SEM investment 'set to increase'

21st April 2008

Investment in search engine marketing (SEM) among UK companies is on the up, a new study suggests.

Firms are preparing to invest more in both paid search and organic search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques this year, according to research carried out by E-consultancy.

Some 63 per cent of the 1,000 companies polled stated that they intend to increase their paid search budget in 2008, while 61 per cent reported intending to inject more funds into SEO over the next 12 months.

The figures are released after comScore statistics showed that search giant Google increased its share of queries from 59.2 per cent to 59.8 per cent during March.

"It is fantastic to see a greater understanding of the benefits of a well managed search marketing campaign and budgets being increased accordingly across both paid and organic search," says Lucy Cokes, manager of study sponsor Neutralise.

She pointed out that SEM is now a well known marketing technique among British firms.