The average cost per click (CPC) for paid search ads rose across all search engines in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a recent report from The Search Agency.
The analysis, based on data from US advertisers who ran paid search campaigns in 4Q13, found overall CPC increased 27.6% year over year (from $1.04 to $1.33) and 5.8% quarter over quarter (from $1.25 to $1.33).
Overall paid search spend also increased year over year (YOY), by 37.4%, and quarter over quarter (QOQ), by 6.3%.
Below, additional key findings from the report.
Google vs. Bing
- Google paid search impressions increased 38% YOY in 4Q13 and 1.1% QOQ.
- After three quarters of growth in impressions, Bing/Yahoo dropped 7% YOY and 28.9% QOQ.
- Google's share of paid search impressions reached 84.4% in 4Q13, a 7.6% increase YOY and a 6.6% increase QOQ.
- Bing/Yahoo has been steadily losing impression share to Google since 1Q13.
Trends by Device
- Total paid search spend on desktops increased 20.5% YOY and 1.2% QOQ.
- Total spend on tablets increased 79.8% YOY and 10.7% QOQ.
- Total spend on smartphones jumped 109.5% YOY and 25.8% QOQ.
About the research: The report was based on The Search Agency client data from 4Q13. All results were from US campaigns.
