Global Ad Trends: Search

James McDonald, Rob Clapp

This report summarises the latest research from WARC's Data platform, with a focus on search advertising. Key findings include:
  • Search spend is rising (up 9.6% to $135.9bn worldwide this year) but its share of internet is at its lowest in over a decade.
  • Spend on mobile search is rising ahead of consumption; mobile's share of search traffic has plateaued globally.
  • Practitioners regard search as the easiest channel to measure and they will continue to increase investment in 2020.
  • Mobile search is more cost-effective than display advertising on Google’s network: cost per action (CPA) is $80.89 on average.
  • One in three purchases begins on Amazon, but vertical search is core to certain sectors.
  • Voice is becoming a new search battleground...

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