The UK search-marketing sector is expected to bring in revenues of £598m during 2005, representing about 70% aggregate growth on 2004, according to new research.
The report, from Internet marketing firm E-consultancy, forecasts that there will be continued investment in search marketing, particularly in the financial services, travel, gambling, recruitment, automotive and property sectors.
The research also predicts increased spending both by corporates and SMEs.
Google Local and other geo-targeted search tools will attract newcomers to the scene, while existing companies will increase spend to maintain paid and organic rankings, e-Consultancy said.
Interestingly, the report also predicted a swing back towards search engine optimisation (SEO) as pay-per-click (PPC) keyword inflation force businesses in some sectors to reappraise their search strategy.
The report stated that PPC currently accounts for about 84% of the market, including media spend.
E-consultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein said: “We expect that demand for specialist search marketing services will continue to increase for some time. The launch of MSN’s proprietary search engine and paid-listings is going to make bid management more complicated.
“There’s also the increase in spending on organic search, which could spark sector-specific search wars, as companies up the ante and jostle for position. Then there’s the impact of Google Local on the SME fraternity. There really is a lot going on - it is a good time to be in search marketing.”
The report, entitled Search Engine Marketing – A Buyer’s Guide 2005 , profiles 23 UK specialists to help client companies quickly find a suitable partner to manage their search requirements.
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