Search Advertising Insights: Paid Search Growth Still Outpacing Digital Overall

Learn what search advertising insights we uncovered—including the major milestone the industry finally reached—in the latest Skai Quarterly Trends Report

Any parent that has more than one child will typically steadfastly claim that they love their children equally…but secretly there’s always a favorite. And so it goes with digital marketing. There may be several disciplines within a digital marketing portfolio, but search is and always has been the favorite. Basically, it’s the Marcia Brady of digital (cue the email marketers lamenting Search Search Search). 

The latest Skai Quarterly Trends Report is packed with search advertising insights that shed additional light on why this channel has always maintained its superstar status. 

Search advertising insights from the Q2 Quarterly Trends Report

• Paid search spend was up 10% in Q2 2019 versus the same quarter last year.
• CPCs were down 10% year over year, largely due to the influx of lower-cost mobile and product ads.
• Impressions and clicks spiked significantly year over year, at 41% and 23% respectively.
• For the first time, mobile’s share of spend crossed the 50% threshold and ticked up to 51%. This is significant, as mobile already earns approximately 70% of search impressions and clicks.

The year-over-year growth of paid search measured in Q2 2019 proves again that this is a channel that marketers can count on. Over the last two decades, the art of paid search has been fine-tuned into a science with documented best practices and tools to help advertisers truly maximize the opportunity. It is known for its efficiency at the bottom of the funnel, as other marketing functions drive consumer interest to search engines. However, as search marketers continue to try to squeeze more out of the channel, the real opportunity is at the upper- and mid-funnel, to guide consumers along the purchase path. 

For more information on how to really take advantage of the power of paid search, read the free Skai white paper Full Funnel Search: The Evolution of Best Practice SEM. And to learn even more about key trends that surfaced in Q2 of this year, check out the Skai Q2 Quarterly Trends Report. 

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