Introduction

When Sir Martin Sorrell, one of the world’s top marketing gurus, says “The medium is becoming more important than the message”, it’s time to sit up and take notice.He is, of course, referring to the phenomenal impact that online marketing has had on the commercial world, revolutionising the way companies connect with customers.

Over the last five years, the ubiquitous white box has come to play a central role in a vast range of activities – from researching a business proposal to finding the nearest pizza parlour and comparing the price of insurance.

In the USA alone, figures from eMarketer reveal that 155 million people – half the population – used search in 2007. Spending on search advertising jumped 27% to hit $8.6bn, some 75% of which is estimated to have gone to Google.

In this internet marketing report, we examine the central position of Google and look at other key topics in the world of search, including the role of the marketing agency and the rise of mobile and social search.

The contributions come not only from Sir Martin Sorrell and John Battelle but also leading figures from Google, Yahoo! and the independent sector – including mobile search pioneer, Taptu, one of several 3i investments in the sector.

Mike Reid,
Director, Technology, Media and Telecom