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 Professional Organization, SEM methods include: search engine optimization (or SEO), paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion. Other sources, including the New York Times, define SEM as the practice of buying paid search listings. People who are doing business online for example a blinds company who are selling vertical blinds, faux wood blinds, roman shades products online. They says that for them Search Engine Marketing is vital tool for their market. Instant Life insurance rates providing agents say that their 80% business comes from Seach engine and that is why 90% of their marketing budget is for SEM.
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 Ad Words, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft ad Center. As of 2006, SEM was growing much faster than traditional advertising and even other channels of online marketing.
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 in 1996 and then Goto.com in 1998. Goto.com later changed its name to Overture in 2001, and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, and now offers paid search opportunities for advertisers through Yahoo! Search Marketing.
Ref: wikipedia
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