The future of online advertising looks fascinating, especially with the pace of digital development.
It is also likely that you have already heard of advertising campaigns on search engines as well as their ability to generate instant traffic to a website.
But to what extent can this marketing technique contribute to the development of your business? This is probably the question that brought you to this article.
Well, Google ads generate on average 200% return on investment ? ????
When I discovered this figure, I only wanted to dig deeper to see the potential of this aspect of digital marketing that is Search Marketing Advertising (SEA).
Rest assured, I have tried to gather the most significant statistics that attest to the effectiveness of Search Engine Advertising. ????
These are figures which come from the results of several studies carried out by agencies specializing in the field.
Ready ? Let’s go!
What is Search Engine Advertising?
To gain visibility and notoriety for a website, it is essential to work well on its SEO on search engines. But unlike SEO which requires long-term work, SEA is a strategy which allows you to obtain results almost instantly.⚡
Source : Digital
SEA (Search Engine Advertising) is a marketing strategy which consists of placing advertisements in the first results of search engines.
Unlike SEO which requires the use of several practices to attract Google or other search engines before obtaining a good ranking, SEA allows you to pay for increasing the positioning of a site on strategic keywords.
And as with any paid marketing strategy, with SEA too, the higher your capital, the more chance you have of occupying the best positions. ????
However, it should be noted that it is not enough to just pay to the search engine to hope to see your site at the top of the list.
SEA also requires the use of dedicated tools to launch proper advertising campaigns. On Google, we generally use Google Ads, previously known as Google Adwords.
Like SEO, Search Engine Advertising also makes it possible to achieve most of a company’s marketing objectives, namely the generation of more:
- Notoriety;
- Traffic;
- Of leads ;
- Return on investment;
- Etc.
If you still doubt its effectiveness, let’s look at some numbers that will probably change your mind.
Statistics related to the use of search engines.
Before advertising on search engines, you need to have an idea of their importance for an online business. Here are some figures that are likely to not leave you indifferent. ????
1. 81% of Internet users search for a product or service on search engines (Smart Insights).
In 2020, the purchase of products online has grown significantly. The majority of Internet users now direct their search for solutions to their various problems to search engines.
Source : Smart Insights
2. 70.38% of Internet users use Google as a search engine on a desktop computer (NetMarketShare).
Google continues to hold the large share of the search engine market. According to NetMarketShare, more than 70% of internet users use Google to search.
It should be noted that this figure saw a slight drop compared to the percentages obtained the previous year. Despite this slight drop, Google still remains the most used search engine in the world. ✨
It is therefore important to take this parameter into account when developing your advertising marketing strategy.
For example, if you are considering launching an advertising campaign to sell or to generate traffic to your online store, it is relevant to think about Google because it is the most well-known search engine.
3. Google represents 93.87% of the mobile search engine usage share (NetMarketShare).
It’s no longer a secret that Google has the largest share of the search engine usage market in the world and it’s no surprise that this is the case with mobile.
The various work carried out by Google to improve the mobile user experience (UX) for SEO has surely contributed to this sharp increase in the rate of use of Google on Smartphones. ????
Users with ads on search engines
Now let’s take a look at how users interact with search engine ads.
4. 46% of Internet users cannot tell the difference between a sponsored ad and an organic result (PPC resellers).
Most marketers don’t like it to be known that they are running a sponsored ad. Fortunately, almost one in two Internet users do not differentiate between paid advertisements and organic results.
5. 73% of Internet users hate pop-up ads (Wordstream)
Pop-up ads are advertisements that open like a window when you browse a website. You may have already closed one too.
As a marketer or advertiser, you should avoid relying too heavily on pop-ups in your strategies.
In fact, approximately 81% of visitors regularly close and leave the browser or website because of pop-up advertisements. It must be recognized that this strategy is very annoying and tends to harm the customer experience.
6. 86% of consumers in the United States search for local businesses on the Web (Go-gulf)
Local businesses can take advantage of paid ads on the search engine to boost their results.
A recent survey shows that 86% of American consumers go online to specifically look for local businesses. ????
This implies that locally targeted Google Ads could become very valuable on search engines in the coming years. It would therefore be profitable for companies to use targeted advertising in their marketing strategy.
7. Around 46% of search engine queries are local (Momentfeed)
If many people use search engines to search for a place, a location, then the importance of targeted advertising no longer needs to be demonstrated.
Statistics estimate that paid advertising ads work well when they are directly oriented to a well-defined location. Momentfeed confirms that 46% of all internet searches are for a location or locality.
This is yet another reason to use options to focus your advertising on a given location.
8. 2 out of 3 people who click on paid ads are people looking for products or services to buy (Crypto Visibility)
Internet users often click on paid links when they are ready to make a purchase. This will mean that companies that want to sell must strengthen their PPC marketing strategy. ????
9. 75% of Internet users who have clicked at least once on a paid ad confirm that they are satisfied and that the advertisements help to obtain the information they are looking for (Clutch.co).
When someone clicks on your paid ad, you have a double chance. Firstly, you have a high probability of selling and then giving a good brand impression to this customer.
Approximately ¾ of people who click on paid links confirm that they have had the information they are looking for.
This testimony should motivate advertisers or companies to work better on advertising on search engines.
10. 33% of Internet users click on ads because they respond directly to their queries (Clutch.co).
Internet users who click on paid ads do so because of the relevance of the ad.
33% of people surveyed by Clutch.co on the subject confirm that they click on sponsored ads because they present results relevant to their needs.
Therefore, to generate clicks on ads, advertisers must necessarily know their targets and the probable needs they may have in order to convey truly relevant messages.
11. 52% of online customers interact with paid ads (Craig Mcconnell)
Advertisements encourage the buyer to interact with the advertising brand or company. PPC marketing leads the Internet user to contact the company and start a conversation. ????
It is up to the advertiser to present its products and services, to make its image known and above all to inspire confidence in the prospect.
12. 71% of Internet users who click on the ads say that the content of the links is interesting (ecommerce-nation).
Of the 45% of users who regularly click on ads, the majority (71%) say they were satisfied with the service. This figure is detailed as follows:
- 11% of people say they are satisfied “most often”;
- 34% are satisfied “from time to time”:
- 26% are “rarely satisfied”.
These statistics only confirm the effectiveness of sponsored ads placed on keywords and oriented towards a defined target. It is also up to advertisers to make advertisements more relevant in order to get a more consistent return.
13. 90% of Internet users see Google display ads (Wordstream)
Marketers and advertisers often face obstacles like ad blindness and ad blockers.
These two problems often have repercussions on the effectiveness of Google Ads advertisements, whether at the level of the company which creates the ad or at the level of the site which hosts the advertisements.
However, these obstacles do not prevent advertising from being effective. Statistics prove that Google display ads reach 90% of the entire global digital population.
It is therefore important to remember that Google Ads advertisements are very effective. ????
14. Google Ads ads with call-to-action keywords get 65% of clicks on search results (Crypto Visibility).
Keywords that express buyer intent have unimaginable power to generate clicks from Internet users. These keywords include terms like:
- Best price ;
- Free purchase and delivery;
- Etc.
According to Crypto Visibility, buyer intent keywords drive about 65% of ad clicks.
So take this parameter into account when developing your next advertising campaigns. ????
Ad usage statistics
Search Engine Advertising is as interesting a strategy as any other when it comes to developing the authority of sites and online stores. Here are some figures which show the effectiveness of this lever.
15. About 80% of businesses do click-through advertising on Google (PPC resellers).
As the world’s most popular search engine, Google has managed to build and maintain trust with users. This explains its dominance in all areas related to digital marketing.
Just like in natural referencing, Google has also taken the reins of the paid advertising market. Marketing statistical data confirms that 8/10 companies centralize their advertising spending on Google. ????
The remaining 22% of companies carry out their paid advertising marketing on other search engines, especially Bing and Yahoo.
16. 32% of brands use click-through advertising to directly sell a product or service (PPC resellers).
Click-through advertising, also called PPC, can be used to sell a specific product.
That is, a business may decide to sponsor a placement to advertise a specific product among search results instead of promoting the entire business.
17. The average cost per click on Bing ads increased by 6% (Statistics Stats)
Bing is the second most used search engine in the world behind Google. Paradoxically to the latter, the operational mode of PPC marketing on Bing is based on the number of people who clicked on the advertisement.
The most important thing to remember here is the fact that the cost of advertising on Bing is getting higher and higher while on the other hand, the cost of advertising on Google is falling.
According to data relayed during the fourth quarter of 2018, Bing increased advertising payments on its platform by 6% while Google Ads fell by up to 13% in the same quarter.
Source : WordStream
This increase shows that many advertisers are starting to experiment with the platform. It should be noted that one of the common objectives of advertisers is to advertise on all search engines in order to benefit from competition between search engines.
18. 85% of marketers attest that SEO and paid ads are the best marketing strategies to get customers (WebFx).
Considered B2C marketers, this category of marketers employs all the strategies necessary to prospect.
According to the results of a survey published by WebFx, 85% of retailers agree that natural referencing and SEA are the most effective marketing strategies in the world. ✨
This is a confirmation of the ideas we have always had about natural referencing, but also a revelation of the power of SEA.
19. 65% of B2B companies can use advertising marketing to grow their customer base on LinkedIn (PPC resellers).
One of the best things about click-through advertising is tailored targeting. Targeting allows you to know not only the prototype of your ideal clientele, but also their geographic location and the means to reach them.
Of course, Google is not the only platform where you can display ads. Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, You Tube, etc. can also promote your advertising.
20. Search network ad spending in 2021 is expected to be valued at $194,808 million (Statesman).
Marketing actions have increased significantly in 2021 and so has advertising. Unlike previous years, paid advertising marketing is used much more often:
This is a trend that is expected to continue with a gradual increase in the total cost of advertising spend. ????
21. Between the first and second position of the SERP results, there is a drop of 45% of the PPC click rate (Wordstream).
The display position of advertisements has a great influence on the click-through rate. Indeed, the more you invest in sponsoring the highest position, the more likely you are to earn a high click-through rate.
Wordstream claims that there is a 45% drop in average click-through rate from the first position of results to the second position.
To hope to get more profit from click-through advertising, it is therefore advisable to bid and optimize your ads sufficiently to aim for first position. ????
22. In the United States, advertisers plan to increase the budget allocated to advertising by 75% (PPC Statistics)
When Google Ads advertising campaigns are well designed and implemented, they instantly generate very satisfactory results.
Contrary to the stereotypes we have about paid advertising, it produces a very interesting ROI when it is deployed well.
This is why American advertising marketers have decided to increase their investments in paid advertising by 75%. ????
This increase is only the result of the very satisfactory ROI of advertising campaigns by Google Ads.
23. About ¾ of companies engaged in the marketing sector plan to increase their actions in PPC marketing (PPC resellers)
Knowing that Google’s revenues largely depend on PPC marketing, it is normal that such intentions are becoming more mature among marketers.
Indeed, the performance of paid advertisements is reflected on the one hand through data from Google itself. The large American company derives the majority of its revenue from advertising.
This fact therefore encourages the companies it hosts to also focus on click-through advertising campaigns. ????
Search Engine Watch research shows that from 7 to 2 percent of businesses and brands engaged in marketing, about 75 percent of them plan to increase their efforts in paid advertising.
24. Pacific Asia could soon dominate the global advertising market (Tech jury).
Advertising marketing experts announce that Asia Pacific is on the verge of becoming the leader of the advertising market in the world by 2022.
Certainly, North America has always ruled the advertising market for decades.
But since Asian economic growth, advertising activities in this part of the world have also grown exponentially. ????
25. In 2020, advertising costs can be estimated at around $600 billion (Tech jury).
Total global advertising spending has been growing since 2019. Statistics prove that the annual budget spent on advertising in 2019 exceeds a total of $563 billion.
With growth, global advertising spending in 2020 reached the $600 billion mark.
A first in history. These figures confirm the extent to which marketers around the world trust advertising for their business.
SEA return on investment statistics.
Curious to know how much you can get from your SEA strategies? Here are the numbers:
27. Google Ads represents 74% of Google’s revenue (Finshots).
Knowing that Google is the most used search engine in the world, it is normal that its advertising platform brings it a large part of its revenue.
Google Ads is a very effective platform belonging to the American firm Google which allows you to launch an advertising campaign.
Although its interface seems to be complicated for most users, it is still very popular. According to Finshots data, Google Ads alone constitutes 74% of Google’s earnings since its creation.
Indeed, Google benefits from the immensity of its audience as the most dominant search engine. It benefits from revenues from the Google.com site as well as revenues from partner platforms that use Google as a hosting site.
This is why Google Ads is recognized as one of the most effective web marketing tools in the world.
28. The first ad position has a probability of generating almost 8% of the click-through rate (PPC resellers).
The click rate that you can achieve by positioning yourself in the first position of the ads is estimated at 7,94%.
By comparing the average click rate of the first position compared to the other positions, we see that the latter only generates 2% average click rate.
It would therefore be more profitable to bid on the first position in order to better gain on your investment. ????
29. The average CTR (click through rate) for the Google Ads search network is 3.17% (Wordstream).
It is often difficult to assess your success on any platform without concrete references.
But to make it easier for you, you can learn from other marketers’ ad campaigns by trying to analyze their average CTR.
It is also essential to know the average conversion rate of clicks on Google Ads which is evaluated for search at 3,75% and 0.77% for display.
Source : Wordstream
30. PPC Marketing Can Help You Increase Your Brand Awareness 80% (PPC resellers).
The importance of advertising marketing does not only lie in the direct sale of products or services. A PPC marketing strategy can also contribute to the development of the image and notoriety of your brand or business.
Indeed, even when Internet users do not click on your ad, they are often tempted to take a look at your business if it is among the first results.
Recognition of your business in another search can lead those same people to click through to check out your product and service offerings. ????
31. The American company Nike experienced an increase in revenue estimated at $8.4 billion thanks to advertising (Tech jury).
A few years ago, precisely in 1998, Nike estimated its revenues at $800 million.
About ten years later, especially after the implementation of the “Just do it” advertising campaign, the company achieved an ROI of $9.2 billion.
The main reason for this sudden record is obvious. The advertising campaign, “Just do it” contributed greatly to this success and still continues to be their well-known advertising slogan.
32. Google Ads ads are 50% more likely to convert better than organic traffic (Wordlead)
Of course, organic traffic from Google is free and this allows you to have a fairly significant amount of traffic. However, we must not lose sight of the influence of advertising on conversion and sales.
In fact, people who search on Google with the intention of purchasing a product or service are much more likely to click on paid ads than on organic results.
In its 2019-2020 PPC Trends report, World Lead estimates that paid traffic has a 50% higher probability of conversion than organic traffic.
The next time you want to establish your budget for digital marketing, you might benefit from thinking about setting aside a few euros for paid advertising. ????
33. The three best sponsored advertising spots win 41% of clicks (PPC resellers).
If your brand is not among the top three SERP results, you need to review your sponsored positioning strategy.
Above all, don’t forget that organic results are also formidable competitors. Internet users are nevertheless very likely to click on the first or second result, talking about positions on the SERPs.
In the case of PPC, clicks can result in a purchase. It is therefore important to do everything to increase your chance of positioning.
34. With Google Ads, businesses have a 2x ROI on investment (PPC resellers).
Paid ads made on Google Ads generate around 2% of the initial investment depending on the click-through rate.
In fact, each $1.60 invested in a Google Ads advertisement generates approximately $3.
Unlike natural SEO, here you have to pay for each click you receive. But this strategy allows you to have a return on investment that is double what you invested.
Interesting, right? ????
Statistics related to advertising content distribution formats
Through these figures, you will have an idea of the types of advertising that work the most.
35. 49% of internet users are more likely to click on text advertising ads (Clutch.co).
Among the multiple ad formats of paid advertisements, almost half of users prefer text-type advertisements.
According to statistics from the Clutch.co agency, approximately 49% of Internet users click on text ads. Furthermore, 31% of them prefer Shopping or PLA ads and 16% click on video ads.
36. In 2017, American companies spent a total of $13.23 billion on the creation of digital video advertising (emarketer).
The popularity of video advertising adoption has grown rapidly, especially in the United States. American companies quickly understood the importance of video content for advertising.
Around $13 billion was invested in video advertising production in 2017. According to PPC statistics published by Wordstream, this amount should increase to 22 billion dollars by 2021.
37. 64% of customers confirm that video ads influence them to make a purchase (Wordstream).
Video content generally has the gift of stimulating engagement. This is why most content marketers integrate video into their strategies. ????
But beyond this ability that videos have to stimulate engagement, they also prove to be an indisputable sales tool.
38. A good headline, description or compelling image attracts 19% of people to click on an ad (Clutch.co).
The title and meta description of a paid ad must be well crafted. These two elements must be impactful and attractive in order to meet the needs of the Internet user.
Statistics related to Google Ads mobile advertising
We know how important mobile is, especially for web marketing. Here are some figures that show the mobile advertising efforts of experts.
39. Mobile advertising spending could be estimated at $280 billion by 2022 (Tech jury).
The use of smartphones has become very viral in recent years. Marketing statistics have even revealed that the majority of Internet users connect to the Internet from a Smartphone.
Some marketers, who quickly understood the influence that mobile can have on purchasing, have deployed strategies to adapt their advertising to mobile. ⚡????
In 2016, mobile ad spending was valued at $81 billion.
This value continues to climb and was estimated at $190 billion in 2019. In the statistical report published by Statista, mobile advertising spending could reach $280 billion in 2022.
40. 50% of queries on mobile devices are for local results (SEW).
We believe that searching on a mobile device takes up a large portion of searches on search engines.
This fact means that you will miss out on a large part of the internet traffic market if your site is not optimized for Smartphones and tablets.
More than 50% of queries come from mobile and 50% among this rate searches for local results. We therefore deduce according to WebFx that 25% of all search engine queries are made by people on the move. ????♂️
WebFx attests that these people want to find a location, or simply a local result. This statistic is important for companies operating in areas such as:
- Restoration ;
- Retail;
- Tourism ;
- Etc.
In summary
The search engine advertising industry has undergone great developments in recent years. It becomes very important for any business wishing to establish a place on the web to consider this very important pillar of web marketing.
To show you the reasons why it is necessary to do it, I have just presented you with statistics which attest to the effectiveness of SEA when it is used well.
If you find any that are interesting or if I missed any, don’t hesitate to share them with me in the comments. ????
