Search Engine Marketing Continues to Grow - but Will Become More Country Specific and Even More Competitive

The world of marketing is likely to be impacted further by search engines, an expert has predicted.

Sam Tilston, director of search engine optimisation at Idea Taxi, said the industry is already booming, but its success is yet to be maximised.  Search engine marketing (SEM) is currently seeing double-digit growth on an annual basis, he highlighted, meaning it is beating many other digital advertising industries.

"As markets such as the UK and US becoming more competitive and markets such as China see continued user growth … you will see a boom in the SEM industry in other markets," he suggested. 

China alone currently has around 400 million internet users, although this figure has the potential to grow as take-up increases.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organisation recently revealed that the US SEM industry will grow 14 per cent from £10.2 billion in 2009 to £11.6 billion by the end of 2010.

Furthermore, around half (49 per cent) of the companies surveyed are reallocating budgets to search engine marketing from print advertising and 36 per cent are shifting money away from direct mail.