According to Tinuiti, RLSAs were responsible for a declining share of Google search ad clicks between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020. The search agency’s Q3 2020 “Google Ads Benchmark Report” noted that the decrease in cookie data could lead to further decreases in the future.

Larger retailers are beginning to act more like digital media companies by leveraging their web traffic and first-party customer data into ad businesses.

Paid search ads run on smartphones and tablets accounted for just 41% of search ad spending in Q3 2019 because performance lagged on mobile phones compared with desktop. For nonbranded paid search placements, for example, revenues per click on mobile were just 34% as high as on desktop, and costs-per-click (CPCs) were 47% as high.

Wave 4 of IAB Canada’s polling in May showed 22% of respondents had increased spending on paid search in support of reopening efforts. Historically, the strength of search spending was all about Google. But search keyword ads are becoming more popular in new environments, particularly Amazon, which has supplanted Google as the de facto engine for retail-related search.

The coronavirus pandemic is putting a major dent in US digital ad spending growth. Outlays will increase by just 1.7% this year—read on to learn what that means for major ad channels and platforms.

The large drop in local search will continue to suppress mobile CPCs, and consequently Google revenues. Sustained business from larger advertisers will not offset all of this. At the same time, however, the IAB data indicates that both Facebook and Google are experiencing smaller drops from larger advertisers than other publishers. There are some bright spots for mobile advertising, though.

Google. InMotionNow. InSource. RSW/US. Serpico. Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA). The Drum. Uplers. World Federation of Advertisers.

About a quarter (24%) said they had stopped or reduced spending on paid search—the smallest share among all the ad channels listed.