Some experts have claimed that insurance firms are moving their products off affiliate sites in a bid to increase spending on their search engine marketing.

According to Rory DeNiro of SEO company BruceClayEurope, there are few other marketing means to "tap into the vast lead generation potential that Google's natural search results offer".

Big industry players such as Sheila's Wheels, Norwich Union and Lloyds TSB have been joined by Virgin Money in the move away from affiliate marketing.

But is a change in the wind among big firms really a reason for smaller players to start worrying about their search engine optimisation (SEO) marketing?

At the very least an increase in search engine marketing from big firms will make getting onto the top search ranking results harder as smaller businesses are also likely to increase SEO investment.

One industry expert at WorldWide Optimize, Patricia Montes, suggests that fresh and new content can often make the difference with SEO marketing in any sector.