Recently, we released our Skai Global Search Trends research, analyzing key paid search metrics across three global regions: the Americas, EMEA (Europe Middle East Africa), and APJ (Asia Pacific Japan). Globally, marketers spent more in Q4 2013 than any other quarter on record with a 19% year over year (YoY) and 29% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) lift.
The increased paid search investment is being spurred on by the growth of emerging markets, particularly in Asia. In APJ alone, Skai data revealed that spend was up 28% YoY and 16% QoQ.
The Japanese market in particular is showing strong signs of vitality and growth, particularly in mobile. Mobile advertising is exploding in Japan and is expected to hit $2.5 Billion this year, nearly double that of China.
Major search engines are noticing a response to the mobile shift in the region.Bloomberg reported that Yahoo! Japan almost tripled advertising sales from smartphones to 8.5 billion yen during the first 3 months of 2013, up from 3 billion yen a year earlier.
From a global perspective, Skai has seen dramatic shifts in mobile search adoption. Consumers were reaching for their tablets and phones when searching for and buying products during the 2013 shopping season (defined as November 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013), accounting for over 36% of all clicks combined during that period. Mobile devices are generating more gains year-over-year, as Skai’s 2013 Global Online Retail Seasonal Shopping Report data indicates, and global marketers are beginning to align budgets to account for these changes in consumer behavior.
Overall, paid search remains healthy among active consumers in Japan. In a survey by Deloitte, shoppers in the country note that search ads are the most influential form of digital advertising when making purchasing decisions.
Marketers in Japan should continue to leverage paid search as a key component of their digital strategy and take advantage of the growing mobile opportunity.