Google Dominates US Ad Search Investments After Nearly Two Years of Decelerating Spend Growth
COLUMBIA, Md. — Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, has released its Q3 2019 Digital Marketing Report (DMR), analyzing benchmark data and key trends across paid and organic search, display, and social. The report also includes insights on major players like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft. In conjunction with the report, Merkle will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, October 24th at 2 p.m. ET to discuss these findings.
“Q3 2019 saw an influx of growth as these platforms continue to evolve and influence the industry in new ways. This positive trend may quell some industry analysts’ concerns of impending recession.”
The latest quarterly report reveals that advertisers increased their US Google search investment by 16% year-over-year (YoY) in Q3 2019, after nearly two years of decelerating spend growth in search ads for the search giant. This surge could be attributed to the continued strength of Google Shopping and a rebound in growth for Google text ads, with spending on advertiser brand keywords growing at a particularly strong rate. Further, within Google Shopping, the Showcase Shopping ad format produced its largest share of clicks to date, accounting for 10% of Shopping clicks, among brands that adopted the newer format.
Amazon also appears to have increased its investment in Google ads, and in the leadup to Prime Day 2019, Amazon’s presence in Google Shopping auctions reached new heights. Although Amazon paused the ads over the two-day event, it returned to capture an even larger share of impressions. Additionally, spending on Amazon’s Sponsored Products format grew 35% in Q3 2019, while sales generated by the format grew 69%. A significant portion of the sales came in over Prime Day, when daily sales were 900% higher than average.
Facebook ad spend, excluding Instagram, increased 12% YoY 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% YoY in Q3 2019, and among brands running both Instagram and Facebook ads, Instagram accounted for 29% of total Facebook spending in Q3 2019.
Although total visits to brand sites driven by organic search fell 9% YoY, DuckDuckGo remained a bright spot, delivering a 68% increase in visits YoY. On mobile devices, DuckDuckGo now produces half as many organic search visits as Bing in the US, and it is quickly closing the gap.
“Our intent with the quarterly Digital Marketing Report is to provide marketers with the tools and resources they need to develop successful and impactful future campaigns,” said Erin Hutchinson, senior vice president of marketing at Merkle. “Q3 2019 saw an influx of growth as these platforms continue to evolve and influence the industry in new ways. This positive trend may quell some industry analysts’ concerns of impending recession.”
About Merkle
Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 9,000 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 22 additional offices in the US and 36 offices in Europe and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.