Mobile search advertising continues to increase, as a new report from eMarketer reports that a larger majority of companies’ overall search ad spend is being more allocated to mobile. This sector has increased over 90% since 2010, with advertisers spending 2.1% of all search ad spend on mobile in 2010. This year, it will be over 22%. And the explosive growth won’t stop there, eMarketer estimates. Their predictions place mobile search advertising at almost 60% of all search ad spend. This is an increase in their previous July estimate of almost 52%.
In addition, search is the preferred method of advertising for mobile campaigns. According to estimates from eMarketer, by the end of 2013, over 51% of all mobile ad spend will go toward search, with the remaining allocated for display advertising (e.g. banners and video).
The Importance of Mobile Search Advertising
According to a July 2013 post on the Google AdWords blog, mobile ads displayed on search results gave advertisers more click traffic than they would get through organic results alone. Google reports that in tests, users don’t click on organic results when search ads are paused for mobile users.
This year’s tests have shown that an average of 88% of mobile site visitors are referred by mobile search, and when tested, they did not click on a business’ organic listing when ads were paused. Their previous 2011 tests showed the same results.
Google still controls about 83% of all mobile search ad spend according to StatCounter, although private networks like DudaMobile and AirPush still attract advertisers who want customized campaigns on a variety of platforms.
