Digital Marketing Snapshot

Skai Quarterly Trends Infographic

Ad prices drove continued growth in retail media and paid search while commerce ads boosted paid social investment

Double-digit growth in cost-per-click helped propel robust year-over-year increases in spending for retail media, and modest growth in paid search.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The holiday surge drove QoQ spending higher in all channels, with YoY spending up everywhere in Q4 as well, led by retail media at +27%.
Higher conversion rates can lead to higher cost-per-click as algorithms adjust to meet ROAS goals, but the opposite can also be true, where higher CPCs drive better performance.
While still a small share of total spend, the new Advantage Shopping Campaigns+ saw QoQ spending more than double in the format’s first full holiday season as part of a wave of lower-funnel spending on Facebook and Instagram.
Q4 saw a large drop in impressions and clicks in the search channel due in large part to the shift from legacy shopping campaigns to Performance Max.
SPENDING UP ACROSS CHANNELS IN Q4
The holiday surge drove QoQ spending higher in all channels, with YoY spending up everywhere in Q4 as well, led by retail media at +27%.
AD PRICES, CONVERSION RATES UP IN RETAIL MEDIA AND SEARCH
Higher conversion rates can lead to higher cost-per-click as algorithms adjust to meet ROAS goals, but the opposite can also be true, where higher CPCs drive better performance.
RACE TO THE BOTTOM (OF THE FUNNEL)
While still a small share of total spend, the new Advantage Shopping Campaigns+ saw QoQ spending more than double in the format’s first full holiday season as part of a wave of lower-funnel spending on Facebook and Instagram.
SEARCH SHOPPING EVOLUTION
Q4 saw a large drop in impressions and clicks in the search channel due in large part to the shift from legacy shopping campaigns to Performance Max.
FOCUS ON COMMERCE

COMMERCE YOY SPENDING GROWTH ACROSS CHANNELS

Both paid search and paid social commerce media segments outperformed their overall respective channel.

PRODUCT AD PRICING ACROSS CHANNELS

Paid search and paid social ad prices grew from Q3 to Q4, while retail media CPC stayed mostly flat.

COMMERCE AD EXPANSION AND EVOLUTION

Amazon DSP penetration was unchanged since last quarter, while PMAX and ASC+ gained slightly in adoption and share of spend.

HOLIDAY SPENDING FOCUSES ON CYBER 5

Roughly $1 out of every $6 spent between November 1 and December 25 was spent during the Cyber Five, across channels.
CORE TRENDS