• by October 26, 2006

If Dusty Springfield were still around, she might have added “searchin’” to her hit “Wishin’ and Hopin.’” Indeed, since the song is about looking for love, online search might have been an appropriate addition to the lyrics, as it seems to be the tool of choice for increasing numbers of people. Of course, search — whether it’s used to locate friends, video, restaurants, airfares, or the latest data on eco-friendly cars — continues to morph and grow, taking on new characteristics all the time.

Google’s $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube last month will surely alter the prospects for video search, not to mention the overall search landscape. Pre-acquisition, Google was already working aggressively to refine online video search tactics. With YouTube now in its pocket, it will be able to do much more.

In this issue, contributing writer Steve Smith takes a look at the future of search from all angles and suggests that behavioral techniques, already popular with online publishers, will become increasingly common.

The outlook for search is rosy: Forrester Research projects that search engine marketing/optimization will reach $11.6 billion by 2010. And JupiterResearch projects that search ad spending will have grown 24 percent to $6.5 billion, or 41 percent of total online spending in 2006, and will increase to 43 percent of online spending in 2011.

Also in this issue we have a fun read on Camp Organic, a bonding and trendspotting event staged by San Francisco-based agency Organic. Here’s an agency that’s trying to get ahead of the trends and find alternative approaches to client challenges. Our Creative Roundtable is back this month with a critique of a site for T-Mobile’s Sidekick, while Markets Focus analyzes a frequently overlooked demographic: senior women.

Tobi Elkin, Editor