Search Marketing Growth Strong in 2008… But May Weaken
By Anna Johnson on January 16th, 2009According to eMarketer, paid search marketing will need to exceed the $5.06 billion spent in the first half of 2008 in order to reach the research firm’s $10.69 billion projection for 2008.
Figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)/PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) aren’t available yet, but eMarketer reckons paid search was probably significantly up in 2008, despite the onset of the recession in the latter half of the year.
In the first half of 2008, spending on search engine advertising was 23.6 percent higher than in the first half of 2007 and constituted 45.3 percent of total online advertising spending. This too was higher than the 41.5 percent share it commanded in 2007.
But while search engine advertising may have finished the year with strong growth, eMarketer expects the growth rate to slow in the years to come.
Apart from 30 percent annual growth being difficult to sustain off a bigger base, the recession may also have a significant impact.
Source: eMarketer, “What Happened to Search Spending in 2008?” eMarketer, January 12, 2009
