Paid Search Up To $20billion In 2026

The advertising market as a whole is one of the first to feel the pinch in a recession, but internet marketing spending would appear to be continuing to buck the trend. According to a new report from eMarketer, US paid search ad spending is forecast to hit almost $20 billion in 2012, up from around $15 billion in 2011, an increase of some 27 per cent, after the growth of almost 29 per cent in 2011.

The Olympics and summer elections in the US are forecast to boost paid search spend this year, but growth is forecast to continue for some years. By 2016, US paid search spend is forecast to be around $29 billion, having grown some six per cent over the previous year.

Google is expected to remain the dominant player in the market, with around 78 per cent of the US market this year and 80 per cent in 2014, with Microsoft remaining a distant second, not expanding its share above nine per cent. Both Yahoo! and AOL are forecast to be losers in the battle for search revenues, seeing their collective share fall from 5.5 per cent to less than four per cent.
Alongside this, eMarketer forecast that mobile ad spending is expected to grow some 89 per cent in 2012, to over $2.5 billion, with growth continuing strongly for the next five years. In 2016, the market is forecast to exceed $10 billion; again, Google lead the pack with a market share of around 75 per cent.

With paid search both online and on mobile remaining extremely healthy, it's going to be more important than ever to get your PPC and SEO strategies right, and keep at least half an eye on the mobile implications.