Report: Global paid search up 18% YoY

The mobile search spend increased by about 30% in Q4 2012/YoY.

"The year-over-year balance in impressions, clicks, and costs demonstrates growth in the search universe in conjunction with a small increase in both CTRs (click-through rates) and CPCs," said Alex Funk, Covario Director of Performance Media and author of the report. "However, the quarter-on-quarter trends for impressions, clicks and costs paint a somewhat different picture that may not be indicative of the entire market."

The North American spend (US and Canada) showed a 21% YoY increase in spending while Europe saw a 10% increase in search spending. Other interesting findings include:

• Google holds an 86% market share globally, ad spending on Google saw a 13% increase
• Yahoo/Bing holds an 8% market share and saw spending increase by 23% YoY
• Baidu now accounts for about 5% of the global PPC spend with impressions at more than 20% (Globally)

Baidu, Funk notes, has up to an 80% market share in China and saw spending increase by more than 50% YoY.

Funk suggests search spending will increase by more than 15% through 2013; his research outlines Latin America as a large growth region as more of their consumer base goes online.

Meanwhile, tablets now make up the bulk of mobile search spending (64%). Funk points to tablet users' newfound shopping affinity and notes that in 2012 the mobile search spend showed a smartphone share of 56%.

Tags: Covario, global search marketing, PPC spending, PPC trends, search marketing