled by all hype over search engine positioning. True, it could mean added traffic being listed near top, but I don't think it's worth effort. Getting listed at top of a search engine requires constant maintenance, and that alone can turn into a full-time job. If you have time and resources to keep at it yourself, or to place a new employee into search engine war, then by all means go for it, but if you're like most of us, read on and use these resources to quickly get job done.

My advice, list your site in top used engines BY HAND about once every month or two, then use a software submission package to list your site with hundreds of other minor search engines and directories.

Spend time you saved by trading links and listings with sites related to yours. Would I be hurting if all search engines disappeared tomorrow? Sure, I would lose traffic, but not enough to hurt my business. I spend little time marketing using search engines. If you can set up a schedule to submit your listing every month and stick to it, you will have much more time to put into other forms of Internet marketing. If you still feel you must be listed at top of those search engines, I have found a great tutorial that will help you do just that. http://www.wwwhunter.com/reports ops.htm