We have mentioned the IAMAI and Pinstorm report on search which release recently earlier as well but here is a detailed low down on what can be termed as the most positive report for search marketing. Why do i call it the "most positive"? well i will let the numbers answer that.

The top Search Engine Marketing buyers in the past year. The top five spenders are all Internet companies.

Naukri, together with 99acres and Jeevan Saathi Rs 97 million; Ebay Rs 92 million; Monster together with JobsAhead Rs 64 million; Google Rs 58 million; Yahoo Rs 32 million; Citibank Rs 27 million; HP Rs 25 million; World Space Rs 20 million.

In terms of sectors spending on search advertising this is what the break up looks like:
Retail, ecommerce Rs 189,679,644
Technology Rs 116,153,190
Travel Rs 173,650,230
Automotive Rs 10,321,020
Banking, Financial Services Rs 145,039,410
Dating, Matrimonial Rs 31,681,530
Education Rs 24,571,674
General Online Rs 227,842,308
Jobs Rs 175,270,878
Media Rs 41,113,170
Made for Ad Sense Rs 155,725,416
NGO Rs 11,697,696
Property Rs 25,517,916

So that makes The search engine marketing business aimed at Indian internet users is estimated to be around Rs 2.3 billion and Indian firms spend Rs 700 million. Also 40,000 marketers in India use this platform.

The entire report can be downloaded here

Now Mr.Mahesh Murthy founder Pinstorm the SEM company which was also aan associate to IAMAI in this report  in his interview to rediff.com here is an excerpt from the same:

Pinstorm has completed two years. How has the company fared in two years?

Pinstorm has made a place for itself as the leading search engine marketing firm in Asia and among the top five search marketing agencies by size in the world. And the rate of growth isn’t slowing down.

For the first time, we have an India-based marketing company making its mark internationally, among all the American and European multinationals that dominate the advertising business. Pinstorm started in May 2004 and we’ve done reasonably well in these 2 years, with offices now in Singapore, Malaysia, New Delhi and Mumbai and clients in 9 countries.

What is the potential of search marketing?

India alone produces about a billion searches a month and the number is growing as people research choices, product details and prices for every sort of buying decision — from travel to banking to insurance to education to even a film career. Every search to us is an expression of consumer intent.

Marketing will veer around to this mode of communication because one is able to segment finely — a typical client effort we run may have two dozen or more campaigns and strategies and we are only advertising to stated consumer intent instead of shooting in the dark.

As traditional media increasingly fails to deliver desired target segments, search will increasingly become the prime media weapon in a marketer’s arsenal for its sheer ability to target and deliver to an interested consumer.

Where do you see your company five years from now?

I can’t see that far. Two years from now, Pinstorm stands to be a world No.1 or No.2.

I can’t see that far. Two years from now, Pinstorm stands to be a world No.1 or No.2.

The complete interview can be read here

Now i tried searching for "Search Engine Marketing" targetted to India on Google and i found that pinstorm featured on the 4 page of sponsored links while other players like mediacontacts.com, communicate2 and  position2  featured in the first three. Also while these players were marketing their services while Pinstorm’s search marketing ad title was "Online Advertising Jobs" i.e. they were searching new recruits for their company.

Just an observation im not trying to play the devil’s advocate here

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