Smartphones and tablets combined to account for 28% of organic search traffic in Q3, up from 26% a quarter earlier and 21% a year earlier, per the latest quarterly report [download page] from RKG. Most of that traffic (roughly 19%) came from iOS devices, fairly evenly split between the iPad and iPhone, as Android devices contributed another 8% of traffic. While Google has traditionally seen a greater share of mobile traffic than Yahoo, this past quarter saw Yahoo pulling ahead. During Q2, an estimated 31% of Yahoo’s searches came from mobile devices, slightly edging Google’s estimated 30% share. Both were up from about 28% share in Q2.
Other Findings:
- Google paid search spend grew by 18% year-over-year in Q3, while ad clicks increased by 8% and costs-per-click (CPCs) by 9%.
- Total paid search for RKG clients grew by 21% year-over-year. IgnitionOne recently reported 13% year-over-year growth in search spending among its clients in the US.
- Mobile generated 31% of Google paid clicks and 25% of clicks for Bing ads.
- Smartphones (14%) and tablets (16%) combined to generate about 30% of paid search clicks, and about 23% of paid search spend.
- Smartphone revenue-per-click (RPC) was 74% lower than desktops and laptops in Q3, while tablet RPC was about 10% lower.
- Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) accounted for 35% of Google search ad clicks, with CPCs remaining 15-20% lower than competitive text ads in the aggregate.
- While social media referred just a fraction all site visits, Facebook continued to account for the lion’s share. Pinterest grew to account for almost 14% of social visits, with Google+ only at about 1%.
- Paid search revenue would increase by 67% if a site wer to switch from a last-touch to a first-touch attribution model.
About the Data: Figures are derived from samples of RKG clients who have worked with RKG for each respective marketing channel. Where applicable, the samples are restricted to those clients who 1) have maintained active programs with RKG for at least 19 months, 2) have not significantly changed their strategic objectives or product offerings, and 3) meet a minimum ad spend threshold. All trended figures presented in the report represent the average same-site change over the given time period.
