Search Report: Click traffic up 27% YoY

Search marketing may not make as many headlines as mobile or ecommerce as it did a few years ago, but according to one report paid search still holds benefits for marketers - specifically engagement. According to new data from The Search Agency click traffic is up 27% Year over Year (YoY, 2012 vs. 2011) across search engines; meanwhile impressions in the US up just over 20% YoY.

by Kristina Knight

One shift in the search picture, though, is mobile. The Search Agency report finds mobile is pushing more paid search traffic than computer/laptops, with tablets seeing some of the strongest growth rates. Click traffic from tablets is up over 330% YoY; smartphone click traffic is up 105% (YoY). The leading advertisers for mobile search are turning out to be consumer goods, entertainment and customer service hubs.

• Clicks for consumer goods increased 9% overall; mobile clicks increased to 21.1%
• Clicks for consumer services increased 117% via mobile, computer clicks decreased 30%
• Entertainment/Media brands saw mobile traffic increase by more than 130%

"The search industry overall is continuing to thrive. Over the last quarter we've seen higher quality traffic on Yahoo!-Bing, driving advertisers to invest more in the growing search engine," said Keith Wilson, vice president of Agency Products at The Search Agency. "Another area of rapid growth is on tablets and mobile--we expect this growth to continue to pick up pace, especially as we hit the holiday shopping season and new tablets are introduced in to the market."

Perhaps one surprise from the report: Yahoo/Bing is seeing higher traffic growth than the Google network - the world's leading search engine. The Search Agency found click traffic on Yahoo/Bing increased by nearly 10% YoY while traffic from Google clicks increased less than 1%.

Tags: mobile search, paid search, search marketing, search trends, The Search Agency