Search engine marketing
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Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs). According to the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization, SEM methods include: search engine optimization (or SEO), paid placement, and paid inclusion.[1] Other sources, including the New York Times, define SEM as the practice of buying paid search listings.[2][3]
Market structure
In 2006, North American advertisers spent US$9.4 billion on search engine marketing, a 62% increase over the prior year and a 750% increase over the 2002 year. The largest SEM vendors are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter.[1] As of 2006, SEM was growing much faster than traditional advertising. [2]
History
As the number of sites on the Web increased in the mid-to-late 90s, search engines started appearing to help people find information quickly. Search engines developed business models to finance their services, such as pay per click programs offered by Open Text [4] in 1996 and then Goto.com [5] in 1998. Goto.com later changed its name [6] to Overture in 2001, and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, and now offers paid search opportunities for advertisers through Yahoo! Search Marketing. Google also began to offer advertisements on search results pages in 2000 through the Google AdWords program. By 2007 pay-per-click programs proved to be primary money-makers [7] for search engines.
Search engine optimization consultants expanded their offerings to help businesses learn about and use the advertising opportunites offered by search engines, and new agencies focusing primarily upon marketing and advertising through search engines emerged. The term "Search Engine Marketing" was proposed by Danny Sullivan in 2001 [8] to cover the spectrum of activities involved in performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines, submitting sites to directories, and developing online marketing strategies for businesses, organizations, and individuals. In 2007 Search Engine Marketing is stronger than ever with SEM Budgets up 750% as shown with stats dating back to 2002 vs 2006. [citation needed]
Ethical questions
Paid search advertising hasn't been without controversy, and issues around how many search engines present advertising on their pages of search result sets have been the target of a series of studies and reports [9] [10] [11] by Consumer Reports WebWatch, from Consumers Union. The FTC also issued a letter [12] in 2002 about the importance of disclosure of paid advertising on search engines, in response to a complaint from Commercial Alert, a consumer advocacy group with ties to Ralph Nader.
See also
- Organizations
- SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, is a non-profit professional association for search engine marketers.
- Search engines with SEM programs
- Google - global
- Yahoo! - global
- Microsoft Live - global
- Ask.com - global
- Baidu - China
- Yandex - Russia
- Rambler - Russia
References
- ^ a b "The State of Search Engine Marketing 2006". Search Engine Land. February 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "More Agencies Investing in Marketing With a Click". New York Times. March 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "SEO Isn't SEM". dmnews.com. December 5, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Engine sells results, draws fire". news.com.com. June 21, 1996. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "GoTo Sells Positions". searchenginewatch.com. March 3, 1998. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "GoTo gambles with new name". news.com.com. September 10, 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Jansen, B. J. (May 2007). "The Comparative Effectiveness of Sponsored and Nonsponsored Links for Web E-commerce Queries" (PDF). ACM Transactions on the Web,. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Congratulations! You're A Search Engine Marketer!". searchenginewatch.com. November 5, 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "False Oracles: Consumer Reaction to Learning the Truth About How Search Engines Work (Abstract)". consumerwebwatch.org. June 30, 2003. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Searching for Disclosure: How Search Engines Alert Consumers to the Presence of Advertising in Search Results". consumerwebwatch.org. November 8, 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Still in Search of Disclosure: Re-evaluating How Search Engines Explain the Presence of Advertising in Search Results". consumerwebwatch.org. June 9, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Re: Complaint Requesting Investigation of Various Internet Search Engine Companies for Paid Placement and Paid Inclusion Programs". ftc.gov. June 22, 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)