Recently, the numbers for online advertising for the first quarter of 2005, and they did not disappoint. On Thursday, the same results specifically for search engine advertising were released and these numbers left little doubt about the strength of search engine advertising.
The numbers for online advertising for 2005’s first quarter reveal a comprehensive adoption of this method of promotion. First quarter results reveal $2.8 billion was spent in first quarter online advertising. Current forecasts, according to MarketingVOX, put total online advertising spending in an area of $12.4 billion for 2005 and up to $25 billion by 2009.
After the forecast for search engine advertising was revealed, it becomes quite clear that almost half of 2005’s forecast spending ($12.4 billion) will be spent on the search industry. According to numerous reports, experts from Merrill Lynch forecast 2005’s search engine advertising spending to be between $5.1 and $5.6 billion, which is an increase of 47 percent when compared to 2004’s $3.5 billion amount.
Merrill Lynch’s thinking on the forecast credits a great deal to broadband adoption by more and more homes in the US. This, in turn, will lead to more search engine queries, which will facilitate the increased adspend on search. Merrill Lynch also forecasts search queries will increase by 16 to 18 percent in the first quarter.
An increase of search users and queries means more people will be exposed to search engine advertising. And as any marketer knows, the larger the audience, the better chance you have of getting exposure for your advertisement.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
