Global Digital Advertising Report Adobe Digital Index Q4 2014
Table of contents Social 3 Key insights 4 Facebook post impressions 5 Black Friday Foursquare check-ins 6 Facebook post organic impressions 7 Facebook post share by post type 8 Facebook post interaction rate 9 Facebook post interaction rate by day Search 10 Search engine marketing (SEM) spend growth 11 SEM spend growth by search engine 12 Share of spend by search engine 13 Google shopping ad spend growth 14 Share of retail clicks by ad type 15 Holiday season spend and click growth 16 Global SEM spend growth by industry 17 Daily share of SEM clicks 18 CTR growth by country and search engine 19 CTR growth by industry 20 Google U.S. CTR and CPC growth by device type 21 CPC growth by country and search engine 22 CPC growth by industry Appendix 23 Recommendations 24 Predictions 25 Methodology 26 Tables 2
Key insights 1. Google Retail Shopping Ad spend grew dramatically during the holiday season outperforming Text Ad spend by almost 8x 2. Google ads continue to be more efficiently optimized with Click-Through-Rate (CTR) growth outpacing Cost-Per-Click (CPC) growth by more than 2x 3. Advertisers should remember Mobile Search Sundays, Desktop Search Mondays, and Facebook Fridays 4. Retailers turned to Facebook during holiday season to drive sales while marketers are quickly adjusting to Facebook algorithm changes 3
SOCIAL Facebook post impressions Retailers increased marketing efforts on Facebook during the holiday season. Posts: In retail, up 64% YOY; up 31% QOQ. Paid impressions: In retail, up 13% YOY; up 53% QOQ. 4
SOCIAL Black Friday Foursquare check-ins Consumers flocked to mass merchants and to malls this holiday season to do their shopping. Mass merchants led with 24% of all Black Friday retail check-ins. Malls were second with 21%. Specialty stores were third with 16%. 5
SOCIAL Facebook post organic impressions Organic impressions from Facebook posts continued to drop. However, some post types did better than others. Organic impressions from Facebook posts were down 32% YOY. Video posts performed the best for organic impressions, flat YOY. Text posts were affected most by algorithm changes, down 60% YOY. 100% 32% YOY DEC 2013 MAR 2014 JUN 2014 SEPT 2014 FACEBOOK AVERAGE ORGANIC POST IMPRESSION GROWTH DEC 2014 6
SOCIAL Facebook post share by post type Links were on the move after updates from Facebook. Link share of posts was up 68% YOY. Images share of posts was down 15% YOY. Videos share of posts was up 52% YOY. 7
SOCIAL Facebook post interaction rate Post interaction rates increased in retail and for video and link-based posts. Interaction rates for Facebook posts from retail brands were up 14% YOY. Interaction rates for links were up 36% YOY. 8
SOCIAL Facebook post interaction rate by day Facebook Friday Highest percent of interaction rates, post impressions, and posts occurred on Friday. Interaction rates were 15% higher on Friday than any other day of the week. Brand post impressions were 18% higher on Friday than any other day of the week. Brand posts were 28% higher on Friday than any other day of the week. Shares and likes happened on Friday more often than any other day of the week. 4% 2% 9
SEARCH Search engine marketing (SEM) spend growth The amount of money being allocated to search advertisement campaigns is steadily increased, up 12% globally YOY. Overall search advertisement spend in U.S. dollars grew 5% YOY. Europe SEM spend growth slowed in the most recent quarter, up 17% YOY; Great Britain spend was down 3% over the same time period. 10
SEARCH SEM spend growth by search engine Overall worldwide SEM ad spend on Google rose 8% YOY, while overall spend on Yahoo! Bing grew 36% during the same time period. Yahoo! Bing realized a strong YOY uptick in SEM spend, up 36% globally, outpacing Google by 3.5x. Global SEM ad spend on Google was up 8% YOY. 11
SEARCH Share of spend by search engine Although Google was still the dominant SEM player in the United States, share of SEM spend has trended towards Yahoo! Bing over the last five quarters. Google remained dominant in Europe and Great Britain, controlling 90% and 91% of market share respectively in the most recent quarter. Yahoo! Bing increased their share of SEM ad spend in the United States to 32% in the most recent quarter. 12
SEARCH Google shopping ad spend growth Shopping Ads are major revenue growth drivers for Google, via USD retail ad send. Google Shopping Ad spend growth up 47% YOY. The holiday season drove Google Shopping Ad spend growth up 53% QOQ. Google Text Ad spend in retail sector down 6% YOY. 13
SEARCH Share of retail clicks by ad type Google shopping ads accounted for 20% of all retail SEM clicks in the United States. Google text ad clicks lead the U.S. retail sector with 66% share. Yahoo! Bing released Product Ads in March 2014 to all US advertisers, which in Q4 2014 represented less than 1% of U.S. retail clicks. 14
SEARCH Holiday season spend and click growth Key days throughout the holiday season contributed heavily to click growth as well as spend growth. Global shopping ad clicks were up 53% on Cyber Monday over November 1, 2014; ad spend was up 53% on Singles Day. Text ad clicks were up 59% on Cyber Monday over November 1, 2014; spend was up 87%. 15
SEARCH Global SEM spend growth by industry Industries were affected by seasonality, with SEM spend in travel increasing in the spring and retail SEM spend growing in the holiday season. SEM ad spend in the retail industry grew 7% YOY. During that same period, search ad spend in the travel industry declined by 4%. 16
SEARCH Daily share of SEM clicks Mobile ad clicks were more frequent during the weekend, whereas Mondays saw the highest desktop search traffic compared to all other days of the week. The share of mobile ad clicks on Sunday was 17% higher than the average day. On Mondays, text ad clicks are 9% higher than on the average day; Saturdays were 11% lower. 17
SEARCH CTR growth by country and search engine SEM marketing becomes more optimized as overall CTRs increased in the United States, up 22% YOY. Japan saw the highest increase in CTR up 24% YOY. Global Google CTR was up 19% YOY, while Yahoo! Bing CTRs were relatively flat over the year. GLOBAL SEM CTR GROWTH BY SEARCH ENGINE 18
SEARCH CTR growth by industry CTRs were up across several industries YOY, increasing as much as 36% in the financial industry. The finance and travel industries saw the highest increase in CTR YOY, up 36% and 33% respectively. The heavily competitive retail industry saw a 9% increase in CTR YOY. 19
SEARCH Google U.S. CTR and CPC growth by device type With programmatic buying tools across multiple platforms becoming available, mobile is the new frontier for marketers and advertisers to fully optimize. For U.S., mobile devices drove higher CTR growth; up 27% YOY for tablets and 26% for smart phones. GOOGLE U.S. CPC GROWTH BY DEVICE TYPE GOOGLE U.S. CTR GROWTH BY DEVICE TYPE 20
SEARCH CPC growth by country and search engine CPC rates slowly increased and did not keep pace with CTRs. CPC was up 12% YOY in Great Britain. Google CPC was up 8% YOY, while CPC on Yahoo! Bing was up 7% during that same time period. GLOBAL SEM CPC GROWTH BY SEARCH ENGINE 21
SEARCH CPC growth by industry The holiday season saw CPC ramping up in all industries. CPC in the travel industry was up 13% YOY. CPC was down 10% YOY in the finance industry. 22
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Recommendations 1. Look to add links to content into brand posts in 2015 to take advantage of the growth due to Facebook algorithm changes. Also, when looking for organic impressions, try out a video post. It is the type that has been least effected by the decrease in organic impressions. 2. Fridays are a good day for interaction rates including likes and shares from brand Facebook followers. 3. Monday is seeing a rise in SEM clicks, advertisers need to focus more spend on this day to drive more engagement. 4. To remain competitive, retail advertisers need to incorporate shopping ads into their SEM strategy. 23
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Predictions 1. Shopping ad share will decline slightly in Q1 15, but will see strong growth in second half of 15 and comprise 30% of all SEM clicks in Q4 15 2. Non-retail advertisers will begin adopting shopping ads and see increase in visual ads 3. SEM CTR growth will continue to outpace CPC growth due to programmatic solutions and more advanced modeling to incorporate altering bids based on dimensions (i.e. device type, consumer demographics) 4. Negative spread between CTR and CPC YoY growth within Yahoo!/Bing will start to narrow as advertisers take lessons learned from Google marketing 5. Facebook organic impressions will drop nearly another 40% by 16. Facebook brand link and video posts will grow faster in 15 than image-based posts 24
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Methodology Based on consumer data to brand sites during 2013 and 2014. +400 billion Facebook post impressions +500 billion Google and Yahoo! Bing ad impressions Composed of aggregated and anonymous data from visits to websites in multiple industries and segments. Data captured via Adobe Marketing Cloud Adobe Media Optimizer, and Adobe Social. Visit our website: adobe.ly/digitalindex Read our blog: adobe.ly/digitalindex Follow us: @adobeindex and @adobeprimetime Ask a question or make a suggestion: digindex@adobe.com Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. 25
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Tables Black Friday Foursquare check ins Mass Merchants 24% Malls 21% Specialty and Misc. 16% Apparel 10% Hardware and Home Stores 7% Toy / Game Stores 6% Electronics 3% Sporting Goods 3% Drugstores / Pharmacies 3% Banks 3% Automotive Shops 3% Coffee Shops 2% Cosmetics Shops 2% Average Share of Facebook Posts by Post Type Q4 2012 Q4 2013 Q4 2014 Image 60% 65% 55% Link 13% 16% 27% Video 7% 6% 8% Text 20% 13% 10% Facebook average organic post impression growth 12/1/14 1/1/15 2/1/15 3/1/15 4/1/15 5/1/15 6/1/15 7/1/15 8/1/15 9/1/15 10/1/15 11/1/15 12/1/15 100% 103% 99% 97% 91% 86% 71% 77% 79% 72% 71% 72% 68% Facebook post share and interaction rate by day Share of post impressions Share of posts Interaction Rate Sunday 8.6% 10.3% 3.3% Monday 15.9% 14.6% 3.2% Tuesday 16.7% 15.3% 3.3% Wednesday 15.3% 15.7% 3.3% Thursday 15.1% 15.7% 3.4% Friday 17.6% 16.4% 3.8% Saturday 10.8% 12.0% 3.3% Facebook share of engagement type by day Comments Likes Shares Sunday 11.6% 12.2% 12.0% Monday 14.9% 14.6% 14.1% Tuesday 16.1% 15.0% 15.0% Wednesday 16.6% 14.2% 15.0% Thursday 14.3% 14.5% 15.1% Friday 14.1% 15.4% 15.2% Saturday 12.3% 14.1% 13.6% Global retail shopping ad spend growth Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 100% 76% 62% 70% 73% 74% 65% 67% 86% 88% 100% 123% 144% Global SEM spend growth by industry Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Automotive 100% 103% 101% 101% 118% 109% 105% 109% 113% 119% 103% 108% 116% Finance 100% 108% 112% 108% 107% 108% 92% 92% 101% 105% 89% 99% 100% Retail 100% 84% 81% 70% 80% 80% 81% 76% 80% 85% 85% 94% 107% Travel 100% 112% 133% 115% 119% 118% 122% 122% 127% 123% 107% 99% 96% Global retail shopping ad spend growth 11/1/14 11/2/14 11/3/14 11/4/14 11/5/14 11/6/14 11/7/14 11/8/14 11/9/14 11/10/14 11/11/14 11/12/14 11/13/14 11/14/14 11/15/14 11/16/14 11/17/14 11/18/14 Global Shopping Ad Click Growth 100% 115% 118% 111% 116% 116% 108% 108% 127% 126% 128% 122% 118% 111% 113% 134% 132% 126% US Shopping Ad Click Growth 100% 109% 121% 112% 113% 112% 105% 99% 112% 123% 132% 118% 118% 106% 109% 124% 135% 127% 11/19/14 11/20/14 11/21/14 11/22/14 11/23/14 11/24/14 11/25/14 11/26/14 11/27/14 11/28/14 11/29/14 11/30/14 12/1/14 12/2/14 12/3/14 12/4/14 12/5/14 123% 118% 113% 114% 135% 131% 124% 124% 119% 129% 126% 144% 153% 140% 139% 134% 128% 117% 109% 102% 103% 113% 110% 103% 99% 89% 110% 112% 123% 136% 123% 118% 120% 117% 26
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Tables 2014 Holiday Season daily retail click growth 11/1/14 11/2/14 11/3/14 11/4/14 11/5/14 11/6/14 11/7/14 11/8/14 11/9/14 11/10/14 11/11/14 11/12/14 11/13/14 11/14/14 11/15/14 11/16/14 11/17/14 11/18/14 US Text Ad Click Growth 100% 113% 116% 110% 112% 112% 104% 104% 115% 119% 119% 111% 107% 103% 107% 119% 124% 116% US Shopping Ad Click Growth 100% 109% 121% 112% 113% 112% 105% 99% 112% 123% 132% 118% 118% 106% 109% 124% 135% 127% 11/19/14 11/20/14 11/21/14 11/22/14 11/23/14 11/24/14 11/25/14 11/26/14 11/27/14 11/28/14 11/29/14 11/30/14 12/1/14 12/2/14 12/3/14 12/4/14 12/5/14 115% 110% 103% 108% 118% 118% 112% 107% 98% 135% 123% 130% 160% 128% 119% 114% 107% 117% 109% 102% 103% 113% 110% 103% 99% 89% 110% 112% 123% 136% 123% 118% 120% 117% Daily share of SEM clicks Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Desktop Text Ad Clicks 14% 16% 15% 15% 14% 14% 13% Desktop Shopping Ad Clicks 15% 15% 15% 14% 14% 14% 13% Mobile Ad Clicks 17% 15% 14% 14% 13% 13% 15% SEM CTR growth by country Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 United States 100% 100% 101% 107% 111% 113% 114% 108% 112% 116% 117% 118% 122% Great Britain 100% 104% 105% 108% 115% 119% 114% 113% 113% 117% 116% 116% 119% Japan 100% 92% 98% 102% 99% 101% 106% 99% 98% 101% 105% 114% 124% SEM CTR growth by search engine Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Google 100% 96% 96% 100% 103% 105% 106% 104% 106% 109% 110% 115% 119% Yahoo! Bing 100% 102% 101% 97% 96% 97% 97% 94% 97% 102% 106% 101% 100% SEM CTR growth by industry Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Automotive 100% 94% 95% 107% 121% 131% 123% 110% 112% 112% 117% 122% 129% Finance 100% 114% 121% 122% 123% 130% 128% 132% 137% 139% 143% 130% 136% Retail 100% 97% 94% 95% 95% 97% 100% 96% 96% 100% 101% 106% 109% Travel 100% 100% 101% 106% 113% 114% 118% 119% 122% 128% 128% 133% 133% 27
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Tables SEM CPC growth by country Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 United States 100% 92% 92% 93% 95% 93% 94% 93% 93% 94% 95% 100% 103% Great Britain 100% 101% 102% 102% 102% 101% 104% 103% 97% 100% 99% 106% 112% Japan 100% 103% 111% 110% 107% 102% 101% 103% 100% 107% 102% 109% 109% SEM CPC growth by search engine Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Google 100% 93% 94% 96% 98% 97% 99% 98% 97% 100% 101% 105% 108% Yahoo! Bing 100% 98% 97% 97% 100% 101% 101% 100% 96% 99% 102% 104% 107% SEM CTR growth by industry Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Automotive 100% 94% 97% 96% 94% 93% 91% 88% 90% 86% 90% 97% 103% Finance 100% 94% 86% 86% 88% 86% 90% 88% 86% 86% 87% 88% 90% Retail 100% 89% 91% 93% 97% 98% 100% 99% 99% 103% 105% 110% 113% Travel 100% 98% 100% 101% 101% 100% 101% 99% 96% 99% 104% 106% 113% 28