Wednesday, April 11, 2007

26% of Large Advertisers to Increase Spending on SEM by more than 25%

found in a Media Post Article by Gavin O'Malley, Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 6:00 AM ET

"A FULL QUARTER--26%--OF LARGE ADVERTISERS in companies with annual revenues of $50 million or more plan to increase spending on search engine marketing by more than 25% this year, according to new findings from Jupiter Research.

An additional 28% of large advertisers anticipate spending increases between 11% and 25%, based on the expectation that keyword prices will continue to rise, Jupiter found.

"Because marketers with large companies anticipate including major search engines as part of their branding campaigns, they realize this tactic could result in additional expenses and are planning accordingly," says Kevin Heisler, Jupiter Research analyst and lead author of the report. "But the additional cost is just one of the challenges faced by marketers today."

In addition to keyword inflation, complex campaign management and methods of tracking the success of search engine marketing activity continue to elude marketers, according to Heisler. More collaboration among company CEOs, CMOs, and CTOs could change that, the report states. "