When it comes to Search Engine Marketing (SEM), there is a clear distinction between organic search results and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. Organic search results are the listings that appear within the results pages themselves. A top rank in organic search results cannot be bought. Rather, you work your way to the top by having a quality site and by utilizing Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Pay-Per-Click ads are (typically) the listings you see above the organic search results and in a column on the right hand side of the page. Websites pay a certain amount of money to have their site listed in these sponsored links sections when an Internet user searches for a specific word or phrase.

Pay-Per-Click advertising is based on a bidding process. You decide how much you are willing to pay for a given keyword or keyword phrase. Other websites may bid on those keywords and phrases as well, and their bids may be higher or lower than yours. The order in which the search results are listed is based on the amount of your bid – the more you pay, the higher up you are in the results.

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Spending on Internet advertising grew 4.6 per cent in the first half of 2009 to hit 1.7 billion pounds, according to digital marketing trade body Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). Advertising on television amounted to 1.6 billion pounds, down from 1.9 billion pounds year on year, The Independent reports.

“The internet has now overtaken television advertising to become the UK””s single biggest advertising medium,” the IAB said, adding it now accounts for 23.5 per cent of the total market.

Industry experts pointed to more time spent online, faster broadband speeds and more sophisticated online techniques as reasons for the shift.

“The results signal a significant restructure of marketing budgets as advertisers follow their audiences online and look to the Internet for even more measurable and accountable methods,” the IAB said.

Spending on Internet advertising in the UK hit 3.3 billion pounds in 2008, up 17 per cent year on year, while total advertising spending fell 3.5 per cent to 17.5 billion pounds. Stefan Bardega, director of digital at Mediacom, who specialises in media buying on the Internet, said: “Online has surpassed television earlier than we expected.”

Display advertising was not so successful, falling 5.2 per cent year-on-year to 316.5 million pounds. The IAB pointed out this was not as bad as display advertising in mainstream media, which saw double-digit declines.

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