• e-consultancy , Monday, September 15, 2008 11:30 AM

A new report is pegging U.K. marketers' paid search spending to dwarf the amount of budget they devote to organic optimization. "This year, E-consultancy anticipates companies will dedicate £2.7 billion to search engine promotions," writes Kevin Gibbons. "Of that, it estimates £2.42 billion will go on paid tactics, while £330 million will be spent on search engine optimisation."

The spending likely mirrors the very uneven split between paid and organic search spending in the U.S., highlighting the fact that ROI from PPC ads is easier to calculate -- making it much easier for marketing team to justify as a viable sales channel than SEO.

But Gibbons argues that the tides (and budgets) will shift soon. "Once the growth in online marketing spend starts to slow, I believe money spent on organic SEO will rise; long after paid search spending stalls," he says. "There will be a period where companies recognise that organic tactics are less measurable and harder to achieve but essential if they are to truly beat the competition."

Read the whole story at e-consultancy »