Growth of European Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing spend in Europe will grow by around 65% this year, according to Forrester Research, Inc. The technology analyst expects the market for services including paid listings, contextual search, site optimization, and paid inclusions to rise to c.EUR 1.4 billion.

'Europe's Search Engine Marketing Forecast, 2004-2010' says the projected rise from EUR 856m in 2004 to almost EUR 3 billion in 2010 will reflect the arrival of SMEs in a market hitherto dominated mainly by large companies.

According to Hellen Omwando, Consumer Markets Analyst at Forrester, growing numbers of online shoppers, online advertising budgets, and pay-for-performance search marketing models will drive the growth, but that search spending's share of total online advertising will decline by 2007, 'as consumer mistrust of paid listings takes effect, rich media ads gain prominence, and as prices of keywords rise'.

The UK is the largest online ad market in Europe, with a projected EUR 1bn+ of the 2010 total, up from EUR 763 million at the end of 2005. Travel, finance, auto, and retail are key. France's share will leap from 19% of Europe's search marketing spend at the end of 2005 to 31% by 2010, while Germany will lose its second spot despite growth from EUR 165m to EUR 399m in 2010. The Netherlands and Sweden will also be significant contributors, with the rest of western Europe relatively quiet and staying that way (totalling just 4% of the market).

Among the newer trends forecast, Forrester says European online marketing will increasingly blend display ads and sponsored keyword listings, and search engines, media sites, and retail sites will 'hyper-partner' to create networks of hybrid search marketing models. The company is online at www.forrester.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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