Search Engine Marketing Research, Articles and Resources

SEMPO Original Research and Reports

In December 2004, SEMPO published our first report on the state of the search engine marketing industry, and it was quickly praised as the most comprehensive industry report to date. Survey respondents worldwide provided information on topics such as search engine advertising investment and price elasticity, organic search engine optimization, click fraud awareness/concern, resource allocation, and future features desires.

We have continued to measure the trends each year against our previous benchmarks, and have expanded the data points to include new relevant topics and a more global perspective.

SEMPO research is very important to our members and our industry, to help us track, understand, and evolve both search behavior and the commercial aspects of search. SEMPO periodically conducts original research projects including our in-depth annual "State of Search Survey."

SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2010 - Full Results (Members Only)

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2008 - Full Results

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2008, Summary Results

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2007 Results

Annual State of Search Survey 2007 – Canada Specific Results

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2006

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2005

The SEMPO Annual State of Search Survey 2004

Please Note: The Annual State of Search Survey is conducted annually.  In 2010, SEMPO changed the naming convention to reflect “release” date.

SEMPO Salary Survey

2009 SEMPO InHouse SEM Salary Survey Summary

2009 SEMPO In-House SEM Salary Survey (Members Only)

SEMPO Agency Salary Survey TOPLEVEL 2008

SEMPO Agency Salary Survey 2008

Results Summary for SEMPO's In-House Salary Survey, 2007

International-specific SEMPO Research

SEMPO 2007 European User Study

3rd Annual Japanese SEM Market Research (May 2007)

SEMPO Partnership Research

Advertise.com and SEMPO Survey of Online Ad Technology There’s plenty of untapped opportunity for retargeting in online advertising. That is one of the key findings of a recent joint survey of online marketing professionals by Advertise.com and SEMPO. In the survey of specialized marketers conducted in August 2009, 46.3 percent of respondents noted that remarketing, also known as retargeting, is the online marketing technology they feel is most under-utilized.

Archived SEMPO Research

Industry Research/Reports

In addition, we feature cutting-edge research conducted by our members and other industry research professionals.

• SEMPO Original Research
• Industry Research/Reports
• Advertise.com and SEMPO Survey of Online Ad Technology
  There’s plenty of untapped opportunity for retargeting in online advertising. That is one of the key findings of a recent joint survey of online marketing professionals by Advertise.com and SEMPO. In the survey of specialized marketers conducted in August 2009, 46.3 percent of respondents noted that remarketing, also known as retargeting, is the online marketing technology they feel is most under-utilized.
• “Net Worth (Part One)”
  by Jaimie Pickles and Candace Thornton
  Article series researching the online ad and Search Marketing spending of the Insurance industry. Originally appeared in Best’s Review (April, May 2009), linked with permission. The article provides new data on online insurance consumer volume and demographics. Further, the article breaks new ground in laying out how much insurance companies are spending to advertise online in search, online leads, display, online-video and social media marketing.
• “Net Worth (Part Two)”
• The Digital Shelf – The Opportunity for Search in Packaged Goods (SEMPO members only)
• SEMPO 2007 European User Study
• 3rd Annual Japanese SEM Market Research (May 2007)
• SearchIgnite - Search Marketing Sees Strong Growth in Q4
  Summary:
  
  • Strong Q4 led by retail (not surprising but good in spite of economy), growing more than 40% year over year
  • Is Panama losing steam? The momentum we saw from Yahoo Panama in Q3 pretty much halted (and even backtracked a bit) in Q4
  • We’ve introduced a new metric – “Same Advertiser Spend” – which monitors the trends of seasoned brand search marketers….this will be interesting to see how seasoned search spenders invest vs. those who are newer to the medium. In Q4, Same Advertiser Spend grew at a slightly slower rate than overall search marketing spend, suggesting that search may be beginning to hit a maturation point for seasoned search marketers, aided by exponential investments by newer search marketers.
  • Market share amongst the engines did not change much over 2007
• Connecting small businesses with the substantial search engine consumer audience
• Why search matters to local business