The UK paid search market will grow to £1.26 billion in the next year – a 67% increase on 2005 when the paid market was worth £757m, according to E-consultancy’s 2006 Search Marketing Buyer’s Guide (see Online Search Sees Explosion In Sponsored Links).
While spending on SEO is still outstripped by paid search spending, SEO growth continues to rise and its value as a proportion of total search spending will begin to increase from its current position of around 10%, according to the report.
Linus Gregoriadis, E-consultancy analyst, said: “Marketers will continue to increase their investment in search because of the attractive returns and its accountability. The market will remain extremely buoyant through 2006 and beyond, though we expect the upward trajectory of paid search to flatten slightly as the market becomes more mature.”