Good morning, search marketers, are you spending more on Google?
Google search ad spend is still increasing, but the pace of growth is slowing. That's according to first quarter 2019 reports from Merkle and Marin Software. Spend growth is being fueled by click volume growth on mobile even as mobile CPCs trend lower. Shopping ads continue to chip away at spend share among Merkle's retail client base. Shopping ads drove 18% higher revenue-per-click (RPC) on desktop for retailers compared to non-brand text ads. Mobile returns are improving too, as RPC for Shopping ads on phones was on par with phone text ads last quarter.
Meanwhile for app marketers, spend on Apple Search Ads is outpacing Facebook and Google combined, according to data from advertisers on Kenshoo's platform. Spending on Apple Search Ads has jumped 90% since the third quarter of 2018, says Kenshoo.
Google's ad-supported Custom Search for internal site search got some attention this week with updates for its mobile layout. The last time Google announced an update for this feature? Way back in July. If you have one of the 600,000 or so sites using Google Custom Search, the new look could mean better mobile search engagement and potentially more revenue from AdSense Custom Search ads.
More below, including Search Shorts and LinkedIn SEO tips.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief