A new report from San Diego-based research firm Covario says spending on paid search in Europe the Middle East and Africa increased by 5 per cent between the final quarter of 2009 and the first three months of this year.
The company said paid search spending by its high-tech and consumer electronics customers also increased in the Asia Pacific region by 19.6 per cent, while spending in the Americas was down by 11.9 per cent.
Covario said despite the decline in paid search spending by US companies during the start of 2010, it expects growth of between 14 and 18 per cent by the end of the year.
This is in line with predictions by a number of other research firms which also believe the sector will continue to benefit from increased marketing budgets in 2010.