UK Search Engine Marketing Industry Valued At Almost £600m In 2005

Continued PPC growth and keyword inflation to boost spend Emerging trend towards long-term benefits of organic optimisation as Adwords/Overture costs soar Local search to engage newcomers from huge and virtually untapped SME market

[ClickPress, Thu May 26 2005] E-consultancy’s latest research into the UK search engine marketing services industry suggests that revenues in 2005 will reach £598m, representing about 70% aggregate growth on 2004.

The forecast can be found in E-consultancy’s 186-page report, Search Engine Marketing – A Buyer’s Guide 2005 (http://www.e-consultancy.com/publications/search-engine-marketing-buyers-guide-2005/), which profiles 23 credible UK specialists to help client companies quickly find a suitable partner to manage their search requirements.

E-consultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein comments, “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 guide includes best practice tips and tricks; a SWOT analysis to help you convince the boss and secure or increase a ‘search budget’; UK search market size and growth forecasts; PPC vs organic trends and some helpful hints on how to choose a supplier.

Trends within the UK market include:

• Continued investment in search marketing by highly competitive sectors such as: financial services, travel, gambling, recruitment, automotive and property.

• 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.

• Growing understanding about the importance of building search into wider online and overall marketing strategies. Understanding of the brand benefits among marketers. The internet isn’t purely a response medium.

• A swing back towards SEO as PPC keyword inflation force businesses in some sectors to reappraise search strategy. PPC still accounts for about 84% of the market, including media spend.


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Download the report from (a free sample is available to non-subscribers):
http://www.e-consultancy.com/publications/search-engine-marketing-buyers-guide-2005/


About E-consultancy:
http://www.e-consultancy.com/about/

E-consultancy is the UK’s leading online publisher of best practice internet marketing reports, research and how-to guides. It also publishes buyer’s guides and has a directory of 100,000+ third party internet marketing white papers.

Since moving to a paid-content model in 2003 E-consultancy has amassed thousands of paying subscribers, around 30,000 registered users and 115,000 unique users sessions per month. Its weekly newsletter is sent to 21,500 users. Subscribers pay from £99 per year to access the exclusive and highly practical content, which helps internet marketers get the most out of their websites.

E-consultancy has around 70 events lined up for 2005, including roundtables and monthly ‘Supplier Showcases’, where six suppliers pitch to an audience of pre-qualified buyers (typically between 100-200) in a Central London venue. E-consultancy also provides a range of in-house training programmes, such as seminars and workshops.


Contact:
Anna Vickerstaff
immediate future Ltd.
0845 408 2031
pressoffice@immediatefuture.co.uk

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