Search Advertising Trade Group Slashes Forecasts

March 9, 2009 at 12:40 pm PT

A major search-advertising trade organization is slashing its forecasts for the search-marketing industry, as the economic turmoil continues to sweep through what has been a bright spot in the online ad market.

In a survey set to be released this week, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, known as SEMPO, says North American search marketing spending will increase only nine percent to $14.7 billion in 2009 from $13.5 billion a year ago. Its previous estimates, made in early 2008, called for the industry to grow at more than twice that rate this year, from $15.7 billion in 2008 to $18.8 billion in 2009. The new forecasts call for the industry to reach $19.8 billion in 2011, down from a previous estimate of $25.2 billion for that year.

Read the rest of this post

Tagged with: advertising, digital, Digits, economy, frontpage, Internet, Jessica E. Vascellaro, search, Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, search marketing, SEMPO, The Wall Street Journal

comments so far. Add yours.

Must-Reads from other Web sites

“You Get On The Internet And Pretty Soon You’re Drunk”: The Orthodox At Citi Field

Sean Patrick Cooper, Contributor, The Awl

Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL

Daniel Terdiman, Senior writer, CNET

Mark Zuckerberg’s unpleasant new life

Felix Salmon, Finance blogger, Reuters

Anyone can do it. Data journalism is the new punk

Simon Rogers, News editor, the Guardian

Fashion World Mulls Facebook IPO’s Impact

Rachel Strugatz, Editor, Women’s Wear Daily

The Unabomber’s Pen Pal

Jeffrey R. Young, Senior editor, Chronicle of Higher Education

About Voices

Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Web Sites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other Web sites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.

We also solicit original full-length posts and accept some unsolicited submissions.

Voices is edited by Beth Callaghan.