UK search spend to total £2.75bn this year

Internet marketing consultancy E-consultancy, which carried out the research, said the UK search market "remains buoyant despite fears about an overall advertising downturn".

It estimates the £2.75bn spend this year will include £2.42bn going into paid search, which is a 23% increase on last year.

The remaining £330m comes from spend on search engine optimisation, which will increase 32% on last year.

Chris Lake, editor-in-chief of E-consultancy, said: "Search spending is continuing to increase at a healthy pace, although the growth rate will not match the increases seen over the last few years.

"Economic concerns will affect the overall ad industry, and search isn't entirely immune from a dip in budgets. Marketers and agencies are savvier than ever, so scope for growth in ROI is limited. And growth in consumer internet usage is flattening out.

"But the sector is certainly more robust than other media channels which have a less measurable return on investment, and should continue for years to come."