Merkle-2018年Q1数字营销报告（英文版）-2018.6-30页

Digital Marketing Report Summary - Q1 2018

Core Content Overview

This report provides a detailed analysis of digital advertising trends in Q1 2018, focusing on paid search, organic search, social media, display advertising, and Amazon comparison shopping engines (CSEs). It highlights shifts in ad spending, click growth, cost-per-click (CPC), and device usage across major platforms like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Amazon.

Key Insights

Paid Search Trends

• Google Paid Search Spend Growth: Google paid search spend grew by 20% Y/Y in Q1 2018, driven by a 13% increase in CPC. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of growth for Google.

  • Text Ad Spend: Grew by 4% in Q1, down from 15% in Q4 2017.
  • Google Shopping Spend: Grew by 40% Y/Y, the highest rate since early 2016, with 60% of all Google paid search clicks for retailers.
  • Brand Keyword CPC Growth: Increased by 28% Y/Y, up from 23% in Q4 2017, indicating a strong reversal from previous declines.
  • Device Breakdown:
    • Phones: Accounted for 55% of Google paid search clicks.
    • Tablets: Contributed 9% of clicks for Bing and 19% for Yahoo.
    • Desktop: Still a major contributor, but its share has been declining.

• Bing Ads & Yahoo Gemini:

  • Paid search spend grew by 30% Y/Y, the first positive growth in three quarters.
  • Bing Product Ads saw a 64% increase in spend and 110% increase in clicks.
  • Yahoo Organic Search Visits declined to its largest drop in the report's history.

• Amazon Advertising:

  • Sponsored Products and Headline Search Ads spend increased by 96% and 90% Y/Y, respectively.
  • Headline Search Ads CPC rose by 128%, showing heightened competition.
  • PLA (Product Listing Ads) accounted for 86% of Amazon Marketing Services spend, with 60% of Google search ad clicks for retailers coming from PLAs.

Organic Search & Social

• Total Organic Search Visits: Remained flat Y/Y, with 8% growth on phones and 6% decline on desktop and tablets.
• Yahoo and Bing Organic Search Visits: Both experienced their largest declines in the report's history.
• Social Media Impact:
  • Social media drove 3.4% of all site visits in Q1 2018.
  • Phones and Tablets accounted for over 75% of these visits.

Display & Paid Social

• Facebook Spend: Increased by 48% Y/Y, despite a 5% decline in impressions. CPC and CPM rose by 10% and 70%, respectively.
• Instagram Spend: Grew by 62% Y/Y, with impressions doubling, though it remains a smaller share of overall paid social spend compared to Facebook.
• Audience-Targeted Ads: Accounted for 34% of Google search ad clicks in Q1 2018, up from 19% a year earlier, contributing to better conversion rates and revenue per click.

Mobile & Device Trends

• Mobile Dominance: Phones and tablets accounted for 60% of all paid search clicks in the US, up from 55% in Q4 2017.
• Phone Spend Share: Reached a 39% share of paid search spend in the US, up from 26% in Q4 2017.
• CPC by Device:
  • Phone CPC was 60% lower than desktop.
  • Tablet CPC was 33% lower than desktop.
• iOS Dominance: Captured 64% of mobile paid search clicks, up from 62% in previous quarters.
• Browser Trends:
  • iOS and Desktop Safari accounted for 44.5% of all paid search clicks.
  • Chrome captured 22% of desktop clicks.
  • Firefox saw a significant increase in Google click share after becoming the default search provider, rising to 83% of Firefox paid search clicks.

Regional Insights

• UK Market:
  • Google search ad spending grew by 10% Y/Y.
  • PLA click share rose to 60%, up from 59% in Q4 2017.
  • Phone Click Share dipped slightly to 62%, while tablet click share increased to 17%.
  • Phone Spend Share reached 30%, the highest in three years.

Amazon & Comparison Shopping Engines

• Amazon's Google Shopping Impression Share declined across many categories, especially in Home Goods.
• Sponsored Products and Headline Search Ads continued to grow rapidly, with Headline Search Ads showing the most significant CPC increase.
• Local Inventory Ads (LIAs) and Showcase Shopping Ads saw steady growth, with LIAs contributing 7% of desktop clicks and Showcase Shopping Ads doubling their share on mobile.

Conclusion

The Q1 2018 digital marketing landscape shows a shift towards mobile and shopping-based advertising. Google continues to dominate paid search, but its growth has slowed compared to previous quarters. Bing and Yahoo have seen increased spend and click growth, driven by Product Ads and mobile traffic. Amazon's presence in Google Shopping auctions has declined, but its own advertising formats are growing rapidly. Social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, are also seeing strong ad spend growth, with Facebook leading in overall impact. Organic search traffic is declining, especially for Yahoo and Bing, while audience targeting and improved ad quality are driving better performance across Google search ads.