UK spending on search engine marketing (SEM) will increase 58 percent this year to 2.22 billion pounds, forecasts E-consultancy. (Note: 1 dollar (USD) = 0.5 pounds (GBP))

The firm also points out that although the anticipated growth rate would be down from 65 percent in 2006, the market has plenty of room for future growth.

The paid search market alone will near 2 billion pounds this year - some 1.97 billion pounds - up 56% from 2006, the E-consultancy report estimates, according to MarketingCharts.

However, for the first time, spending on organic search will grow more quickly, increasing 68% - to 252 million pounds, or 11% of the SEM market, it said. The estimate includes payments to agencies, as well as investment in client-side staff to manage SEO and implement changes.

In a survey earlier this year, the firm found that two-thirds of marketers said they would be increasing their budgets in the next 12 months for both paid search (65%) and search engine optimization (64%).