We’ve just released our Q1 2010 US Search Engine Performance Report. And
there is a lot of good news for the industry. Spend is growing at a nice
clip (+20%) driven by continued strength in retail. Query and click volume
is up suggesting consumer use of search continues to expand at a strong pace.
Interestingly, we’re seeing a lower Q4 seasonal retail spike as search engine marketing becomes a more consistent (and significant) part of retailers monthly marketing programs. As a result, our sequential Q4 to Q1 drop in 2010 was less than half the rate of the same period a year ago. We believe the strength in retail will continue through 2010 assuming the broader US economic recovery continues its slow march forward.
The quarter held good news for Bing and Google but not so good news for Yahoo!. Bing continues to post impressive growth rates expanding both click and spend share 45% vs. Q1 2009. Bing remains at just 5.5% of clicks, however, and Google does not appear to be slowing down closing in on 75% share of clicks. Yahoo’s search losses continue to pile up as their Q1 share of clicks fell to 18.7% from 21.3% in Q1 2009.
Interestingly, we’re seeing a lower Q4 seasonal retail spike as search engine marketing becomes a more consistent (and significant) part of retailers monthly marketing programs. As a result, our sequential Q4 to Q1 drop in 2010 was less than half the rate of the same period a year ago. We believe the strength in retail will continue through 2010 assuming the broader US economic recovery continues its slow march forward.
The quarter held good news for Bing and Google but not so good news for Yahoo!. Bing continues to post impressive growth rates expanding both click and spend share 45% vs. Q1 2009. Bing remains at just 5.5% of clicks, however, and Google does not appear to be slowing down closing in on 75% share of clicks. Yahoo’s search losses continue to pile up as their Q1 share of clicks fell to 18.7% from 21.3% in Q1 2009.
Overall, our client base is enthusiastic about the results SEM delivered Q1 and optimistic that the remainder of the year will continue on a positive path. As a result of the positive Q1 trends and positive client sentiment, we believe year on year SEM growth in the US will approach 20%. We’re coming back into solid growth in search, and that’s very good news for our industry.
Key Points for US SEM in Q1 2010 include:- Year on Year (YoY) growth was up 20% with a Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) drop of 8% which was less than half previous year’s sequential drop;
- Spend in the retail sector grew 32% Year on Year (YoY) with a relatively moderate 27% Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) decline from the high in Q4;
- Google’s share of clicks and spend rose to 75%;
- Bing increased its share of clicks and ad spend 45% YoY to 5.5% and 6.5%, respectively.
Comments