Share of mobile paid search clicks grew 177% last year
15.1% of paid search clicks in December came from mobile devices, research from Marin Software has found, with the share of mobile paid search clicks seeing a 177% growth from January 2011.
‘The State of European Mobile Search Advertising 2012’ report also found that the share of search budget for mobile grew by 191% last year, up to 9.3%.
In spite of this, the average cost-per-click on a smartphone is roughly half that of a corresponding desktop click, while a tablet cost-per-click is just more than two-thirds the cost of a desktop click.
Ed Stevenson, managing director of global agencies and international at Marin Software, said: “Mobile cuts across all online marketing channels, whether search, display, or social.
“Much like the desktop market, however, search represents the largest destination for mobile ad budgets. The combination of explosive user adoption of mobile devices, coupled with favourable performance characteristics for ads, makes mobile search an increasingly critical growth opportunity for both advertisers and Google. As consumers shift their media consumption to mobile devices, advertisers need to seriously consider how to adapt their marketing strategies to capitalize.”
The research found that click-through rates on smartphones are 54% higher than on desktops, while searches made through a tablet computer have 68% higher click-through rates.