Global Paid Search Spending Grew 18 Percent in 2012

Covario, Inc., the leading independent search marketing agency, today issued its fourth quarter Global Paid Search Spend Analysis, reporting that spending on pay-per-click advertising (PPC) by its enterprise technology, consumer electronics, and retail clients rose 15 percent over the same quarter last year and 18 percent for the year as a whole over 2011.

Paid search advertising on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, continued to accelerate throughout the year with mobile PPC spend increasing 30 percent in the fourth quarter year-over-year and 10 percent over the previous quarter. Plus, for the second consecutive quarter, cost-per-clicks (CPCs) on tablets exceeded those on personal computers.

Alex Funk, the author of the quarterly report and Covario's director of performance media, said global paid search spending growth for the year was generally in line with the firm's 2012 forecast.

Keyword pricing leveled out quarter-over-quarter with CPCs up 3 percent for the year due to what Funk described as "an emerging mobile headwind" of lower priced keywords for smartphones.

On a regional basis, Asia/Pacific experienced year-on-year growth of 13 percent. In the first signs of a slowdown, however, search spending in the region saw a double-digit decline in the fourth quarter versus the prior one. Despite the volatility, Funk sees APAC as a region where "major opportunities exist for paid search."

The Americas, led by the U.S. and Canada, saw strong 21 percent year-on-year growth in paid search spending in the fourth quarter. Paid search spend in Europe remained a bit more subdued with 10 percent fourth quarter growth versus the same period last year.

"The year-over-year balance in impressions, clicks, and costs demonstrates growth in the search universe in conjunction with a small increase in both CTRs (click-through rates) and CPCs," Funk said. "However, the quarter-on-quarter trends for impressions, clicks and costs paint a somewhat different picture that may not be indicative of the entire market."

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