It’s the first day back at work so while we trawl through our stack of enquiries I've gotten the team to send me their ‘blue sky’ predictions for 2006.

• Paid search spend to overtake display advertising spend for the first time, even though Jupiter don't forecast this to happen until 2010.
• Microsoft to launch AdCenter in the UK.  But the much vaunted additional features such as demographic targeting etc  prove harder for direct end users and "traditional" agencies to use.  Remember these organizations have trouble with current Pay Per Click systems.  Good news for the SEM specialist community, particularly if Microsoft can successfully manage the channel relationship with the SEMs.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber launches Google Dance on the West End.
• Acquisitions & consolidations in the UK SEM market accelerate due to the Google ETP. 
• Google search results to include more local  & hybrid results - organic results will appear lower down the page.
• MSN will become more popular with better search results.
• Yahoo! launch Tagging-enabled filtered social-networking-aware Web 2.0 long invite-only beta mobile decentralized p2p web-services-ready open source distributed multi-device emergent monetized metadata-rich wiki-based hybridized revolutionary incentivised aggregated remix able disruptive AJAX Ruby on Rails social network infrastructure that leverages the third screen.*
• UK online consumer spending will increase this year far more than the average annual increase of 30%.
• Pay per call ads work their way into the classified sections of print publications.
• Click fraud will still be discussed very little by search engines and very much by advertisers.
• UK Government funds public search engine. It’s under funded and misunderstood and sadly goes the way of our space programme.

*Courtesy of Odio.us