Google Paid Search Spending Growth Slows to 12%; Facebook Spending Grows 69%; Merkle|RKG Releases

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 15, 2015--Merkle ( www.merkleinc.com ), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, announced the release of its Q2 2015 Merkle|RKG Digital Marketing Report. The report provides comprehensive and detailed insights into digital marketing trends, using data from the agency's vast client base to analyze activity in paid search, SEO, social media, product ads, display advertising, comparison shopping engines, and more.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150715006088/en/

Google growth continued to slow in Q2 2015, as paid search ad spending increased by just 12% YoY, down from 24% a year earlier. Google click traffic growth fell by 1%, as advertisers continue to face a higher average cost-per-click (CPC). Advertisers paid significantly higher costs to appear for their own brand names on Google in Q2 2015, seeing on average a 40% higher CPC. While Google has officially reported falling CPCs year-over-year, their numbers are reduced by low YouTube CPCs; Merkle|RKG data shows that Google-specific paid search CPCs rose 13% over last year in Q2.

Bing Ads growth also slowed from last quarter, but is still strong compared to last year. Paid search ad spending on Bing increased by 27% from Q2 2014, driven by a 24% increase in ad clicks. Bing ad CPCs grew by just 2%.

Meanwhile, Facebook ad spend and CPCs continue to rise; advertisers spent 69% more on Facebook ads, including Facebook Exchange (FBX), in Q2 this year compared to 2014. Both click volume and CPC increases contributed to the overall increase in investment, with the latter up 30% year-over-year.

Google, Yahoo, and Bing Continue to Jockey for Search Share

With Bing Ads striking a deal to replace Google as the default search provider for AOL, Merkle|RKG data shows that AOL produced 1% of overall Google search ad clicks in Q2 2015, a sizeable portion of the 8% share of Google clicks that search partners produced overall. This follows Google's loss of default search status on Firefox in Q4 2014, which resulted in it losing 2% of the overall U.S. search market. Also at stake is Google's status as the default search provider for the Safari browser and iOS devices, which produced 35% of search ad clicks in Q2 2015.

Yahoo's new search platform, Gemini, now accounts for 15% of total Bing and Yahoo paid search clicks across all devices, among advertisers who have adopted the program. Gemini traffic share jumped 2.2 points from April to May following the announcement that Yahoo could begin serving Gemini ads for desktop traffic. Yahoo also recently confirmed that it has tested running Google search ads on its domains; Merkle|RKG data finds that Google search ads produced 31% higher conversion rates than Bing Ads in Q2.

Amazon Increases Its Presence in Google Paid Search, Despite Shunning Product Ads

Although it has avoided Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs), Amazon's presence in Google text ad auctions has increased significantly. Over the last three years, Amazon's text ad impression share has nearly doubled across multiple retail industries.

Amazon's own product ad format continues to see success, with advertiser revenue from Amazon Product Ads up 85% year-over-year. Advertisers running both Amazon Product Ads and Google PLAs saw Amazon drive revenue equal to 17% of that driven by Google PLAs in Q2, nearly double the 9% figure from Q2 of last year.

Google Buy Button "Imminent"; Merkle|RKG Data Offers Context

As Google's buy button functionality for PLAs on phones appears imminent, Merkle|RKG found phone revenue-per-click running 58% lower than desktop in Q2 2015. By clicking the buy button, users would be directed to a Google website where they could complete their purchase. Doing so may ease the mobile buying process, as users could use Google-saved information to purchase and would be guaranteed a mobile-friendly experience. However, some advertisers have expressed concerns over the ability to cross-sell and upsell with Google handling the customers experience; Merkle|RKG finds that PLAs are already producing 13% smaller orders than text ads.

Other Q2 Highlights Include:

Paid Search:

Organic Search

Social Media Advertising

Comparison Shopping Engines

Display Advertising

About Merkle

Merkle is a global data-driven, technology-enabled performance marketing agency and the largest independent agency in the US for CRM, digital, and search. For more than 25 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency's heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights. When combined with its strength in performance media, Merkle creates customer experiences that drive improved marketing performance and shareholder value. With more than 2,700 employees, the privately held corporation is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland with 14 additional offices in the US and offices in London, Shanghai and Nanjing. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.

View source version on businesswire.com:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150715006088/en/

CONTACT: Merkle Inc.

Sarah Bourdeau, 443-542-4288

SBourdeau@merkleinc.com

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA MARYLAND

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY INTERNET MOBILE/WIRELESS SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS ADVERTISING MARKETING

SOURCE: Merkle

PUB: 07/15/2015 11:29 AM/DISC: 07/15/2015 11:29 AM

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150715006088/en