There has been a healthy growth in search advertising spend, clicks and impressions for smartphone, according to new research.
In the second quarter of 2015 the share of search advertising spend and clicks taken by mobile devices in Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) reached an all-time high according to the latest quarterly data from Kenshoo .
Mobile devices accounted for 41% of all clicks on search ads in the region and 35% of all spend, with growth in smartphone spend driving the overall spending rise when adjusted for currency fluctuations.
The data is presented in a new infographic, Q2 2015 Search Advertising Trends EMEA, highlighting key quarterly metrics based on five quarters of performance data from Kenshoo advertiser and agency profiles across the EMEA region.
While Kenshoo’s data shows a -3% year-on-year (YoY) decline in overall spend on search advertising in EMEA based on conversion to USD, this downward pressure is heavily influenced by the strong US dollar. When measured on a constant currency basis (or Ex-F/X), paid search has actually grown +8% YOY. At the same time overall clicks from search ads have stayed relatively stable over the last year, growing +5%.
Smartphones have been the key area of positive activity in paid search in the region, with spend on ads targeted at phones growing +46% (while tablet and desktop spend went down). Smartphone clicks (+52%) and impressions (+54%) also increased YoY while the other devices showed declines or stood still for these metrics (see table below).
verall cost-per-click (CPC) for paid search ads in EMEA countries has been fairly steady at €0.50. This is underpinned by desktop and tablet CPCs of €0.56 and €0.57 respectively while phone clicks are priced lower at €0.35 per click.
“Smartphones are the current winner when it comes to comparisons across devices for paid search activity in EMEA, displaying healthy increases across all metrics,” said Rob Coyne, Kenshoo’s Managing Director for EMEA. “Even though clicks on phones are priced lower than desktops and tablets, the faster growth of phone clicks compared with tablets and desktops has helped to support spend levels.”
When comparing the cost of paid search between countries, the UK was found to have a higher CPC (€0.64) than France, Germany and Spain. While marketers in Spain and France enjoy higher levels of engagement with their paid search ads with CTRs of 4.6% and 3.0% respectively (see table underneath).
