Facebook’s victory in ad personalisation is driving Google to make changes to its advertising business, according to Adobe’s Q3 Digital Advertising & Social Intelligence Report.
It looks like last year’s Facebook advertising algorithm change is paying off, with Facebook Impressions up 10% quarter on quarter (QoQ) and Click-Through-Rate (CTR) up 16% year on year (YoY).
In response, Google is increasing key metrics, with its paid search CTRs up 16% YoY and Google display ad CTRs up 25% YoY.
Google’s recent release of Customer Match–a new tool that helps advertisers personalize display ads based on historic search data–is a direct response to consumers’ finding Facebook ads (51%) more relevant than Google’s display ads, the majority of which run on YouTube (17%), ADI posited. Google+ (6%) and Pinterest (6%) were the next-best rated, so Google is undoubtedly feeling the heat.
Other key finding include:
o Digital advertising is not immune to economic forces: As a global economic slowdown in Asia and Europe approaches, paid search spend growth is declining, up only 2% and 7% YoY, respectively; North America up 17% YoY
o Social media has become more compelling as revenue-per-visit (RPV) increases overall YoY
o Facebook yielded highest RPV for marketers via social, while Reddit realized largest YoY RPV increase (up over 100%) – gaining on Twitter
o Smartphones are the major driver of social RPV growth (up 102% YoY)
o Periscope remains niche in the social streaming space, as usage volatility is still driven by “one-off” events: User growth continues to trend up, but struggles to reach mainstream adoption