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SEARCH. BY NOW MARKETERS don’t need anyone to tell them that it’s important and that they should be paying attention to it. After all, search composes 40% of online ad spending and is becoming an ever-more-important driver of traffic across the web. Almost a quarter of September web traffic came from search engines, up from 20% last year (Page 20).

Those trends mean there continues to be a thirst for quality information around the channel, what its major players are up to and how best to use it. In our annual Search Marketing Fact Pack,Ad Age culls much of that data into one handy guide that can sit on your desk all year long. (Download extra Fact Packs from the DataCenter at AdAge.com.) It’s been a year of big changes for major search engines.Yahoo in early 2007 rolled out its much-watched Panama search system, which factored in an ad’s relevancy as well as bid price to determine placement.

Google introduced a universal search system that incorporated multiple media categories, such as images, video, local and books, into its results. And Ask.com garnered positive reviews for its new “Ask3D” system meant to help users find what they’re looking for faster. Profiles of the top five search players, starting on Page 10, outline each company’s financial and share results and what to watch for in the year ahead.

In these pages, you’ll find data to help you navigate the emerging categories of local and mobile search. Did you know, for example, that 75% of mobile internet users use mobile search (Page 45), compared to only 22% of overall mobile phone users? We also break down what sites receive the biggest share of traffic and what search terms are the most popular in various categories. Kraft Foods (kraftfoods.com) snares more than 11% of traffic in the food category (Page 27).And on Page 40, we again speak to 360i’s David Berkowitz—this year, he details how marketers can use social media tools, such as wikis, widgets and video, to optimize their placement.

Finally, the Ad Age DataCenter takes on the thorny task of compiling a ranking of the top 20 search agencies as determined by search marketing and optimization revenue. As always, it’s important to note that search marketing is covered by many different trade groups, research companies and publications and, thus, methodologies and totals may vary. But taken in full, this guide should provide a good picture of where search is now and where it’s headed.