Search Engine Marketing Trends [PODCAST]

eMarketer estimates that 71.5% of the US population will execute search queries online at least once per month in 2017, which translates to 85.0% of internet users. Searching on smartphones has also become the norm among consumers in recent years: Almost three in five will do so regularly in 2017, up from less than half as recently as 2015.

Chart: Google AdWords Clickshare By Device

Despite search ads’ maturity as a format, spending on them continues to grow at double-digit rates in the US, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. That’s all thanks to mobile, where search ad spending will rise by nearly 25% this year even as spending on desktop- and laptop-based search placements declines.

These growth trends have already made search advertising in the US a majority-mobile affair. Last year, almost two-thirds of US search ad dollars went toward mobile placements. Mobile’s share will reach 70.0% this year, and by the end of the forecast period in 2021 will approach 80%.

Google remains the undisputed king of search, in terms of both paid and organic efforts. According to Merkle’s “Q2 2017 Digital Marketing Report,” 89% of all search ad clicks in the US during the period occurred on Google properties. Among smartphone search ad clicks alone, Google’s share was a whopping 97%. Read the rest at eMarketer.