As 2009 draws to a close, marketing companies across the country will be looking into their crystal balls, and making some bold predictions about what’s in store for the industry in the next 12 months. It's no different here at Hit Search. We have come up with our own predictions for the world of Search and Online marketing in 2010; why not give them a read and tell us what you think. Whether you agree with our predictions, or you have any suggestions of your own; your feedback is, as always, appreciated.

1. 43 Internet Marketing predictions for 2010 Andy Redfern

2. Index - 43 Internet Marketing predictions for 2010 SEO predictions Social Media predictions PPC predictions Mobile Search predictions Video Search predictions ....About Hit Search

3. Internet Marketing As 2009 draws to a close, marketing companies across the country will be looking into their crystal balls, and making some bold predictions about what’s in store for the industry in the next 12 months. It’s no different here at Hit Search. We have come up with our own predictions for the world of Search and Online marketing in 2010; why not give them a read and tell us what you think. Whether you agree with our predictions, or you have any suggestions of your own; your feedback is, as always, appreciated.

4. SEO predictions for 2010 1) Overall the British economy will see a slow and steady growth, which will be totally outpaced by all businesses with a digital agenda. 2) Measurement and tracking will be key to all things digital this year; search quantification will move into mainstream offline factors - telephones, footfall, and also fluffier aspects such as the building of the brand. 3) RIO on will still be king in 2010 for all forms of Search Marketing - and so it should be!

5. SEO predictions for 2010 4) Online advertising spend will grow by more than 9 per cent in 2010, while Search Marketing itself will double its digital growth - with SEO being the dominant driver. 5) Microsoft’s Bing search engine will continue its steady rise, and will obtain some of the market share (albeit small) from both Google and Yahoo. Bing will also continue to produce yet more exciting developments with its mapping services for example, and it will look into greater integration into its main search listing results.

6. SEO predictions for 2010 6) Yahoo will look into branching out into developing nations with fast growing Internet populations, in order to try and claw back some of its worldwide market share. There will be greater exposure in South America and Asia in particular. Developing income quickly from these new areas will be crucial for Yahoo. 7) Facebook and Twitter will have better search-based technologies, but neither will become a serious challenger to Google. 8) Flickr and Yahoo Answers will continue to be the big winners in the Yahoo portfolio.

7. SEO predictions for 2010 9) A large Chinese company will purchase a well known tech-based company - signalling a rise in China’s influence within the industry in 2010. 10) More businesses will launch claiming to clean your online identity 11) More and more companies will look to the Internet for storing their data and running applications, rather than via the traditional desktop.

8. Social Media predictions for 2010 12) Sales of e-readers will boom over the next 12 months, fuelled by the likes of the Apple table and the Wistron E-reader. This will cause many large newspaper empires to keep a watchful eye on this market for brand new advertising opportunities. 13) Google Chrome is set to be the most talked-about web browser in 2010; it will gain double-digital marketshare growth - speed and greater extensions to fuel rise to the masses. 14) The biggest social networking loser of 2010 will be the once-great Myspace; it will lose even more of its market share to the more popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

9. Social Media predictions for 2010 15) Twitter will buy the URL-shortening website bit.ly, or release its own version, meaning more click data can be stored. This analytics tool will be rolled out in mid-2010. 16) Twitter will also create its own advertising business model by opening up its advertising centre and as a result and it gets bought. 17) As the influence of Social Networks continues to grow, the average Internet user’s reliance on email and MSN will undoubtedly dwindle. MSN user numbers will begin to level out, with many companies blocking it altogether, meaning online users will have to turn to social networks for their communication needs. Investment in MSN Networks will continue, but it will fail to find that “killer” application.

10. Social Media predictions for 2010 18) Facebook will promote its own Search Engine, although it will not be as successful (or useful) as they expect it to be. 19) Twitter users with a large number of followers will start to get too big for their boots, and will be brought back down to Earth by the mainstream media. 20) Larger corporations will continue to struggle with Social Media in 2010, and make some spectacular errors in this field. 21) The price of Display Adverts will come down once again, and combined with more accurate targeting and advanced segmentation, this will become a more viable advertising medium.

11. Social Media predictions for 2010 22) Social network Foursquare will make a massive impact in the London area, before being rolled out to more cities in the UK by the end of 2010. As a direct result of this, iconic track “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey will be re-released. The Daily Mail will run a negative story regarding this around May - aligning Foursquare with illegal naughtiness. 23) Amazon will make a bold move into the video marketplace with the purchase of large video content provider Blinkx / Hulu. 24) LinkedIn will strengthen its position as the UK’s premier business network – a new iPhone application has recently been rolled out, and communication and content distribution within the site will become much easier.

12. Social Media predictions for 2010 25) Online music website Spotify will stream over 5 billion music tracks in 2010, and its own music chart will be pushed into the media, meaning greater growth from the brand. iTunes will become very twitchy by Spotify’s launch into emerging markets in 2010. 26) There will be a massive rise in the keyword searches for buzzwords such as “cloud computing”, “Tablet computers” and “Augmented reality” throughout the coming year. 27) Journalists will make increasing use of video technology, resulting in the emergence of the “superstar journalist”.

13. PPC predictions for 2010 28) Paid search cost-per-click prices will rise on all engines and more focus on on-page quality from the big three. 29) Other players will enter the PPC marketplace (Twitter, Reddit, NYT) but wont be suitable for all campaiagns or locations 30) Google are becoming partically choosey by whom it classes as “Partners” expect the Adwords and Analytics qualification standrads to rise and potential Google disassociating companies that are carrying out bad pratice.

14. PPC predictions for 2010 31) First / Last click wins will be including in many digital marketing meeting as clients try to understand the evermore complex relationship between customer and the journey that undertake for a sale 32) The Yahoo/Microsoft advertising deal will finally become a reality, but it may take some time to make a noticeable impact on marketing budgets. 33) More money will flow to the content network and quality will improve – click fraud will still raise it head again

15. Mobile Search predictions for 2010 34) Mobile Internet search will reach 7 per cent of all Internet searches by the end of 2010. There are now over five times more mobile users than PC/desktop users in the world, and so 2010 WILL be seen as the tipping point for mobile searches. 35) Google’s push into the mobile phone industry will see them take a small market share from the iPhone, however, Google does not yet have the traction or application base make a major dent in the market. 36) iPhone applications downloads will increase by over 70 per cent next year. There was a 1,000 per cent rise in downloads on Christmas Day alone!

16. Video Search predictions for 2010 37) Video search will becoming a realistic form of advertising, and will produce decent returns. YouTube will still be the dominant force, but smaller players like Blinkx will raise their profile with yet more impressive partnerships. Pocket HD camcorders, and mobile phones with video recording capabilities, will help to fuel the increase in video content next year. 38) Video Search will gain a massive boost in UK with the June General Election. Politicians will be under intense scrutiny from the general public during election time; we will find that our local representatives are not ready for this form of pressure. Live debates and video responses will help boost the General Election voting turnout to over 65 per cent.

17. Video Search predictions for 2010 39) Politicians from all parties will make massive online gaffes in Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 40) Google Wave will be embraced by tech types, but does hit the mass market in 2010. 41) The BBC’s iPlayer service will see a considerable surge in viewers, causing great concern for other media bodies.

18. Video Search predictions for 2010 42) A major television show on a terrestrial TV channel will move a section of its live show to “digital only” – this move will boost its worldwide appeal and attract a wealth of new audience and advertising opportunities. The Hit Search tip for this show is ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. 43) An Internet-only broadcaster will make a bid for the rights to screen live football games in 2010.

19. Do You Have Any Questions? Hit Search adapt to the requirements of our individual client's environments, needs and goals when it comes to search engine marketing. Contact Andy Redfern Hit Search Find out more about Hit Search at... www.hitsearchlimited.com www.twitter.com/hitsearch