TMCnet News
Covario Rolls Out Global Paid Search Spend Analysis [Professional Services Close - Up](Professional Services Close - Up Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Covario recently released its Global Paid Search Spend Analysis for the second quarter of 2014. Covario said the analysis found that first half spending on pay- per-click advertising (PPC) by its enterprise technology, B2B, consumer electronics, and retail clients had a strong finish, rising 21 percent above the second quarter of 2013 and 2 percent ahead of this year's first quarter. According to a release from the firm, paid search advertising on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets drove much of the growth on a global scale with mobile search spend rising 98 percent year- on-year and 6 percent versus last quarter. Covario reports that mobile platforms now represent 25 percent of all paid search spending. Mobile ad spend by device type in the second quarter stood at 62 percent for tablets and 38 percent for smartphones. Globally, click-through rates (CTRs) for all desktop and mobile devices surged by 39 percent over the same quarter a year ago, while cost-per-click (CPC) prices rose 2.4 percent during the quarter and 12 percent compared to the second quarter of 2013. Alex Funk, the study's author and Covario's director of global paid media strategy, believes this was due "in large part to the increased desktop competition for the falling impression levels buoyed by higher performing ad units." The Americas region, led by paid search investments in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Chile and Brazil, realized a 31 percent year-over- year increase in search spending, but was flat compared to the first quarter of 2014. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), search spending continued its modest rebound in the second quarter, increasing 3 percent over the same period a year ago and 5 percent higher than the first quarter. Funk said this was driven by both an increase in click activity and by higher CTRs on ad creative. The developed markets of Germany, the U.K., France, and the Nordics had the largest gains. Second quarter search ad spending in the Asia/Pacific region (APAC) experienced muted growth of 1 percent year-on-year and 6 percent quarter-on-quarter. According to Funk, the growth was due to a 9 percent increase in click volume and a 23 percent increase in ad effectiveness, but was tempered by a 7 percent decrease in CPCs. Baidu, which dominates the Chinese search market, captured 25 percent of the overall APAC search market share, with 69 percent going to Google and 4 percent to Naver -- the leading search engine in South Korea. Among the major search engines globally, Google continues to command 86 percent of total paid search spend, 73 percent of global impressions, and 63 percent of the clicks worldwide. Global advertiser spending with Google was up 19 percent in the second quarter from a year ago. Baidu now has 8 percent of the global search market share (concentrated primarily in China) and the Yahoo-Bing network has 4 percent share. Covario is an independent search, social and content marketing agency, as well as an SEO and social media software provider. Report information: www.covario.com. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |