Mobile Paid Search Impression Share Crosses 10% Threshold

Posted by James Beveridge, Senior Analyst

We’ve tallied up the mobile paid search stats for Q1 2011 and—for the first time ever—mobile impression share has crossed the 10% threshold for Performics’ aggregate client base.  March 2011 mobile impressions accounted for 10.2% of all paid search impressions (desktop + mobile).  Overall, Q1 2011 mobile search impression share was 9.6%—reflecting a whopping 195% increase in Q1 mobile impression volume:

 

In March, clicks mirrored impressions with mobile click share rising to 9.8% of all paid search clicks (desktop + mobile).  We’re predicting that mobile click share will surpass 10% in April.  Q1 YoY growth for mobile clicks outpaced impressions, increasing by 230%.  Over the same period, clicks from computers grew moderately (13.7%):

 

After strong click-through rates (CTRs) during holiday 2010, mobile CTRs have stabilized in Q1 2011, hovering just below desktop CTRs for 3 consecutive months.  It’s reasonable to assume that we’ll see this trend continue through Q2 as mobile receives increasing attention and refinement from paid search marketers:

 

Despite increased attention, more impressions and more clicks, mobile paid search is still a bargain.  Mobile cost-per-clicks (CPCs) dipped favorably in March and continue to represent a significant discount when compared to desktop CPCs.  In March, mobile CPCs were 42.1% lower than desktop CPCs: