Paid search is moving onto tablets and smartphones
Mobile and tablet advertising is gaining momentum in paid search. Click-throughs and conversion rates have risen dramatically in the UK and are set to challenge the dominance of desk-top advertising in 2013.
The rapid adoption of smart mobile devices, such as the iPhone and the iPad, is changing how consumers engage with brands and conduct commerce.
New research by Marin Software has found that in January of last year, smartphone and tablet devices accounted for 14.8% of paid clicks – by December it has risen to 24.4%.
The surge has been put down to an increase in shopping and browsing on these mobile devices. Marin predicts that the paid clicks on mobile devices will have caught up with current leader desktop by 2014.
The research also puts the UK ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of smartphone click-through rates, second only to the US on a global scale. During 2012, Marin’s data indicates UK advertisers increased their smart mobile paid search budgets from 9.94% to 19.32% , an increase of 94%.
“This study indicates in no uncertain terms that the age of desk-top dominance in the paid-search advertising is coming to an end,” said Jon Myers, Commercial Director, EMEA at Marin Software.
“There has been a significant uptake of smartphone and tablets in the UK, and this country now leads Europe in terms of consumer engagement with mobile advertising as we all increasingly shop online on mobile devices.”
Tablets have proven to be a very successful device for advertisers. The report indicates that early UK adopter traffic resulted in a 36% increase in the cost per click for tablets.
“While the rise of tablets is no secret, what’s interesting is based on our report, tablet users engage with search ads more than ads on desktops,” Myers added.
“A high user involvement combined with favourable performance characteristics make search ads on tablets hard to resist for advertisers.”
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