SEMPO Launches 2007 State-of-the-SEM Market Survey: Changes in Distribution of Online Ad Spend Dollars One Major Focus

SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) http://www.SEMPO.org announced today it is launching its fourth annual industrywide survey to assess year-to-year changes in SEM spending and resource allocation.

WAKEFIELD, Mass. (Business Wire EON) December 3, 2007 -- SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) http://www.SEMPO.org announced today it is launching its fourth annual industrywide survey to assess year-to-year changes in SEM spending and resource allocation.

Our annual survey and our new survey to collect salary data on in-house personnel are just two examples of how we provide unique, actionable market data to our growing professional community.

The survey is open to all search engine marketing professionals working in an agency or in-house. Participants do not need to be SEMPO members. Log on to http://www6.intellisurvey.com/run/sempo2007 to take the survey. As an incentive, SEMPO is partnering with Incisive Media, owners of the Search Engine Strategies (SES) conferences, to randomly select one participant who will receive an SES conference pass, valued at more than $1,000.

“This last year we in the search engine marketing profession have seen tremendous changes, with the major search engines making significant strategic company acquisitions, the exponential growth of social networking and their increasing influence in search and stepped up innovation in online advertising networks,” says Jeffrey Pruitt, SEMPO president and Executive Vice President, Corporate Partnerships, iCrossing. “SEMPO’s survey is the perfect opportunity to learn how these shifts in the market affect the role of the search engine marketer, whether agency or in-house, and what changes are ahead in the coming year.”

Radar Research, a Los Angeles-based research and consulting firm which conducted the 2005 and 2006 surveys, is continuing as SEMPO’s survey research partner. SEMPO and Radar Research are conducting the survey through early January 2008. Preliminary results will be available in February, 2008 with a full report expected in late Q1 2008.

“As the pre-eminent search marketing professional organization, SEMPO is committed to taking a leadership role in empirical research,” says Gord Hotchkiss, SEMPO chairperson and CEO, Enquiro Search Solutions. “Our annual survey and our new survey to collect salary data on in-house personnel are just two examples of how we provide unique, actionable market data to our growing professional community.”

2006 Survey Recap

SEMPO’s 2006 survey revealed that SEM spending had risen sharply, to $9.4 billion, a 63% year-to-year increase. The survey included data on paid placement, paid inclusion and organic search as well as spending on SEM technology platforms. The survey also found organic SEO to be the most popular form of SEM, with paid placement a very close second. However, in dollars, paid placement accounted for 85.9 percent of total spending or $8.1 billion.

About the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)

SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it. Its purpose is to provide a foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships, fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing. Representing thousands in over 30 countries, SEMPO has over 630 members. It represents the common interests of companies and consultants worldwide and provides them with a voice in the marketplace. SEMPO’s education and outreach initiatives are sponsored in part by Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, Superpages.com and Search Engine Strategies. For more information, or to join the organization, please visit http://www.SEMPO.org.

About Radar Research

Radar Research is a Los Angeles-based research and consulting firm aimed at the nexus of media, technology, culture and commerce. It was founded by two former Jupiter Research analysts, Marissa Gluck and Aram Sinnreich. Radar conducts research on behalf of both corporate clients and non-profit organizations, such as DoubleClick, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Nielsen//Netratings, the Online Publishers Association and The Norman Lear Center. For more information, please visit www.radarresearch.com.