Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of the author, CT Moore, and interview subject, and in no  way reflect those of Gaming Industry Media.

For the gaming industry, 2009 was an exciting year in PPC. In the tail-end of 2008, Google re-opened PPC to igaming operators in the UK, and then as 2009 got underway, that access was extended to affiliates, as well as operators in Ireland, Austria, and Australia. So regardless of how the economy was performing, PPC in the igaming industry was going to undergo exponential growth.

For other industries, however, the picture wasn't nearly as rosy. Indeed, as the recession persisted, marketing budgets were rolled back, and despite it's measured, performance-based approach, PPC often saw its budgets slashed -- if only because advertisers in general were down-sizing, trimming the fat, and trying to keep their heads above rough financial waters.

Well, at SMX East 2009 (a conference for search marketers), I had the pleasure of meeting Marc Poirier, founder of Acquisio, a company that develops search engine marketing software and pay per click software. It's designed to equip agencies and companies that are managing many campaigns with high budgets and a slew of keywords with bid management tools that optimize their spend. Suffice it to say that Marc (and Acquisio writ large) has some insight into what's going on in the PPC world.

In any case, I got a chance to sit down with Marc and ask him about what happened with PPC in 2009. According to him, the automotive, financial, and real estate industries were hit the hardest (no surprise), but overall, PPC spending is already starting to recover. Of course, you don't have to take my word for it. You can hear it from the man himself.