Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is a form of
Internet Marketing that seeks to promote websites by
increasing their visibility in the Search Engine
result pages (SERPs). According to the Search Engine
Marketing Professionals Organisation, SEM methods
include: Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO), paid
placement, and paid inclusion. Other sources,
including the New York Times, define SEM as the
practice of buying paid search listings with the
goal of obtaining better free search listings.
 As the number of sites on the Web increased in
the mid-to-late 90s, search engines started
appearing to help people find information quickly.
Search engines developed business models to finance
their services, such as pay per click programs
offered by Open Text in 1996 and then Goto.com in
1998. Goto.com later changed its name to Overture in
2001, and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, and now
offers paid search opportunities for advertisers
through Yahoo! Search Marketing. Google also began
to offer advertisements on search results pages in
2000 through the Google AdWords program. By 2007
pay-per-click programs proved to be chief
money-makers for search engines.
Search Engine Optimisation consultants expanded
their offerings to help businesses learn about and
use the advertising opportunities offered by search
engines, and new agencies focusing primarily upon
marketing and advertising through search engines
emerged. The term "Search Engine Marketing" was
proposed by Danny Sullivan in 2001 to cover the
range of activities involved in performing SEO,
managing paid listings at the search engines,
submitting sites to directories, and developing
online marketing strategies for businesses,
organizations, and individuals. In 2007 Search
Engine Marketing is stronger than ever with SEM
Budgets up 750% as shown with stats dating back to
2002 vs 2006.
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