Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – December 2021

Spending and Pricing Trends Across Paid Search, Social Advertising, and Retail Media

As the volume of shopping activity began to decline following the Thanksgiving weekend, ad spending across the retail media and paid search channels both dropped by 11% in December. Paid social spending, on the other hand, remained flat despite more than half of advertisers seeing a month-over-month decrease, as some larger advertisers and non-commerce advertisers ramped up programs closer to Christmas.

Ad prices were largely flat. Retail media cost-per-click (CPC) did not change, while paid search CPC dropped by just 3%. In both channels, the largest share of advertisers saw prices stay within 5% of last month. Paid social CPM was down 5%, and when considered along with the spending trend, means impression volume increased month-over-month.

How do you measure up? Check out these benchmarks to see if your programs are on par with your industry peers or if you’re ahead or behind the curve.

This is a continuation of our monthly paid media snapshot series. As with any benchmark, your mileage may vary, but we hope this provides a bit more context for you as a marketer as you navigate the ups and downs of your program’s performance.

Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – December 2021

Methodology note. For the purpose of these monthly benchmarks, only Skai accounts with spend above a minimum threshold for the previous three months are included in this analysis.

Paid Search spending

Overall, spending in paid search dropped 11% from November to December.

• 24% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in December versus November, compared to 48% who spent -10% or less (-24% differential)
• 7% of accounts spent +50% or more in December versus November, compared to 13% of accounts spending -50% or less (-6% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising decreased 3% from November to December.

• 29% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in December versus November, compared to 32% who paid -10% or less (-3% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in December versus November, compared to 2% of accounts paying -50% or less (+1% differential)

Social Advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising remained flat from November to December.

• 31% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in December versus November, compared to 51% who spent -10% or less (-20% differential)
• 15% of accounts spent +50% or more in December versus November, compared to 21% of accounts spending -50% or less (-6% differential)

Social Advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising decreased 5% from November to December.

• 26% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in December versus November, compared to 42% who paid -10% or less (-16% differential)
• 6% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in December versus November, compared to 3% of accounts paying -50% or less (+3% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising dropped 11% from November to December.

• 38% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in December versus November, compared to 44% who spent -10% or less (-6% differential)
• 13% of accounts spent +50% or more in December versus November, compared to 13% of accounts spending -50% or less (0% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising did not change from November to December.

• 35% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in December versus November, compared to 24% who paid -10% or less (+11% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in December compared to November, versus 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Check out more resources from Skai

Come back next month for the most up-to-date data. Until then, you can dive into more of our research via our Quarterly Trends Reports hub.

And please visit the Skai blog and Research & Reports page for ongoing insights, analysis, and interviews on all things related to digital advertising.

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