- 14
- Nov
Anthony Verre, Interactive Marketing Analyst, TMP Directional Marketing, 11-2007 Anthony.Verre@tmpdm.com
2007 has been another year of tremendous growth for search engine marketing (SEM). We’ve seen dominant engines become even more robust through acquisitions of key ad networks, like DoubleClick, Right Media, Third Screen, and aQuantive. We’ve watched old algorithms of relevance become revitalized and updated to incorporate a variety of media: Google’s Universal Search, Yahoo’s Panama, and Ask.com’s Ask 3D. Instant gratification of information and data has arrived.
The money has shifted from more traditional forms of advertising and web advertising: website development, email marketing, print magazine advertising, TV advertising, and, even online yellow pages advertising, and is being recirculated into search engine marketing. And the number of marketers using or who will be using SEM in the next twelve months are staggering: 85%1.
Moreover, the projected budget for SEM through 2012 is reason enough that getting in the game now, finding and carving a niche, is essential:
| Dollars in Millions* | ||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Paid Search | 4,496 | 5,633 | 7, 054 | 8,220 | 9,237 | 10,129 |
| Paid Inclusion | 818 | 1,043 | 1,198 | 1,342 | 1,469 | 1,773 |
| Contextual Ads | 838 | 1,043 | 1,464 | 2,013 | 3,359 | 4,558 |
| SEO | 1,904 | 2,712 | 3,594 | 5,200 | 6,928 | 8,863 |
*Source: Ad Age, Search Engine Marketing Fact Pack 2007
What exactly does this mean? It means that as more and more marketers discover search engine marketing, the space for companies to exist becomes smaller and smaller. By 2010, nearly all the budgets for every search engine marketing tool will have doubled or tripled, and that means more and more companies will engage in the race to be found on the web. This also means that the opportunity for companies to be identified and compete for their ideal keywords and search terms will become much more difficult and expensive.
Keyword and search term competitiveness will: 1) drive up the price-per-click, as each keyword/term will become more crucial when attempting to attract those consumers/users searching for it, 2) will make organic optimization more difficult, as all companies in verticals and niche markets will be ranking for the same keywords, under the assumption that the proper and most advantageous SEO techniques are applied to the website, and 3) will make interactive media, such as video and blogs, mandatory and obsolete, as all companies will have to provide these media to stay competitive. And, most importantly, keyword competitiveness will make the race for being found on the web ultimately a matter of brand recognition and brand marketing.
Those companies that succeed in the future will be the ones that have already built a solid foundation now. The evidence is self-evident; the most successful companies of the current day are those who are already converting and maximizing leads. They are the same companies that started attracting new consumers via the web, establishing business partnerships to advance their online cause, and applying search engine marketing tactics years ago. But fear not, the search engines are still accepting applications.
The Big Five:
You may have heard these names before: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and Ask1. These are the major search engines that make up roughly 86% of all searches conducted on the Internet, with Google owning nearly 57% of those searches1.
It’s incredible to think that in little over a year the volume of Internet searches has increased 28% to an astounding 9.82 billion searches per annum1. This number will only increase as more and more people get online. Moreover, this number will increase globally in the coming years, as more developing nations move into an industrialized capacity and get on the web. Industrialized and developing peoples cannot afford to not have access to it, and you cannot afford not to be seen and found.
Google: generated 7.2 billion in worldwide ad revenue, 4.1 billion in ad revenue in the U.S., and they are number 19 on Ad Age’s Top 100 largest media companies. They own DoubleClick Ad Network, YouTube, and portions of AOL and Ask. 1 Yahoo! owns 23% of searches in the U.S., and generated 3.4 billion in ad revenue in the U.S. They own Right Media Online Ad Exchange, Blue Lithium Ad Network, Rivals.com, Actionality Mobile Ad Firm, and Zimbra. 1
MSN: owns 11% of searches in the U.S., and generated 1.84 billion in ad revenue worldwide and 1.13 billion in ad revenue in the
U.S. They own Avenue A/Razorfish. 1
AOL: owns 4.5% of the searches in the U.S., and generated 1.27 billion in
U.S. ad revenue. They own Third Screen Media, Tacoda, and Platform A. A share of AOL is owned by Google. 1
ASK: owns 4.5% of the searches in the U.S., and generated 468 million in
U.S. ad revenue. A share of ASK is owned by Google. 1
What People are Searching For: 1
Listed below is the latest trend in search categories consumers/users are searching for:
- Education: 44.64%
- Health and Medical: 44.43%
- Food and Beverage: 39.74%
- Music: 39.16%
- Community: 34.73%
- Travel: 32.51%
- Government: 31.78%
- Shopping and Classifieds: 25.55%
- Aviation: 24.85%
- Automotive: 23.75%
What this indicates is that older users, falling between the 40-60 years of age, are now online and active in information gathering and purchasing on the web. The older users are researching and comparing college costs for their children and themselves, medical information and costs for parents and their families, restaurants in their communities, travel destination packages, looking for new careers, and furnishing their homes and lifestyles by shopping online. Along with these users, we also have our more savvy surfers in the teens, twenty-somethings, and thirty-somethings engaging in the same behavior. However, and more importantly, the older users come with inexperience using the medium and larger wallets.
What does this mean? As an advertiser, you have the opportunity to cater to, gather, and convert an entire generation just discovering the web. And all you have to do is be found by them by employing the tools of search engine marketing.
Conclusion:
There is a wealth of opportunity on web, but that opportunity will continue shrinking faster and faster in the coming years. It is imperative to start employing the tools of search engine marketing now rather than later. If you wait a couple more years to drive this initiative home, the bus will still be there, but you’ll be forced to ride in the back, the very back. The front will be filled, from the floor to the ceiling, and you might well think you’re suffocating from all the competition.
There are new generations getting online and eager to find what they’re looking for on their favorite search engines. Get out there, be found, and pick up all the extra revenue on table you never knew was there.
Reference:
1: Advertising Age “Search Marketing Fact Pack, 2007”