Retailer Search Ad Click Share By Search Engine, Q4 2014 [CHART]

Retailer Search Ad Click Share By Search Engine, Q4 2014 [CHART]

Retail advertisers took spending on Product Listing Ads (PLAs) to another level at the end of 2014. According to data from Adobe Digital Index, Google shopping ad spending in the retail sector grew 47% year over year and 53% quarter over quarter in Q4 2014. Meanwhile, spending on Google text ads was down 6% year over year.

PLAs accounted for one-fifth of US retail search ad clicks in Q4 2014. Despite their decline in spend, Google text ads led in share of search engine marketing (SEM) clicks, grabbing two-thirds of the total. Yahoo Bing Product Ads didn’t fare as well as Google’s PLAs, with just 0.7% share of retail search ad clicks during the quarter, while Yahoo Bing text ads took in 14%.

Adobe noted that the rise in Google shopping ad spending among retailers meant advertisers in the sector needed to include product ads in their search efforts to keep up with the competition. Read the rest at eMarketer.