When you think of online advertising, there’s a good chance you think of Google, which is the world’s largest advertising platform. In 2023, Google made over $237 billion from ads, which was approximately 77 percent of their revenue. Google has a reputation for successfully driving targeted traffic and delivering strong returns on investment, which is why so many companies opt to invest in this advertising platform.
Spending on search engine advertising continues to rise rapidly, which indicates that companies consider search engine advertising to be a key part of their digital marketing strategy. Google is so dominant in the world of search advertising that it’s expected that their advertising revenue will continue to grow, possibly to revenue that’s significantly larger than Microsoft’s by 2026.
Google Display Network
Advertisers can reach an enormous audience through Google Display Network (GDN). This is a group of websites, videos, and apps where Google Ads can appear. Over two million websites make up this network, so placing a type of Google Ads known as display ads puts your message in front of millions of potential customers. This effectively helps marketers reach diverse audiences. Google earned ad revenue of more than $31 billion in 2023 just from GDN.
Total Digital Ad Revenue
In 2023, Google made more than double the ad revenue of its closest competitor. Google earned approximately 39 percent of global revenue for digital ads followed by Facebook which earned 18 percent. In the U.S. alone, Google earned almost 27 percent of digital ad revenue. Meta came in second at just over 21 percent and Amazon came in third with around 12.5 percent.
Organic Search
Close to one-third of online customers start their buying journey on Google, and Google dominates the organic search market with close to 80 percent of this market. It also dominates an even higher percentage of mobile search with over 94 percent of that market. Bing is Google’s closest competitor in this area, and they have less than 4 percent of the market.
Compared to PPC, SEO drives considerably more traffic over time while paid ads are a good choice for immediate results. The average click-through rate on Google ads in 2024 was just under 6.5 percent, while the top organic search had more than a 39 percent CTR. That means that about 1 in every 16 people who viewed a Google ad clicked on it.
Return on Investment
Most businesses consider money spent on Google Ads to be well invested, with the average business making $2 for every dollar spent on Google Ads. As many as 98 percent of businesses rely on Google for PPC advertising. Some use other platforms as well such as YouTube, Facebook, and Bing.
An increasing number of clicks happen on mobile devices and this trend is expected to continue. Because of this trend, businesses need to improve mobile-friendly ad strategies if they hope to continue to reach their target audience and remain competitive. Experts predict that by 2028, more than 70 percent of digital ad spending globally will be done through mobile.
Advertising Locally
If your business depends on local customers, Google Ad’s location-based features are a key way to connect with a locally-based audience. Each month over a billion people use Google Maps to find local services and products. Google Maps comes pre-installed on Android devices, yet it was downloaded over 21 million times in 2023.
Google Shopping has strong brand recognition among consumers. It appears at the top of SERPs for product-related keywords.
Including Google Ads in Your Marketing Strategy
Marketers who use paid advertising can’t afford to avoid using Google Ads, since there’s no other platform that has as much potential to reach a large number of prospects and customers. Long-tail keywords more clearly describe user intent and usually convert better than short keywords.
To give your Google Ad campaigns the best chance of success, reach out to the experts at Softline Solutions today.
