Marin Software, a leading provider of digital marketing software for performance-driven advertisers and agencies, today released research findings from its Q3 2019 Digital Advertising Benchmark Report. This quarter’s report found a seasonal leap in eCommerce advertising and mobile search continuing its steady increase.
Marin Software’s research and takeaways are presented in an interactive format that allows viewers to analyze trends by region, industry, and publisher. Key findings from Marin Software’s research include:
- eCommerce Continues to See Significant Growth: The 115 percent year-over-year increase in eCommerce spend is largely attributed to Amazon Advertising growth and seasonality around Prime Day. The cost per eCommerce click was up 10.5 percent compared to Q2 2019. In total, retailers spent 40 percent of their budgets on Shopping ads, and the number of clicks on Shopping ads increased 14 percent quarter-over-quarter, all pointing to big opportunities for marketers.
- Mobile Search Drives Search Spend: Nearly half (47 percent) of total search spend was dedicated to mobile advertisements. Local search queries from customers are more frequently occurring on smartphones, driving advertisers to examine how to best capitalize on the trend.
- Overall Search Click Volume Up: Search click volume has grown 14 percent YoY, with a big jump in ad clicks for healthcare (85 percent). Today’s digital advertising landscape has more of a “real-time” approach in that it can connect doctors and patients more immediately. Healthcare brands are able to reach potential customers with discretion, often when they’re actively searching for information about their health problems.
“Amazon continues to impact and shape advertising trends and this quarter is no exception. Our customer base reached a new quarterly high in eCommerce ad spend, due in part to a record-breaking Prime Day and a strong back to school season,” said Wes MacLaggan, SVP of Marketing for Marin Software. “While we expect the eCommerce segment to continue to grow as competitors try to gain more market share, we’re also keeping our eyes on non-eCommerce features that are set to shake up the industry, such as Instagram Explore Feed and Facebook Watch, which offer marketers the chance to capitalize on what’s culturally relevant and trending. As we enter the busy Q4 season, the smartest marketers will drive performance by optimizing campaigns for each unique platform while connecting the dots across channels.”
To create its Q3 2019 Digital Advertising Benchmark Report, Marin Software aggregated data from customers who invest billions of dollars in combined annualized ad spend on paid search, mobile, and eCommerce. Marin Software only includes those advertisers active on its platform for the past five quarters, measuring key performance indicators on a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis, and removing any outliers with significant YoY or QoQ changes.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, statements regarding advertising trends and expected developments in the advertising industry and regarding Marin’s business, research, and product capabilities. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors including, but not limited to, our ability to grow sales and marketing capabilities, retain and attract personnel, develop and release new features, increasing competition in our market, fluctuations in our operating results and inability to forecast financial metrics, and other general market, political, economic, and business conditions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value, and effect as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent report on Form 10-K, recent reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K which Marin Software may file from time to time, all of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Any of these risks could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release reflect Marin Software’s expectations as of October 31, 2019. Marin Software assumes no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update, any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.