More than just a Slow Economy Boosting SEM
Much has been made about yesterday’s forecast of the SEM Industry. Long story short: things are pretty good, or in the words of Larry David: “Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.” According to Radar Research and SEMPO the SEM industry was projected to grow to an $11.6 billion industry in 2007, however that number grew to $12.2 billion by the end of Q4. These numbers had a domino effect on the 2011 forecast that was projected to be at $18.6 billion a year ago. Now North American SEM spending is projected to grow to $25.2 billion by 2011.
However the survey also shows that much of this increase is a backlash from marketers finding more search dollars by poaching budgets from print, website development, direct mail, and other traditional ad platforms. While this is an easy correlation to make given the current state of the US economy, it seems as though the enormity of advances in technology and services are given the short end of the stick due to the always-looming recession. Below are some more reasons why SEM will continue to grow, recession or no recession.
Social Media- Even though playing the social media card in the first hand is now a cliché, there’s no denying that next to Google, everyone has to be on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, and/or the next big thing. Businesses that have no clue how to operate social media pages are taking advantage of anything they can get their hands on. Even the AARP has tapped into Facebook and YouTube to help plant the seed of future membership http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6483871557
Goolge Innovation- New link reporting tools, personalized search, universal search, Google Health, Google News in Hindi etc., etc. Google’s innovation drives the search engine market and also forces other engines to play catch-up or innovate themselves. As much flack as I’ve given to MSN’s Live Search games there’s no doubt that they’ve helped the fledgling search engine’s numbers in the past year.
Proliferation of Industry Blogs- I can’t think of any other industry where knowledge is so firmly steeped in learning from your contemporaries. A novice can spend a week on industry blogs and be able to glean an adequate amount of information to start their own SEO or PPC campaign.
Advancements in Ad Platforms- Paid search platforms are constantly being updated in every search engine, and while the Radar Research report concluded that Google and Yahoo paid search spending decreased from a year ago, these updates will only continue to make paid search an easier, more viable solution for advertisers on a budget. Plus with Automatic Matching, Google is destined to up their Adwords profit, wink.
Advancements in Portal Platforms- I can Google from my Wii. Enough said. Wherever there is a signal there is Google, Yahoo, MSN, YouTube, Facebook or a combination of the five. With this kind of exposure advertisers, both big and small, are clearly noticing that the reach of the web is on a constant climb.
Etc. Etc. Etc… - There is an infinite list of reasons why SEM has risen to unprecedented proportions in the past year, and an economic hiccup is only one of them. While this report helps prove that our industry is in the clear for now, it still does not grasp the scale of innovation, adaptation, and proliferation that the SEM industry has accomplished within the past year to cause this major shift in ad spend.
