According to international Internet consultancy firm WSI, website owners and marketers worldwide are expected to spend over ?3 billion on online marketing during the current year, signifying a 23 per cent enhancement over the spending in this regard during 2007.

Having said this, WSI president Ron Arthur warn that despite the remarkable increase in spending on online marketing, this may not augur well for may new companies. Arthur apprehends that in the new scenario many up-and-coming companies may find the competition as well as the prospects of flourishing more difficult.

In a recent interview with the Franchise Magazine, Arthur noted, "With the multifaceted dynamics and pace of change in the Internet marketing industry, the challenge to remain competitive in business becomes increasingly difficult."

Significantly, though a large number of business have acknowledged the value of online marketing, there are still some companies which are either yet to invest in this form of promotion or their spending has not been adequate. The retail sector is a case in point.

Substantiating this view, a research conducted by Crafted Media shows that though 88 per cent of the retailers appreciate the importance of online marketing, more than half of these firms spend less that 25 per cent of their marketing funds on promotions on the Internet.

At the same time, the study by Crafted Media emphasises that not even 60 per cent of the retailers spending on online marketing endow any amount in supervising their websites. This goes on to prove that they do not even bother to learn about their websites? contributions in promoting their businesses, let alone consider search engine optimisation for their sites.