Search Marketing in India

According to the IAMAI report (1), of the 230 crore of paid search advertising aimed at Indians, 70 crore is put in by Indian companies themselves (Indian companies/companies having operation in India spending on Indians). That would make search marketing 43.75% of the overall internet advertising spend of 160 crore.

Advertisers are turning to paid search advertising to tap into the huge marketing opportunity provided by the 1 billion searches Indians perform online every month. 308 million of these 1 billion keywords show up with paid search ads. Indians click on 4.8 million paid search ads every month.

In India there are a total of 45,000 search advertisers in comparison to the 6,50,000 search advertisers in the US. Search marketing is still nascent in India but the market is expected to grow at 43% annually (FICCI-PriceWaterHouse Coopers report).

Internet marketing is expected to grow further as internet and broadband penetration in India increases. Banner advertising has been around in India for the past 6-7 years with most of the revenue going to the top 8-10 websites at their group sites. Search marketing has just caught on in the past 2-3 years with its ability to track ROI (return on investment) accurately. Google corners 90% of the search advertising revenue in India.

References:
1) "The State of Search Engine Marketing in India", September 2006