Digital Marketing Snapshot
Key digital ad channels served more ads at lower prices in Q4, driving overall spending growth higher
Strategy, diversification, competition and the economy all may have helped drive aggregate prices down
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The number of ads and ad interactions measured by impressions and clicks, respectively, grew at a healthy pace in Q4
Advertisers were more likely to see lower YoY ad prices in Q4 than higher prices, compared to last year across channels, particularly paid social advertisers
2021 saw the highest Q4 year-over-year (YoY) CPM growth in five years, which may have set the stage for a big drop in 2022 even without the additional impact of other factors
Spending increased over Q4 of last year in all channels, but lower ad prices have meant lower growth rates than previous quarters
AD VOLUME GROWS ACROSS CHANNELS
The number of ads and ad interactions measured by impressions and clicks, respectively, grew at a healthy pace in Q4
MOST ADVERTISERS SAW LOWER AD PRICES
Advertisers were more likely to see lower YoY ad prices in Q4 than higher prices, compared to last year across channels, particularly paid social advertisers
A BRIEF HISTORY OF Q4 SOCIAL AD PRICES
2021 saw the highest Q4 year-over-year (YoY) CPM growth in five years, which may have set the stage for a big drop in 2022 even without the additional impact of other factors
SPENDING GROWTH MODERATES ACROSS CHANNELS
Spending increased over Q4 of last year in all channels, but lower ad prices have meant lower growth rates than previous quarters
FOCUS ON COMMERCE
HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE BY CHANNEL
Ad spending more than doubled across the Cyber 5 for retail media and paid search advertisers compared to pre-Thanksgiving November, while lower prices kept YoY search spending flat
PRODUCT AD SPENDING ACROSS CHANNELS
Search shopping campaigns did not increase spending until the holiday-focused fourth quarter, while retail media and paid social showed QoQ growth throughout the year
OMNICHANNEL GROWTH
Commerce advertisers are slowly but surely increasing the number of active publishers as they focus on where they can most effectively find their customers
CORE TRENDS
Search Trends
Paid search impressions grew by 23% and clicks grew 22% over Q4 of last year
Average CPC declined 12%, yielding a 7% YoY increase in total search spending
Impressions
QoQ
+31%
YoY
+23%
Clicks
QoQ
+30%
YoY
+22%
Spending
QoQ
+21%
YoY
+7%
CTR
QoQ
-1%
YoY
-1%
CPC
QoQ
-7%
YoY
-12%
Retail Media Trends
Retail media ads were cheaper in Q4 2022 than in the previous year
The volume of retail media clicks increased over the same period, driving overall spending up by 34%
Impressions
QoQ
+17%
YoY
+45%
Clicks
QoQ
+16%
YoY
+50%
Spending
QoQ
+22%
YoY
+34%
CTR
QoQ
0%
YoY
+6%
CPC
QoQ
+5%
YoY
-11%
Social Trends