BrandStand » Search engine marketing building steam.

September 18, 2009 | Steve Chitwood

Search engine marketing building steam.

I’m trying to conceptualize what 100 billion of anything is. What would a 100 billion of something look like. How long would it take me to drink the coffee made from 100 billion coffee beans? How many pounds of coffee add up to 100 billion coffee beans? To answer this question I naturally go to Google and search for “coffee beans in a pound” and the light goes on. In the past year, according to a recent comScore report, users like me have gone increasingly to search engines to answer our questions 100 billion times. Internet search has become part of our thinking process, woven into the fabric of our decision-making.

Search engines are nothing new and as marketers we are very aware of the prominence search plays in the lifestyles of consumers. We have worked for years to perfect our search strategies and optimize our websites. We have collectively built various search marketing platforms such as paid search into mature marketing channels. Even now, more than 10 years after Google emerged from a Stanford dorm room, internet search marketing continues to build at a mind-boggling pace.

While the 100 billion searches in the past year is a truly impressive number, the real news is that this represents a 40% increase since last year. And just so you don’t think that the old dog is getting run over by the new pups, Google continues to set the standard seeing a 58% rise in executed searches over the past 12 months.

Forrester put in context how important search will become in a related report last week predicting that spending on online marketing will top $55 billion in over the next five years (up from $25 billion this year). Search marketing will continue to see the largest investment – rising to $31 billion in 2014 from $15 billion in 2009 – dramatically outpacing the spending on other online channels.

What does this mean to marketers? Several things:
• Search will remain the preeminent online marketing channel.
• Competition for consumers via search will increasingly require a strategic approach.
• Targeted search, such as mobile and local will continue to build.
• Related online marketing channels will continue to gain prominence in the integrated marketing mix.

If search is part of your marketing mix now, bravo. Get used to it; it will become even more important to you. If you haven’t yet engaged you have your work cut out for you. You need to catch up to a fast moving train that continues to build steam. Take a deep breath, grab a strong cup of coffee and get to work.

There are approximately 4000 beans in a pound of coffee – 100 billion beans would yield 25 million one-pound bags. It took one cup of coffee and 7 google searches to produce this post.