Internet Search for Small Businesses

The Search Engine Journal suggests that the typical small business is finding it more expensive to get listed in the search engines. Google still offers free listings. But the second most important search engine, Yahoo, requires paid inclusion for commercial websites:

"...[T]he typical small business owner may not see a great deal of promise in these developments, just radically higher costs. Finding a balance between intelligent online advertising options and intergalactic online advertising costs will be a challenge for small business owners in the coming years."

At the same time, there are more options than ever in the world of Internet search. Local search is hot. Froogle offers another selling option for products. Pay-per-click ads offer highly targeted, budgetable options. What this all means is that search engine marketing will command an increasing share of marketing budgets in the future.