Digital Marketing Snapshot

Shoppable ads saw robust spending growth in Q2 despite the challenges of COVID-19

Overall spending for Ecommerce Ads grew both sequentially and year-over-year.
Product-specific shopping ads in both Search and Social channels are up compared to last year, despite the overall channels declining over the same period as the pandemic affects total spend levels.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
While year-over-year spending on a monthly basis was down in each month of Q2 for the Search and Social channels, the gap between last year and this year is narrowing in both cases.
Consumers saw a lot more product ads across all channels, as impressions for Search Shopping Campaigns, Social Dynamic Product Ads and the entire Ecommerce Ads channel served more ads than during the holiday season.
Across both Search and Social channels, tools and features that automate ad selection and optimization have made significant gains since Q2 of last year, more than doubling spending in each case.
After the vast majority of search spending in the Travel category went away in the second half of the first quarter, spending has increased every week of Q2 as the industry recovers.
RECOVERY WATCH
While year-over-year spending on a monthly basis was down in each month or Q2 for the Search and Social channels, the gap between last year and this year is narrowing in both cases.
ONLINE SHOPPING
Consumers saw a lot more product ads across all channels, as impressions for Search Shopping Campaigns, Social Dynamic Product Ads and the entire Ecommerce Ads channel served more ads than during the holiday season.
AUTOMATION
Across both Search and Social channels, tools and features that automate ad selection and optimization have made significant gains since Q2 of last year, more than doubling spending in each case.
TRAVEL SEARCH
After the vast majority of search spending in the Travel category went away in the second half of the first quarter, spending has increased every week of Q2 as the industry recovers.
Shoppable Ad Spotlight

Shoppable Ad Spotlight

Spending growth on product-specific shopping ads in the Social and Search channels drastically outperformed the rest of the channel in both cases. These product ads comprised 41% of Q2 spend for “shopping and retail” accounts across both channels.
CORE TRENDS