SEM is chewing on other media budgets

from eMarketerDaily...
Even as some marketers rein in spending to hedge against further economic problems, search engine marketing (SEM) is in great shape—at least for the moment.

Search engine advertisers and agencies surveyed for the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)-sponsored "2007 State of the Market" survey listed multiple reasons for the SEM spending growth, including advertiser demand, rising keyword and pay-per-click campaign costs, small-to-midsized business SEM use and increased behavioral and demographic targeting.

The study was conducted by Radar Research online using an IntelliSurvey panel.

SEMPO now projects that North American search engine marketing (SEM) spending will grow to $25.2 billion in 2011 from $$12.2 billion in 2007.

"However, in light of the concerns about the overall economy, it's important to note some of this spending is the result of shifting marketing dollars from other offline and online marketing endeavors,” said Jeffrey Pruitt, president of SEMPO.

Although SEM has been booming, there may be a spending limit for some marketers.

About three-quarters of respondents worldwide said they could live with further rises in paid placement prices, but three-quarters of that group said they were nearing a spending ceiling. Among those who said they could stand more price increases, more than half wanted those increases to be 30% or less.