Performance marketing agency Merkle released its quarterly Digital Marketing Report last week, providing insights on the trends driving the paid search, organic search, display, and social media advertising markets. The report confirmed that digital marketing is both evolving and healthy.

Spending on paid search ads continued to grow last quarter, but more slowly than in the past. Desktop spending was shaky, up just 2 per cent year-over-year, but bolstered by mobile spending, which was up 47 per cent. Mobile search is also driving growth in ad clicks. It now accounts for 59 per cent of total clicks, up from 51 per cent in Q1 2018. However, mobile ads still deliver a lower cost-per-click (CPC) than desktop ads.

Google Shopping ads have become increasingly popular. Spending on this format was up 41 per cent YOY, spurred by a whopping 77 per cent increase in mobile spending. Text ads, meanwhile, have not fared well – spending fell 12 per cent from last year.

As users and advertisers continue to spend more time on their phones and less on desktop and laptop computers, expect these trends to continue to accelerate. Desktop search ads remain important to many digital marketing campaigns, especially in certain industries, but the shift to mobile is at this point irreversible.

“Google’s primary revenue source still overwhelmingly comes from search ads,” wrote Third Door Media’s Editor-In-Chief Ginny Marvin for Search Engine Land. “With competition from Facebook, Instagram and Amazon, expect to see continued focus on automated campaigns and optimization and new formats and inventory.”

As a Google Premier Partner digital marketing agency with access to valuable insights on Google’s preferred practices, GrowthEngine Media is uniquely positioned to provide a competitive advantage through our comprehensive suite of digital marketing solutions. From paid search advertising to social media management, GrowthEngine is here to address any and all marketing challenges.