Paid Search Click Through Rates Rise by 38%

Paid Search Click Through Rates Rise by 38%
According to data collected in Q3 2016, paid search CTRs have risen 38%, mainly in thanks to Google killing off its right-hand-side ads back in February. More advertisers have also started to use Google’s new extended text ads, accounting for 29% of search spend in September.

These stats are taken from Kenshoo’s latest analysis of more than 750 billion impressions, 13 billion clicks and $6 billion (USD) in advertiser spend. One of the major advertising trends in the last few months has seen online retail advertisers increasing their use of specialised product-focused ads on Facebook, Instagram and Google.

Video advertising on social media has also increased dramatically and mobile continues to be a key driver of growth.

Here are some more stats from the research:

Spend on Dynamic Product Ads on Facebook and Instagram, introduced in 2015 to help online retailers promote multiple products through social, has nearly doubled (up 95%) since Q4 2015. DPA now makes up more than four out of every ten clicks (42%) and 21% of spend on online retailers’ social ads.

Search advertising spend on retailers’ Product Listing Ads (PLAs), which include product images and information appearing in the “Shop for” boxes in Google search results, has shot up 87% in a year.

PLAs now account for 37% of online retail search clicks and 22% of spend, with 59% of clicks coming from smartphones.

Spend on social video ads, available on both Facebook and Instagram, has increased 155% in a year and video now accounts for 22% of social ad spend
CTR on social ads is up 21% since last year.

Social ad spend directed at mobile has increased by 61% YoY with mobile devices now accounting for 70% of all paid social clicks.

In search, mobile spend and clicks are up 39% and 48% respectively since last year. Mobile now accounts for 35% of all search spend and 43% of all clicks.

For more information, check out Kenshoo’s latest infographic.