Traditionally, travel advertisers including online travel agencies are among the biggest search ad spenders on Google. That business tanked last year, but ecommerce-related search advertising outperformed thanks to the supercharged digital retail environment.

During the pandemic, consumers made fewer local searches, and local search advertising dropped dramatically.

I'm feeling lucky: Google's raking in search ad revenue

How much will US marketers spend on search advertising in 2020? The pandemic is a drag on search ad growth this year, but advertisers will still increase their paid search investments in the US by 5.9% to nearly $60 billion. About two in five digital marketing dollars will go to search ads as ecommerce retailers and others seek to drive conversions in a tough economy.