Jupiter Research announced on Tuesday it would enter the search marketing business with a new service that advises clients on how search fits within their overall marketing plan.
The researcher, which is owned by the parent company of this site, will look to get a piece of the booming search market, which investment bank U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray projects will reach $7 billion in annual spending by 2007.
Jupiter positions itself as a neutral third-party advisor for companies looking to enter the increasing complex world of search, which can include keyword ads, paid inclusion and contextual ads — all offered by a number of vendors.
“Search is the single greatest opportunity to learn from and influence consumer behavior,” said Matthew Berk, a senior analyst at Jupiter.
As part of its push into the search sector, Jupiter Research released the results of a survey of marketing executives about search’s newfound prominence in marketing plans. Over three fourths of marketing executives whose companies have used search marketing said they found it more effective than banner advertising, and almost two thirds plan on increasing their spending on search.
Jupiter anticipates search marketing will continue increasing throughout the year, as leading search players Google, Overture Services and Yahoo! roll out new products, helping to revitalize the online advertising industry.
Jupiter’s Online Search service joins a crowded search-marketing sector, which includes a number of firms offering optimization (iProspect and Did-it.com), research (Yankee Group and GartnerG2), and measurement (comScore’s qSearch).
In addition to Berk, who will focus on search technology and consumer behavior, Jupiter’s Online Search service will tap on its online advertising analysts, Gary Stein and Nate Elliott.
Over the course of the year, the Jupiter search team plans to issue research reports on a number of industry topics, including contextual advertising, search engine and search optimization vendors, and market forecasts.
