Favourable ad performance characteristics make mobile search increasingly critical growth opportunity

Favourable ad performance characteristics make mobile search increasingly critical growth opportunity

A new report on paid search clicks published today has found the UK is one of the leaders in mobile search.

The report, entitled The State of European Mobile Search Advertising 2012 and compiled by advertising management platform provider Marin Software, found 15.1% of paid search clicks in the UK during December 2011 came from mobile devices, leaving it second only to Japan and Australia.

Less than a week after another report found the UK had the largest e-commerce economy, Marin’s research found reveals UK mobile search went from strength to strength in 2011, with search’s share of paid clicks from mobile increasing by 180% from January to December 2011.

Capitalising on mobile adoption

It also said advertisers have started to acknowledge the growth in smartphone and tablet adoption, after the share of search budget for mobile grew by 191% (from 3.2% to 9.3%) through 2011. However, the percentage share of mobile clicks is still higher than spend at 15.1%, so it added that there is room for budgets to increase further.

The provider also highlighted that conversion rates on tablets are comparable to desktop computers at 4% against 4.7%, with cost per conversion 14% lower on tablets than desktops. In fact, the average cost-per-click on a smartphone was roughly half that of a corresponding desktop click, while a tablet cost-per-click was just more than two-thirds the cost of a desktop click.

“Mobile cuts across all online marketing channels, whether search, display, or social; much like the desktop market,” commented Ed Stevenson, Marin Software global agencies and international managing director.

Critical growth opportunity

However, Stevenson stressed that search represents the largest destination for mobile ad budgets. “The combination of explosive user adoption of mobile devices, coupled with favourable performance characteristics for ads, makes mobile search an increasingly critical growth opportunity for both advertisers and Google,” he added.

“As consumers shift their media consumption to mobile devices, advertisers need to seriously consider how to adapt their marketing strategies to capitalise.”

Registration to download the full report is available here.