In search-engine advertising, marketers bid against each other on key words. When a consumer searches for any of those phrases, ads appear above or next to the search results. Where the ad appears on the page depends on the price the company bids and an algorithm search engines use to determine the ad’s relevance to a particular search. Advertisers pay only when consumers click.

One of the newer strategies is to prioritize certain categories of words. Sprint is buying the top ads tied to phrases consumers tend to search for when they are close to making a purchase, such as “cellphone rate plans” and specific products like “Samsung Reclaim,” rather than more generic phrases they search for at the beginning of the shopping process, like “Sprint,” “AT&T” and “cellphone.” Pricing for the more-generic terms tends to be higher, yet less for important to driving sales, Mr. McPhillips says.

Volkswagen is coordinating its search marketing strategy with its network of 600 dealers across the country so it doesn’t end up competing against itself for the same terms and driving up prices. For instance, the car maker tends to bid on ads tied to more generic terms, such as ” Jetta,” while a dealer in Georgia would bid on a phrase more geographically relevant, such as “Atlanta Jetta,” says Charlie Taylor, general manager of digital marketing for Volkswagen.

Marketers are tapping social media more, too. The shift is likely to be more dramatic on the heels of new research from the search division of GroupM Search (a media buying and planning unit owned by ad holding company WPP) and online measurement firm comScore. It shows that consumers exposed to social media campaigns are likelier to search and click on that brand’s paid search ad.

In a new marketing campaign launching Thursday to promote the debut of its 2010 GTI hatchback car, Volkswagen is creating a racing game for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch where players can win a car that includes several tie-ins to social-networking sites. Players can send messages to their competitors on Twitter and post videos of their games to YouTube.

Seems like some corporate marketers are acting upon the intrinsic link between search and social communications.