QUARTER 1 - 2019

table
of
contents
03 Executive Summary

06 Paid Search

17 Organic Search & Social

21 Display & Paid Social

25 Amazon Ads

d i g i t al . MARKETING. REPORT
executive summary
Q1 2019
Paid search spending growth slowed for the fifth straight quarter, as Google spend growth
decelerated to 16% Y/Y and spend across Bing and Yahoo declined 3% Y/Y. Google’s spend
growth deceleration has coincided with slowing growth in cost per click (CPC), but an acceleration
in click growth since Q2 2018 has helped keep spend growth strong.

Google Shopping was once again the primary driver of that click growth, as spend for the format
increased more than 40% Y/Y for the second straight quarter after growth had recently slipped to as
low as 31% in Q2 2018. Shopping’s renewed growth has seemingly come from Google efforts to place
the format in more auctions as Shopping ad impression growth has exploded, especially on phones.

But while Google Shopping click and spend growth has surged, text ads are headed in the opposite
direction, with a 12% decline in ad spend Y/Y in Q1 2019. For industries where Shopping ads are not
relevant, text ad spending growth was stronger, but still primarily driven by CPC increases.

Taken together, the Shopping and text ad trends seem to indicate Google is prioritizing Google
Shopping ads in some situations that would have previously featured text ads. Furthermore,
Shopping units are cannibalizing traffic that might have previously gone to those text ads.

Part of the expansion of Shopping can be attributed to the growth in variations of the ad format, such
as Showcase Shopping Ads and Local Inventory Ads, which are aimed at providing relevant Shopping
ads for users across a wider variety of searches. Showcase Shopping Ads grew from 3% of Shopping
clicks in Q1 2018 to 8% in Q1 2019, for participating advertisers, with Showcase ad units showing for
queries that were, on average, 19% shorter than those queries triggering traditional Shopping ads.

One update that had the potential to slow Google Shopping growth was the January
announcement that Yahoo would no longer show ads from its Gemini platform or Google Ads in
its results and would instead draw solely from Bing Ads inventory. However, the transition over to
Bing Ads didn’t begin until mid-March, limiting the impact to this quarter’s numbers.

The Search Network, through which Google was serving ads on Yahoo, accounted for only 6% of
Google Shopping traffic, with Yahoo’s share an unknown fraction of that, indicating the full impact will
be relatively minor for Google. Bing Ads should see a boost in ad click growth in Q2 2019 from the
new inventory.
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Another recent announcement that stands to impact Google’s ad business is the release of Apple
ITP 2.1 in March, which further restricted the use of cookie tracking for Safari browser users.
While the extent of the impact to Google’s audience targeting is difficult to precisely quantify, the
share of Google ad traffic attributed to cookie-based remarketing lists for search ads (RLSAs) has
declined in the two quarters since Apple released ITP 2.0. Similar and Seasonal Audience lists
have grown in traffic share over the same time frame.

On the organic side, Google continues to dominate visit share, particularly on mobile devices. However,
DuckDuckGo has seen the strongest growth of late, and in Q1 2019 saw visits increase 54% overall and
78% on mobile devices. This is especially impressive given how difficult it’s been for other search engines
to gain mobile share with Google’s position as the default search provider on most mobile devices.

Outside of traditional search, Amazon advertisers saw sales attributed to both Sponsored Products
and Sponsored Brands more than double Y/Y, as spend grew 19% and 77% for those formats
respectively. Sponsored Products accounted for 85% of all Amazon spend, with over half of spend
on the format coming from placements other than the top-of-search results. While Sponsored
Brands (formerly Headline Search Ads) are featured in more placements than last year, spend
share for the format has held roughly steady.

Facebook spend growth excluding Instagram dipped into negative territory for the first time in the
history of this report, declining by 2% Y/Y. Facebook continues to derive meaningful growth from
Instagram, which saw a 44% increase in ad spend Y/Y for the quarter and now accounts for 19% as
much spend as Facebook for advertisers active on both platforms.

Paid social spend growth continues to outpace that of traditional display advertising, growing 24%
Y/Y compared to 12% for display advertising. Instagram and Facebook command the vast majority
of paid social investment with a much larger roster of advertisers, but brands active on smaller
platforms like Pinterest are spending meaningful budgets relative to their Facebook investment.

paid search
·· Total paid search spending growth continued to decelerate for the fifth straight quarter,
weighed down by ad spend declines on Bing and Yahoo, as well as spend growth
deceleration on Google. However, click growth was the strongest it’s been since Q3 2017.
·· Google Shopping continued to drive Google advertising growth, as spend on the format
increased 41% Y/Y, compared to a 12% decline for text ads.
·· Google search spend on desktop and tablet devices grew just 2% Y/Y, while phone growth
accelerated to 46% from 42% in Q4 2018.
·· Google brand keyword CPCs finally started to level out after five straight quarters of double
digit increases. Brand CPCs increased by just 6% Y/Y in Q1 2019.
·· Phones and tablets combined to account for 65% of all paid search clicks for the quarter,
but just 44% of ad spend, as lower conversion rates on mobile devices continue to weigh on
mobile CPC relative to desktop.
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organic search & social

·· Organic search produced 26% of all visits and 24% of mobile website visits in Q1 2019, nearly
identical figures to what was observed in Q4.
·· DuckDuckGo organic search visit growth continues to outpace other search engines but is still
a relatively small part of the search engine ecosystem. It accounted for 0.5% of organic search
visits in Q1 2019, up from 0.3% last year.
·· Website visits attributed to social media accounted for over 4% of all site traffic in Q1 and 5% of
all mobile visits, both new highs for this report. Instagram saw the largest visit growth at 114%.

amazon ads
·· Amazon Sponsored Products spend grew 19% Y/Y, while Sponsored Brands (formerly known
as Headline Search Ads) grew 77%. Sponsored Products accounted for 85% of all Amazon ad
spend in Q1 2019.
·· Ad placements on product details pages accounted for 41% of all Sponsored Products clicks,
while the top-of-search results accounted for just 33%.
·· Brand keywords accounted for about a quarter of all Sponsored Brands and Sponsored
Products clicks and about half of sales, with spend share roughly in line with click share.

display & paid social

·· Facebook spend declined 2% Y/Y and ads in the Newsfeed saw a decline in CTR for the first
time since a January 2018 update limited the exposure of unsponsored posts from brands and
publishers.
·· Instagram spend grew 44% Y/Y, with increases in both pricing and ad impressions. The median
advertiser on both Facebook and Instagram spent 19% as much on the latter as on the former.
·· Pinterest remains a small platform relative to Facebook and Instagram, but in Q1 2019 Pinterest
advertisers spent more on the platform than on Facebook proper.
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paid search
Total paid search spending growth continued to decelerate for the fifth straight quarter,
weighed down by ad spend declines on Bing and Yahoo, as well as spend growth
deceleration on Google. However, click growth was the strongest it’s been since Q3
2017.
Google Shopping continued to drive Google advertising growth, as spend on the format
increased 41% Y/Y, compared to a 12% decline for text ads.
Google search spend on desktop and tablet devices grew just 2% Y/Y, while phone
growth accelerated to 46% from 42% in Q4 2018.
Google brand keyword CPCs finally started to level out after five straight quarters of
double digit increases. Brand CPCs increased by just 6% Y/Y in Q1 2019.
Phones and tablets combined to account for 65% of all paid search clicks for the quarter,
but just 44% of ad spend, as lower conversion rates on mobile devices continue to
weigh on mobile CPC relative to desktop.
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Paid Search Spending Growth Decelerates to 14% as CPC Increases Slow

Overall US Paid Search Total paid search spending increased 14%
+30% Y/Y Growth Y/Y in Q1 2019, down from 16% growth a
Ad Spend Clicks CPC quarter earlier. Bing and Yahoo continued
to be a drag on search spending growth,
as Google once again grew faster than the
+20%
overall average. Click growth for search ads
accelerated to 10% Y/Y, but CPC growth
+14%
slowed from 7% in Q4 2018 to 4% in Q1
+10% +10% 2019, primarily due to the mix shift to mobile
where CPCs remain lower than average.
+4%

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Google Search Spending Up 16% on Stronger Mobile Click Growth

Google Overall US Paid Search Google search spending rose 16% Y/Y in
+30% Y/Y Growth Q1 2019, down from a little under 18% in
Ad Spend Clicks CPC Q4 2018. While Google click growth has
accelerated for each of the past three
quarters, CPC growth has decelerated
+20%
for each of past five. Mobile, with its less
+16% expensive clicks, has been gaining ground
on desktop at renewed speed in the last two
+10% +11% quarters, while CPC growth for advertiser
brand keywords fell from 18% in Q4 2018 to
+5% just 6% in Q1 2019.

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Google Text Ads Cede Spending Growth to Shopping Ads

Google Spending by Ad Format Google text ad spending declines
Y/Y Growth increased to 12% Y/Y in Q1 2019, while
+45%
+41%
Google Shopping spending growth
remained robust at 41% Y/Y. For industries
+30% like retail, Shopping ads appear to be
cannibalizing text ad inventory at higher
rates in recent quarters, particularly on
Google Shopping (PLAs)
+15%
mobile. Shopping spending has now grown
Text Ads
over 40% Y/Y for two straight quarters
for the first time since early 2016. Phone
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Shopping spend was up 77% Y/Y in Q1, a
2018 2019
–12%
ten-quarter high.
–15%
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Google Phone Search Spending Growth Benefits from Shopping Ads

Google Search Spending by Device Type Google search ad spending on phones
Y/Y Growth grew 46% Y/Y in Q1 2019, up from 42%
+60% growth in Q4 2018. Phone volume and
Desktop Phone Tablet spending growth has been driven by
+46% renewed strength for the Shopping
segment in recent quarters. Phone
+30%
Shopping impressions rose 127% in Q1
compared to 60% growth in Q3 2018.
Elsewhere, desktop spending growth
+2%
continued to slow, coming in at just 2% Y/Y.
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019 Shopping ad spending growth on desktop
has been decelerating even as it has
–30%
picked up on phones.

Non-Brand Google Search Spending Higher on Improving Click Growth

Google Non-Brand US Paid Search Advertiser spending on non-brand Google
Y/Y Growth text and Shopping ads increased 16% Y/Y
+30% Ad Spend Clicks CPC in Q1 2019, a slight acceleration compared
to Q4 2018. Non-brand click growth
improved to 13%, a six-quarter high, while
+20%
non-brand CPC growth slowed to 3%.
Non-brand CPCs rose 13% on desktop
+16%
and 12% on phones in Q1, but as traffic has
+13%
+10%
shifted to mobile, where clicks remain less
expensive than average, overall non-brand
CPC growth has slowed.
+3%

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Brand Keyword CPCs on Google Return to More Typical Growth Rates

Google Brand US Paid Search Spending on advertiser brand keywords
Y/Y Growth on Google grew 10% Y/Y in Q1 2019, a
+40% sharp deceleration from 23% growth in
Ad Spend Clicks CPC
Q4 2018. Brand keyword click growth was
+30% nearly unchanged at 4%, but CPC growth
fell from 18% Y/Y in Q4 2018 to just 6% in
+20% Q1 2019. Brand keyword CPCs had shot up
in Q4 2017 in an apparent correction to a
+10% +10% surprise drop in brand CPCs that occurred
+6% shortly after Google made adjustments to
+4%
its Ad Rank calculations in May 2017.
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019
–10%
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Shopping Nearing Two-Thirds of Retailers’ Google Search Ad Clicks

Google Shopping Share of Google Paid Search Clicks Google Shopping ads produced 65% of
100% Aggregate Results - US Retail retailers’ total Google search ad clicks in
89%
Q1 2019, up from 63% in Q4 2018. Within
80% the non-brand traffic segment, Shopping
ads produced 89% of all Google search
65% ad clicks for retailers in Q1 2019, a nearly
60%
eight-point increase from a year earlier.
40% Newer Shopping formats like Showcase
Non-Brand Shopping ads and Local Inventory Ads
Overall
20% have helped Shopping achieve greater
relevance for a broader range of user
queries in recent years.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Google Shopping Revenue Per Click Holding Up Compared to Text Ads

Google Shopping vs. Non-Brand Text Ads Among retailers, Google Shopping ads
Revenue Per Click produced an 18% higher revenue per click
+30% Phone Desktop
than non-brand text ads on desktop in Q1
2019. On phones, Shopping revenue per
click was slightly higher than non-brand text
+20% ad revenue per click. Across both device
+18%
segments, the relative performance of
Shopping ads has trended in a fairly narrow
+10%
range, even as Shopping has continued to
gain click share and appear for a broader
+1% range of queries.
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

–10%

Revenue Per Click for Google Ads Rising Fastest on Mobile

Non-Brand Y/Y Revenue-Per-Click Growth For the median Google search advertiser,
Google Shopping & Text Ads by Device the revenue per click generated by mobile
+15%
+14% +14% Google Shopping ads rose 12% Y/Y in Q1
Q3 2018
+12% Q4 2018 2019, similar to results for the prior two
+11% Q1 2019 quarters. On desktop, Shopping revenue-
+10%
per-click gains have been more modest,
+7%
+6% but improved slightly from Q4 2018 to Q1
+5% +4% +5% 2019. For the non-brand text ad segment,
+3%
revenue per click also grew faster on
+1%
–1% +0.5% mobile devices, with an improvement of 7%
Y/Y in Q1.
Mobile Desktop Mobile Google Desktop Google
Text Ads Text Ads Shopping Shopping
+5%
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Google Shopping Impression Share Suggests Aggressive Push from Amazon

Amazon Google Shopping Impression Share In Q4 2018, Amazon’s impression share
Home Goods Category within Google Shopping auctions reached
60%
new highs within the home goods product
category, but Merkle advertisers saw
51% even greater share gains. These results
suggested impression share for all
40%
advertisers, including Amazon, may have
benefitted from tweaks that Google made
in the display of Shopping ads. In Q1 2019,
20%
though, Amazon’s further impression share
Q1 2017 Q1 2018 Q1 2019
gains may be signaling a more aggressive
push from the ecommerce giant.
week of
JAN 2 APR 3 JUL 3 OCT 2 JAN 1 APR 2 JUL 2 OCT 1 DEC 31 MAR 25
2017 2018 2018

Trajectory for Google Local Inventory Ads Looking Strong

Local Inventory Ad Share of Google Shopping Clicks For advertisers with a brick-and-mortar retail
US Retail - Participating Brands presence, Local Inventory Ads can provide
16% a meaningful and effective way to connect
with searchers that express local shopping
13% intent. Among participating brands, Local
12%
Inventory Ads produced 13% of all Google
Shopping clicks in Q1 2019. While that was
8% down slightly from Q4 2018, over the past
two years, there has been clear upward
trend in click share for the LIA format.
4%

Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2017 2018 2019

Showcase Shopping Ad Click Share Continues to Jump

Showcase Shopping Ad Share of Showcase Shopping ads produced 8%
10% Google Shopping Clicks of all Google Shopping clicks among
US Retail - Participating Brands participating brands. That rate was
8% 8% up sharply from just 3% a year earlier.
Showcase Shopping ads are usually visually
6%
similar to traditional Shopping ads, but take
the user to a Google-hosted store page for
4%
the advertiser. As of late 2018, they can also
contain video. The Showcase format has
2%
helped Shopping expand across a broader
range of user queries.

Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019
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Showcase Shopping Ads Finding Role in Results for Shorter Queries

Average Search Query Length in Characters For Google, its advertisers, and its users,
Showcase Shopping Ads vs. Other Google Shopping Ads the nature of the Showcase Shopping ad
20 format make it an appealing option over
traditional Google Shopping ads in certain
scenarios, including for less specific, and
15 17
generally shorter, queries. In Q1 2019, the
13 average length of a query triggering a
10 Showcase Shopping ad was 19% shorter
than the average query length for other
5
Google Shopping ads.

Showcase Shopping Ads Other Google Shopping Ads

Click Share for Lower Position Google Text Ads Roughly Half of All-Time Peak
Share of Non-Brand Google Text Ad Clicks For non-brand text ad keywords, the
from Top-of-Page Position 3 & 4 Ads contribution from ads appearing in lower
25% positions has been on the decline in recent
Desktop years as an increasing share of clicks
Phone
20% have been captured by ads in the very top
position on the page. In 2016, both desktop
15% and mobile results got a fourth top-of-page
ad slot, and by the end of that year, position
10%
11% three and four ads produced 21% and 16% of
desktop and mobile clicks, respectively. In Q1
5% 2019, position three and four produced just
11% of all clicks.
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2016 2017 2018 2019

Google Shopping Search Partner Share Clicks Impacted by Yahoo Departure

Search Partner Share of Google Search Ad Clicks In March, Verizon Media began to transition
+10% Shopping Text Ads all of its search ads over to Bing Ads. This
affected Google search partner traffic, as
Yahoo has been running Google Shopping
Ads since 2016. It’s difficulty to tease out the
exact impact to Google because Google
6%
+5% does not provide reporting on specific
partners, but overall, search partners
produced just under 6% of all Google
2% Shopping ad clicks in March, down about a
point from December.

JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN
2016 2017 2018 2019
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After ITP 2.0, Other Google Audience Targeting Tools fill RLSA Gap
Share of Google Search Ad Clicks by Audience Type While the share of Google search ad clicks
tied to a specific Google audience targeting
40% Customer Match RLSAs
product stood at an all-time high in Q1
Similar Audiences Combined 37%
Seasonal Audiences 2019, the impact of RLSAs has fallen in the
30% months since Apple released ITP 2.0 in
September 2019. RLSA click share stood
at 25% in August 2018, but by March 2019,
20%
18%
RLSAs produced just 18% of Google search
ad clicks. Though not perfect substitutes
10%
11% for RLSAs, Google’s Similar and Seasonal
6%
Audience targeting tools have helped fill
2% the gap left by the RLSA decline.
OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN
2017 2018 2019

Safari 12 Sees Lower Share of Clicks From Google Audience Targeting Tools
Google Audience Click Share for Safari Since Apple launched Safari 12 with ITP 2.0,
it has seen a lower share of clicks tied to
vs. Other Browsers
Google audience targeting products than
Safari 12 Mobile Safari 12 Desktop other browsers. On mobile, audience click
–3% share is about five points lower on Safari
–5% 12 than on all other browsers. This rate has
–6%
been fairly stable in 2019. On desktop, the
gap in audience click share between Safari
12 and other browsers has continued to
–9% widen and now stands at about 10 points.
–10%

–12%
OCT 12 DEC 10 FEB 7 APR 7
2018 2018 2018 2019

Google Maps See Further Text Ad Click Share Gains

Get Location Details Share of Google Text Ad Traffic As indicated by data on the Get Location
10% Brick-and-Mortar Advertisers Details click type, Google Maps produced
Phone Desktop Tablet 8.5% of Google text ad clicks on phones
8%
8% in Q1 2019, for advertisers with a brick-
and-mortar presence. Although this was a
6%
new high, it may be more indicative of how
5% Google Shopping ads are taking non-brand
4%
text ad traffic, than a sign that Google has
ramped up the display of ads on Maps.
2%
Get Location Details clicks are generally
powered by text ad keywords that include
1% the advertiser’s brand name.
JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN
2016 2017 2018 2019
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Spend Growth Strongest for Retail, but Most Industries See Deceleration
Google Overall Paid Search Growth by Industry Across five major industries analyzed for
Q1 2019 this report, all but B2B saw weaker Google
+18%
+15% search spend growth in Q1 2019 than for
Ad Spend
Clicks +11%
+13%
the previous quarter. Retail and travel
CPC +9% advertisers did see stronger Google click
+7%
+6% growth in Q1, but weaker CPC growth led to
+4% +4%
+2% a deceleration in spending growth for both
industries. With Google search spending up
–0.4%
nearly 18%, though, retail saw the highest
–5% rate of growth across these industries.

–12%
–14% Retail &
–15% Financial Consumer
B2B Insurance Services Goods Travel

Mobile Devices Account for 74% of Retailers’ Google Search Ad Clicks

Google Phone & Tablet Click Share by Industry Phones and tablets combined to produce
Q1 2019 74% of retailer Google search ad clicks in
74% Q1 2019, an eight-point increase from a
Phone 72%

Tablet 6% 7%
69%
year earlier and the highest rate across the
7%
66% 67%
62%
five industries analyzed for this report. With
a 12-point jump from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019,
45%
financial services saw the largest increase
7%
35%
3% 38% in the share of Google search ad clicks
33% produced by mobile devices.

B2B Insurance Financial Retail & Travel

Services Consumer
Goods

Insurance Industry Sees Highest Phone Search CPCs Relative to Desktop

Google Phone & Tablet Spend Share by Industry With phones producing 30% of its Google
Q1 2019 search ad spend and 38% of its Google
56% 55%
clicks, the insurance industry saw the
Phone 55%

Tablet
5%
7% 7%
smallest gap between phone and desktop
51%
48%
48%
CPCs in Q1 2019. Retail and B2B saw the
37% greatest disparity between phone and
7% desktop CPCs in the quarter, but with 48%
30% of its spend going to phones, retail was
19% second only to financial services in phone
2%
17% share of Google search ad spend.

B2B Insurance Financial Retail & Travel

Services Consumer
Goods
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In a Quarter of Transition, Bing and Yahoo Search Spend Down 2%

Bing Ads & Yahoo Gemini Overall US Paid Search Search ad spending across Bing Ads and
Y/Y Growth the now retired Yahoo Gemini platform
+40% fell a little over 2% Y/Y in Q1 2019, an
Ad Spend Clicks CPC improvement from a 7% decline in Q4
2018. With Yahoo’s transition to serve Bing
search ads exclusively beginning in the
+20%
back half of March, it’s still not clear what
the full impact of the move will be. Bing will
gain volume previously served by Yahoo
+1%
itself, as well as product ad traffic served
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 –2%
2018 2019 –3% by Google on Yahoo, but whether the
product will be greater than the sum of its
–20%
parts remains to be seen.

Bing Product Ad Spend Growth Accelerates, But Not for Everyone

Bing Ads & Yahoo Gemini Spend by Ad Format Performance was mixed for Bing Product
Y/Y Growth Ads in Q1 2019, despite Yahoo’s March
+75% Bing Product Ads Text Ads transition to use Bing Product Ads
exclusively. In aggregate, Product Ad
spending grew 25% Y/Y in Q1 2019, an
+50%
improvement from 21% aggregate growth
in Q4 2018. That acceleration was driven
by larger programs, though, as the average
+25% +25%
brand saw weaker growth for Product Ads
in Q1. For text ads across Bing and Yahoo,
spend fell 9% in Q1 2019, up from a 14%
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 –9%
2018 2019 decline in Q4 2018.
–25%

Product Ads Nearly a Third of Retailers’ Bing Search Ad Clicks

Bing Product Ad Share of Bing Ads Paid Search Clicks Bing Product Ads accounted for 60% of
Aggregate Results - US Retail retailers’ Bing paid search clicks in Q1 2019,
60% 60% up from 54% in Q1 2018, but down slightly
Non-Brand Overall
from Q4 2018 levels. With volume for brand
text ads showing particularly weak quarter-
to-quarter results, Product Ad share of all
Bing search ad clicks rose from 28% in Q4
32%
30%
2018 to 32% in Q1 2019, a new all-time high
and a seven-point increase from a year
earlier.

Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
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Google Leads the Way to an Eight-Point Increase in Phone Click Share

Phone & Tablet Share of Paid Search Clicks Between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019, phone share
Phone Tablet Combined of paid search clicks across all platforms
65%
60%
increased from 51% to 59%, the largest
59%
yearly increase in almost two years. Over
the same period, tablet click share fell from
40%
9% to 6%. Between phones and tablets
combined, mobile devices produced 65%
of all paid search clicks in Q1 2019. Mobile
has gained the most ground in the last year
20%
on Google, followed closely by Bing.

6%

Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Phone Share of Search Ad Spend Up Sharply in Past Year

Phone & Tablet Share of Paid Search Ad Spend Phone share of paid search spending across
Phone Tablet Combined
platforms dipped from 39% in Q4 2018 to
45%
38% in Q1 2019, but that was still a nearly
44%
eight-point increase from a year earlier.
38% Tablet spend share slipped to just under 6%
30%
in Q1 2019, having peaked four years earlier
at 21%. Both tablets and phones command
lower average CPCs than desktop, allowing
desktop to maintain a majority of total search
15%
spending even as its click share has fallen
6%
below 50%.

Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Phone Search Clicks Remain at Large Discount Compared to Desktop

Phone vs. Desktop - Non-Brand Paid Search Looking at non-brand traffic across search
80% Average Site Results ad platforms, the average CPC on phones
CPC Revenue Per Click was 52% lower than on desktop in Q1 2019.
This gap has not moved significantly in
recent years. This is largely because, even
48% as online revenue per click from phones has
40% improved over time, it has also improved on
37%
desktop. In Q1 2019, phone revenue per click
was 63% lower than desktop. Generally, the
retail industry continues to see a relatively
large CPC gap between phone and desktop,
while insurance and financial services see a
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 smaller gap.
2017 2018 2019
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PAID SEARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AM A ZO N A DS 16

Product Ads Drive Mobile Share of Bing Search Clicks Higher

Device Share of Paid Search Clicks by Platform In Q1 2019, phones produced 62% of
Q1 2019 Google search ad clicks, up from 54%
67% 67% a year earlier. Including tablets, mobile
62%
Google devices accounted for over 68% of Google
Yahoo Gemini paid clicks. Bing has also seen mobile
Bing Ads make big gains in the past year, albeit
from a smaller base. Largely due to a jump
in mobile Product Ad clicks, phones and
32%
tablets produced 26% of all Bing search ad
26%
23% clicks in Q1 2019, up from 18% a year earlier.
Over half of Bing Product Ad clicks were on
10%
6% 7% mobile devices in Q1 2019.

Desktop Phone Tablet

Apple Biggest Click Driver for Google, Bing Benefits from Microsoft Browsers
Browser/OS Share of US Paid Search Clicks For the second quarter in a row, iOS
by Platform devices and desktop Safari produced over
Google 45% half of Google paid search clicks in Q1
44%
Yahoo Gemini 2019. After iOS, Android devices provided
Bing Ads 36% Google with its second largest source of
traffic, producing 23% of Google search
29%
ad clicks. For Bing, Microsoft’s Edge and
23% 22%
20%
Internet Explorer browsers continued to
15%
provide a disproportionate share of traffic,
13%
11% accounting for 44% of Bing search ad clicks.
9%
7% 7%
5% 5%
For comparison, just 3% of Google ad clicks
3% 2% 3%
were from Microsoft browsers.
Android Chrome Edge/IE Firefox iOS Safari
Desktop Desktop

Google’s Share of US Search Ad Clicks and Spend Rises to 92%

Google Share of US Paid Search In Q1 2019, Google generated over 96% of
100% Q1 2019 paid search clicks on phones in the US and
commanded 98% of phone paid search
98% ad spend. Google’s share of phone clicks
Overall Phone 96% rose a little over 1% in the past year, while its
share of phone spend rose about a half a
90% 92% 92%
point. Across all devices, Google’s share of
search ad clicks and spend was 92% in Q1
2019, up from around 90% a year earlier.

80%
Spend Clicks
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGANIC SEARCH & SOCIAL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AM A ZO N A DS 17

organic search
& social
Organic search produced 26% of all visits and 24% of mobile website visits in Q1 2019,
nearly identical figures to what was observed in Q4.
DuckDuckGo organic search visit growth continues to outpace other search engines but
is still a relatively small part of the search engine ecosystem. It accounted for 0.5% of
organic search visits in Q1 2019, up from 0.3% last year.
Website visits attributed to social media accounted for over 4% of all site traffic in Q1
and 5% of all mobile visits, both new highs for this report. Instagram saw the largest visit
growth at 114%.
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGANIC SEARCH & SOCIAL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AM A ZO N A DS 18

Organic Search Sees Small Site Visit Decline as Paid Search Clicks Pick Up
Organic Search Visits by Device Total site visits produced by organic
+20% Y/Y Growth search declined by about 2% in Q1 2019,
down from 2% growth in Q4 2018. Phone
+15% Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2017
+13%
Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 organic search visits were up 13%, but
+10% desktop visits fell 13% and tablet visits
+5%
fell 12%. The desktop visit decline was
the largest since Q4 2016. Among the
major competing sources of site traffic for
–5%
–2% brands, both paid search and social media
generated above average growth in Q1
–10%
2019.
–12% –13%
–15%

Phone Tablet Desktop Overall

DuckDuckGo Organic Search Visits Up 78% on Mobile

Y/Y Growth in Organic Search Visits by Engine Total organic search visits produced by
+80% Q1 2019 Google fell 2% Y/Y in Q1 2019, down from
Overall Mobile
+78% 3% growth a quarter earlier. On mobile
+60% devices, Google organic visits grew 6%
+54% Y/Y in Q1 2019, down from 12% in Q4
+40% 2018. DuckDuckGo organic search visit
growth accelerated in Q1 2019 to 54% Y/Y
+20% overall and 78% on mobile devices. Yahoo
+6% organic visit declines were smaller in Q1
+0%
compared to Q4, while Bing visit declines
–2% –2%
–5% steepened.
–20% –23%
Google Yahoo Bing DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo Only Google Competitor to Gain Organic Search Share

US Organic Search Visit Share by Engine Google’s share of total US organic search
visits was 93% in Q1 2019, up a point from
Overall Mobile
96% 96%
a year earlier. On mobile devices, Google
92% 93%
produced 96% of organic search visits.
Q1 2018
Q1 2019
Among the significant competitors aiming
to chip away at Google’s dominance, only
DuckDuckGo gained organic search visit
share between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019, but
it still only accounts for 0.5% of all organic
search visits.

3% 3% 5% 4%
0.3% 0.5% 2% 2% 2% 2% 0.3% 0.6%
Google Yahoo Bing DuckDuck Google Yahoo Bing DuckDuck
Go Go
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGANIC SEARCH & SOCIAL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AM A ZO N A DS 19

Organic Search Steady at Roughly a Quarter of Site Visits

Organic Search Share of All US Site Visits The share of total site visits produced by
organic search was nearly unchanged
Overall Mobile
30%
between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019 at a little
under 26%. Similarly, on mobile devices,
28%
organic search visit share was up just
slightly to a little over 24%. In the past
26%
26% year, organic search visit share is down
24%
24% about a point, with paid search and social
media seeing the most significant visit
22%
share gains among major channels.

20%
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Phones Produce Over Half of Organic Search Visits

Mobile Share of US Organic Search Visits Phones accounted for over 50% of all
Tablets Phones Combined
organic search visits in Q1 2019, the first
time passing that milestone. In the past
60%
59% year, phone share of organic search
50% has increased six points. Phones first
produced a majority of paid search traffic
in Q4 2017. With tablets producing over
30% 8% of organic search visits in Q1 2019,
mobile devices accounted for a little
under 59% of organic search visits in
8% total.

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Mobile Share of DuckDuckGo and Google Organic Search Remarkably Similar

Share of Each Engine’s Traffic from Mobile As recently as Q4 2017, mobile devices
70% Google Yahoo Bing DuckDuckGo
generated just 46% of DuckDuckGo
organic search traffic, compared to 56%
62%
for Google. Over the past year, though,
50% mobile share of both engines has trended
remarkably close. In Q1 2019, both saw
mobile account for 62% of organic search
35%
visits. This is impressive for DuckDuckGo
23% because it did not enjoy the same default
search engine status as Google does on
iOS and Android devices.

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGANIC SEARCH & SOCIAL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AM A ZO N A DS 20

Social Media Site Visit Share Rises Above 5% on Mobile

Social Media Share of Site Visits Social media produced 4.4% of site visits
6% Share of All Visits Share of Mobile Visits in Q1 2019, a decent jump from 3.8% in
5.4% Q4 2018. On mobile devices, social media
4.5%
4.7%
4.5% 4.6% accounted for 5.4% of site visits in Q1 2019,
4.4% 4.4%
4.2%
up from 4.6% in Q4 2018. While Facebook
3.8% 3.9% 3.8%
3.6%
3.7% 3.6% remains the primary driver of site visits
3%
produced by social media, many brands
have seen Instagram and Pinterest make
significant traffic contributions in recent
years.

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019

Site Visits from Instagram More Than Double in Past Year

Social Media Site Visit Growth Y/Y Site visits produced by Instagram
+125% Q1 2019 continued to grow at impressive rates in
+114%
Q1 2019, with visits more than doubling in
+100% the past year. Instagram owner Facebook
delivered 9% Y/Y site visit growth in Q1
+75% 2019, down from 19% Y/Y growth in Q4
2018. Pinterest also saw 9% Y/Y growth
+50%
in Q1 2019, while site visits produced
by Twitter fell by 8%. After delivering
+25%
strong visit growth in mid-2018, YouTube-
+9% +9% produced visits were flat in Q1 2019.
–8% 0%

Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Mobile Share of Site Visits Produced by Social Media Dips to 77%

Mobile Share of Social Media Site Visits Between phones and tablets combined,
80%
mobile devices accounted for 77% of site
visits produced by social media in Q1 2019.
77% That was down slightly from Q4 2018, but
75%
up from 74% in Q1 2018. For comparison,
mobile drove 59% of organic search visits
70%
and 65% of paid search visits in Q1 2019.
As the largest social media traffic producer
in the US, Facebook drives social media
65%
device share trends, but also generally
sees a higher than average contribution
60% from mobile.
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2018 2019
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DISPLAY & PAID SOCIAL AM A ZO N A DS 21

display
& paid social
Facebook spend declined 2% Y/Y and ads in the Newsfeed saw a decline in CTR for the
first time since a January 2018 update limited the exposure of unsponsored posts from
brands and publishers.
Instagram spend grew 44% Y/Y, with increases in both pricing and ad impressions. The
median advertiser on both Facebook and Instagram spent 19% as much on the latter as
on the former.
Pinterest remains a small platform relative to Facebook and Instagram, but in Q1 2019
Pinterest advertisers spent more on the platform than on Facebook proper.
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DISPLAY & PAID SOCIAL AM A ZO N A DS 22

Spend on Facebook Proper Roughly Flat Year-over-Year

Facebook Ads Y/Y Growth Ad spend on Facebook declined slightly
Q1 2019 by 2% Y/Y in Q1 2019, the first time we’ve
+15%
observed a year-over-year decline in
+15%
spend on the primary paid social platform.
+10% This comes after steady deceleration in
spend growth quarter-to-quarter over the
+5%
entirety of 2018, and as advertisers are
increasingly looking over to Instagram
–2% to grow paid social programs. While
–5%
Facebook impressions grew 15% in Q1
–10% 2019, CPMs fell 15%.
–15%
–15%
Spend Impressions CPM

Instagram Spend Up 44% Y/Y in Q1 with Increases in Impressions and CPM

Instagram Ads Y/Y Growth While spend on Facebook proper
Q1 2019 declined year-over-year for the quarter,
+45% advertiser investment in Instagram grew
+44%
44%, with increases in both impressions
and CPM Y/Y. Instagram continues to drive
+30%
most of the increase in investment across
Facebook properties, as ad load growth
+29%
has slowed for the Facebook app over the
past couple of years.
+15%

+11%

Spend Impressions CPM

Instagram Advertisers Spend 19% as Much as on Facebook in Q1

Instagram Performance Relative to Facebook Facebook continues to be the largest
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser and most widely adopted platform in
terms of paid social advertising, but
30%
more advertisers are getting active
27%
on Instagram over time and investing
20%
meaningful ad spend relative to
Facebook proper. For those brands active
19%
on both platforms, Instagram advertisers
10%
15% spent 19% as much on Instagram as on
Facebook in Q1.

Spend Clicks Impressions

MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DISPLAY & PAID SOCIAL AM A ZO N A DS 23

Phones and Tablets Combine to Account for 95% of all Facebook Traffic
Facebook Ads Mobile Share Just 5% of Facebook ad clicks came from
desktop computers in Q1 2019, down
120% Ad Spend Clicks
from 24% two years ago, as its mobile
95%
traffic share continues to climb. Mobile
90% 90% clicks remained cheaper than those from
desktop, though the persistent gap has
60%
been relatively small compared to what’s
observed in other channels like Google
paid search.
30%

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2017 2018 2019

CTR for Ads in the Newsfeed Down for the First Time in a Year
Facebook Ads CTR Change Y/Y In January 2018, Facebook made updates
Q1 2019 to its Newsfeed which limited the number
+10% of unsponsored posts from brands and
publishers that users were exposed to.
+8% The update seemed to declutter the
feed and make sponsored posts more
prominent, and advertisers saw increased
CTR for ads in the Newsfeed each quarter
before the Q1 2019 decline. Ads on the
right rail have also seen CTR increase
–8% over the last year, but still saw positive
movement in the most recent quarter.
–10%
Newsfeed Right-Hand Rail

Audience Network Remains Small Part of Facebook Ad Spend

Audience Network Share of Facebook Ad Spend The median advertiser using Facebook
Q1 2019 - Median Participating Advertiser targeting to show ads on apps outside
5% of Facebook via the Audience Network
spent just 1% of their total Facebook
4%
4.3% investment on these ad placements. Click
3.9% and impression share were higher at 4%,
3%
as pricing lags that of ads shown on the
Facebook app.
2%

1%
1.2%

Impressions Clicks Spend

MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DISPLAY & PAID SOCIAL AM A ZO N A DS 24

Pinterest Advertisers Spending Big Relative to Facebook Investment

Pinterest Performance Relative to Facebook The pool of brands that are active on
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser Pinterest is significantly smaller than
that of Facebook or Instagram, as the
+201% use cases of the platform are typically
isolated to retailers and because Pinterest
campaign management tools are still
coming together. However, for those
brands that are active on Pinterest, the
median advertiser spent more on Pinterest
Facebook
+19% than on Facebook proper in Q1 2019, and
–42% garnered significantly more impressions at
a lower CPM.
Impressions Clicks Spend

YouTube Spend Nearly Doubles Y/Y for Median Advertiser

YouTube Y/Y Growth YouTube continues to encounter bad
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser publicity surrounding its ability and
+100% at times failure to moderate content
+99% shared on its platform. Still, advertisers
+80% continue to invest in YouTube ads and in
developing the creative assets to market
+71%
+60% effectively on the platform. In Q1 2019, the
median advertiser on the platform since
+40% at least last Q1 last year roughly doubled
its spend.
+20%

+16%

Impressions CPM Spend

Paid Social Growth Continues to Outpace Traditional Display Advertising

Y/Y Spend Growth by Channel Spending on traditional display advertising
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser grew 12% Y/Y in Q1 2019, while paid social
+30% spending grew by 24%. Paid social spend
growth slowed from Q4 2018, as the two
major social platforms in terms of ad spend,
+20%
+24% Facebook and Instagram, saw less year-
over-year growth from advertisers active on
those platforms. Among smaller paid social
opportunities, Pinterest continues to gain
+10%
+12% momentum among retail advertisers.

Display Paid Social

MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AMAZON ADS 25

amazon ads
Amazon Sponsored Products spend grew 19% Y/Y, while Sponsored Brands (formerly
known as Headline Search Ads) grew 77%. Sponsored Products accounted for 85% of all
Amazon ad spend in Q1 2019.
Ad placements on product details pages accounted for 41% of all Sponsored Products
clicks, while the top-of-search results accounted for just 33%.
Brand keywords accounted for about a quarter of all Sponsored Brands and Sponsored
Products clicks and about half of sales, with spend share roughly in line with click share.
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AMAZON ADS 26

Sales Continue to Climb Faster than Spend for Amazon Advertisers

Amazon Ads Y/Y Growth by Ad Format While Amazon Sponsored Products and
Q1 2019 Sponsored Brands spend grew 19% and
+200% Sponsored Products Sponsored Brands
77% Y/Y, respectively, sales grew by at
+202% least 100% on both formats. This reflects
the maturing nature of longer-running
+150%
campaigns for advertisers that have been
active in Amazon search ads for a couple
+100% +120% of years now, as well as the benefits of
+101% automated third-party bidding made
+77% possible over time.
+50%
+55%

+19%
Spend Clicks Sales

Product Details Pages Account for a Plurality of Sponsored Products Clicks

Sponsored Products Share by Placement While Sponsored Products are most often
Q1 2019 characterized by their placement near the
Product Details Page Top of Search Other top of Amazon search results pages, only
50% 47% a third of clicks attributed to the format
43%
41%
come from impressions at the top of
40% search results, with product details pages
35% 33% 33% accounting for 41% of traffic. Advertisers
30%
26% now have the ability to adjust bids for
23%
20% Sponsored Products based on placement,
20%
following a January 2019 announcement,
a crucial capability given the significant
10%
disparity in expected sales per click for top-
of-search clicks compared to other traffic.
Spend Clicks Sales

Sponsored Products Account for 85% of Q1 Amazon Ad Spend

Amazon Spend Share by Ad Format Sponsored Products continue to account
Q1 2019 for the vast majority of Amazon advertising
Sponsored Product Ads spend, garnering ad clicks at the top of
Sponsored Brands the search results as well as on product
Product Display Ads details pages and other locations. Despite
13%
a significant expansion in the number of
ad slots available to Sponsored Brands in
Q3 2018, Sponsored Brands spend share
has remained roughly steady since the
85% additional inventory was introduced.
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AMAZON ADS 27

Sponsored Brands Impressions Significantly Elevated by New Placements

Amazon Sponsored Brands Impressions Amazon advertisers saw four to five times
Relative to January 2018 as many Sponsored Brands impressions
400%
+384% in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 last year,
with new placements on the left rail
and the bottom of the page providing a
300%
huge expansion in inventory beginning
in August 2018. Despite the expanded
200%
inventory, Sponsored Brands remain a
relatively small part of Amazon investment
100% compared to Sponsored Products.

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR
2018 2019

Brand Keywords Producing Strong Share of Sales Attributed to Amazon Ads

Brand Keyword Share by Amazon Ad Format Advertiser brand keywords accounted
60% Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser for about a quarter of clicks between
Sponsored Brands and Sponsored
Sponsored Brands 55% Products ads in Q1 2019, with spend
Sponsored Products
roughly in line with click share. However,
45%
40%
these keywords accounted for a
significantly higher share of sales, as
searchers typing in branded keywords
29% 28%
27% are more likely to convert than searchers
20% 24%
using queries that don’t include the
advertiser’s brand name.

Clicks Spend Sales

Sponsored Products Still Provide Highest Value Among Amazon Ad Formats

Relative Sales Per Click by Amazon Ad Format
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser
–9%
Sponsored Products Sponsored Brands
The sales per click advertisers receive
from clicks on Sponsored Products remains
about 9% higher than that of Sponsored
Brands, and was significantly higher than
that of Product Display Ads in Q1. These
comparisons can be affected by shifting
traffic composition as a result of Amazon
changes to where and how often each
–47% format is shown, but even looking solely
at top-of-search placements, Sponsored
Products beat out Sponsored Brands in
sales per click.
Product Display Ads
MERK LE digital. M A R K E T I N G .REPO RT Q1 2019 PA ID SE ARCH
Sponsored Brands CTR Remains Significantly Higher than Sponsored Products
Amazon Relative CTR by Ad Format
Q1 2019 - Median Advertiser
+231%
Sponsored Products Sponsored Brands
Amazon Conversion Rate Continues to Outpace Google Shopping
Google Shopping vs. Amazon Relative
Conversion Rate
Q1 2019
+219%
Google Shopping Amazon Sponsored
Products
Both Primary Amazon Ads Now Have Lower CTR than Google Shopping
Google Shopping vs. Amazon Ads Relative CTR
Q1 2019
–56%
Google Shopping Amazon Sponsored
Products
ORGAN I C SE ARCH & SOCI AL DI SPLAY & PAI D SOCI AL AMAZON ADS 28
Even with many additional Sponsored
Brands impressions showing lower on the
search results page since an update last
Q3, Sponsored Brands continue to top
other Amazon ad formats in terms of CTR
by a wide margin for Amazon advertisers
running multiple formats. However,
Sponsored Products actually have a higher
CTR than Sponsored Brands when looking
solely at those ad impressions that are
designated by Amazon as occurring at the
–40% top of search results for each format.
Product Display Ads
The universe of Google advertisers is very
different than that of Amazon, owing to a
wider variety of query types on Google, as
well as some brands choosing to sell only
on Amazon, while others refuse to sell on
Amazon entirely. However, looking at the
median conversion rate of all advertisers
+123%
active on each format individually in Q1,
Amazon conversion rates continue to
significantly outpace those of Google, with
fast shipping, Prime subscribers, and easy
purchasing on site all playing in Amazon’s
favor.
Amazon Sponsored
Brands
While Sponsored Brands long outpaced
Google Shopping in terms of CTR, this is
no longer the case, as new Sponsored
Brands ad locations introduced last August
resulted in significant CTR decline for the
format. Such comparisons aren’t incredibly
–16%
meaningful for advertisers and will likely
shift as both Amazon and Google make
optimizations over time.
Amazon Sponsored
Brands
about merkle
Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-
enabled, global performance marketing
agency that specializes in the delivery of unique,
personalized customer experiences across platforms
and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000
companies and leading nonprofit organizations have
partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage
in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding
consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in
performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and
enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With
more than 7,000 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 21 additional
offices in the US and 33 offices in Europe and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis
Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.

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report methodology
Figures are derived from samples of Merkle clients who have worked with Merkle for each marketing
channel. Where applicable, these samples are restricted to those clients who 1) have maintained
active programs with Merkle for at least 19 months, 2) have not significantly changed their strategic
objectives or product offerings, and 3) meet a minimum ad-spend threshold. All trended figures
presented in this report represent same-site changes over the given time period. Unless otherwise
specified, the data points in this report are derived from the North American market region.