We are excited to announce the release of the Merkle Q3 2019 Digital Marketing Report for download, complete with nearly 60 charts and detailed analysis on trends spanning key platforms like Google, Facebook, and Amazon and channels such as paid search, SEO, display advertising and paid social. This edition of the report .
Download your copy of the Merkle Digital Marketing Report today.
Below are just a few highlights of the content included in the full report, drawn from the executive summary.
After nearly two years of decelerating spend growth for Google search ads, advertisers increased their US Google search investment by 16% Y/Y in Q3 2019, up from 15% growth in Q2 2019. In the UK, Google search spending was 17% higher Y/Y.
YouTube ad spend was up 87% in Q3 2019, but search continues to draw the lion’s share of Google ad budgets. Within search, Google Shopping investment rose 24%, once again outpacing text ad growth, but text ads saw a significant improvement in trending between Q2 and Q3 2019.
Brands running Google Shopping ads were more likely than ever to see their ads running up against ads from Amazon in Q3 2019. In the run up to Prime Day 2019, Amazon’s presence in Google Shopping auctions reached new highs, and although Amazon paused these ads over the two-day event itself, it returned to capture an even larger share of impressions. Amazon has had a significant presence in home goods auctions since late 2016, but the last year has seen Amazon expanding into auctions for other product categories, including apparel, in a major way.
While Amazon appears to have increased its investment in Google ads, other brands have ramped up their purchase of Amazon ads. Spending on Amazon’s Sponsored Products format grew 35% in Q3 2019, while sales generated by the format grew 69%. A significant portion of these sales came in over Prime Day, when daily sales were 900% higher than average.
Facebook ad spend, excluding Instagram, increased 12% Y/Y in Q3 2019, among advertisers with established programs. Facebook spending growth had slowed in late 2018, but it has now accelerated for two quarters in a row.
Advertiser spending on Instagram ads grew 44% Y/Y in Q3 2019 and among brands running both Instagram and Facebook ads, Instagram accounted for 29% of total Facebook spending in Q3 2019.
For more insights on these and other topics, download the complete Q3 2019 Merkle Digital Marketing Report.