As the proliferation of smartphones and tablets continues unabated, search marketers are devoting more of their resources to these devices. In the first quarter of 2013, mobile share of clicks stood at 22% globally, while the percentage of search spend was 18%. This year, those numbers increased to 28% and 26%, respectively.
Not only does this represent a bigger slice of the marketing pie, but the valuation of mobile search is coming more in line with the click volume for the channel.
Turning to cost-per-click for mobile devices, tablets have seen a slight premium over phones for the duration of this data set. Overall, prices have mostly flattened since Q3 of last year across both devices, after increases for phone in early 2013 and some fluctuation for tablet. Year-over-year, Tablet CPC is up 6% and Phone CPC is up 23%.
The conventional wisdom points to Google’s Enhanced Campaigns as the prime mover for both reconciling clicks and spend for mobile share and stabilizing prices. Simplified management of bid prices and structured bid adjustments relative to desktop searches are both ways to reduce the introduction of price volatility into the mobile search market.
To see how these trends differ by geography, download the Skai Search Advertising Trends for Q1 2014.